Easy Flyer
New Member
Hello everyone,
A quick decision today allowed me to attend a Yamaha Power Tour demo day in a near-by town (yep, ducked out of work early to take this opportunity)
Being a Thursday with questionable weather in the forecast turned out to my advantage as with the exception of the first ride which had about 7 riders, I pretty much had the whole place to myself and could test several bikes back to back, including the host Dealer's demo 2014 V-Strom 1000.
And when I say I had the place to myself, I mean, only on two rides were there any other riders present other than me and the "group leader"
The Yamaha rep laughed and called it a "personal demo ride day"
The bikes I rode in order:
'15 Super Tenere
'15 FJR 1300
'15 FJ '09
'15 Super Tenere (yep, rode it twice)
'14 V-Strom 1000
I spent about 4.5hrs riding the various bikes, each time the route was a little different, and the V-Strom I rode by myself, I was not allowed to ride with the actual demo guys when riding the Suzuki (I'm guessing its a demo day, or yamaha rule) The weather turned out to be sunny and rain free, dry roads, traffic only in the in-town sections.
The purpose of the outing for me was to demo and test ride the Super Tenere ES, hopefully with some other bikes thrown in for comparison.
A little background on me,
I've been riding for about 20 years, owned a wide range of bikes
(the complete bike list owned with its highlights or not)
'85 Vulcan 750 (first bike, all around bad due to age/design)
'89 FZR600 (buzzy engine, spunky little 600, very uncomfortable)
'91 FZR1000 (nice power, heavy compared to the 600, mechanical issues, very uncomfortable)
'97 GSF1200 Bandit1200 (comfy, little buzzy, monster torque, soft suspension)
'97 CBR1100XX BlackBird (SMOOTH, FAST!, Comfy, did one track day on it, sold it)
'97 TL1000S (V-Twin torque!, light! great for track days and around town, short trips, mechanical issues)
'98 YZF R1 (best track bike I've ever ridden, effortless to drag knee on the track, fantastic engine, suspension, brakes, all around great sport bike)
'98 GL1500C Honda Valkyrie (Smooooth, torquey, Comfy for around town, great for double riding, not so great long distance/highway)
'05 ST1300A (Best Distance bike I've owned, great range, very smooth and comfortable, good handling, should have kept it, did a 10,000km trip on it to the rockies and back, VERY Heavy)
'07 GSF1250A Bandit 1250 ABS, (smooth, comfy, cheap components, rust!?)
'08 GSX1300BK Suzuki B-King, (muscle bike that handles, a 'Naked" Busa, 170+ hp [full exhaust, tuned etc etc], ok ergos, sold it several weeks ago, the performance did spoil me)
Thats my last bike, the GSX1300BK.
By B-King being my last bike does color my opinion of other bike's engines/performance and other characteristics (braking, handling etc), however long ago I've come to the conclusion that all that power is not necessary and I did not use it, I like having fun, and riding a bike that can be exciting and fun to ride is very important, but I very much like riding long(er) distances, go exploring, and would like to do a few more long bike trips in the future, luggage carrying capacity, comfortable ergos and suspension are equally (if not more) important. I've also come to the conclusion that from time to time I'd like to ride where the pavement stops and gravel/dirt road begins, hence my interest in the "adventure sport-tourer" style bike and the Super Tenere.
Now back onto the Super Tenere ES demo ride,
The Demo bike had 15,500km on it (almost 10k miles) so its well broken in.
All the components looked and felt high quality, great fit and finish on the bike. Instruments are very well placed and easy to read. Most of the hand controls are easy to reach, with the exception of the selector rocker which is way out of the way and awkward to reach with the left hand, this is the rocker that selects levels of suspension preload/damping, grip heater level etc. A few times while riding I've found myself clicking up/down on the cruise control rocker and wondering why the menus are not going up and down, only then to do the finger gymnastics to reach the actual rocker. It was the same on the FJR as it uses virtually the same switch-gear. The V-Strom selector was MUCH easier to use, however that bike is very feature-less compared to the ST ( more on this later )
Sitting on the bike, seat in the low position and suspension set to a solo rider, I could easily flat-foot the bike with both feet (excellent! a big plus for me! I'm 5'11" 210lbs)
Fiddling/adjusting the electronic suspension did yield noticeable results, even in ride height. I rode the bike with the seat in both the low and high positions, and preferred the low.
The bike is very comfortable,
The seating position is a little foreign to me, its very up-right, but the rider triangle (hands, feet, butt positions) felt very natural and well spaced. Plenty of leg room, and the tank is well shaped that you can still hold onto the bike with your legs if you want to. The bars are wide, but well curved and felt natural to hold onto. The grip guards did not interfere in any way like I suspected they might.
The FJ09 was more dirt-bike ish in its ergos, less room, and the FJR albeit very comfy as well has very high foot-pegs in comparison, not sport bike high, but high that I immediately noticed it when hopping aboard. Of all the bikes ridden that day, I felt the Super Tenere was the most comfy by a wide margin.
I did stand up on the bike while riding, and standing was very easy to do. I can see how guys stand on these bikes when riding in difficult terrain. The controls remain easy to reach and use.
The suspension felt very top notch. The bike did not heave forward and back like I was expecting it to while braking or accelerating (with having such a long travel and comfort oriented suspension I thought it would, the FJ09 did heave forward [brake dive] and back [squat] at low speeds while braking/accelerating) . Instead the ST ride was very smooth, steady, compliant, and at the same time firm enough to be sporty, well done Yamaha!
Handling also was surprisingly good, the bike felt planted in turns, could easily change lines mid corner, highway riding was smooth, very confidence inspiring. Great physical balance to the bike, slow speeds and around town maneuvers are a breeze. I've read many times about the ST, its low center of gravity and how it hides its weight very well, and that cannot be overstated. The ST feels MUCH lighter than it indicates it is on paper, and it did not feel much heavier than the FJ09, and felt MUCH lighter than the FJR. The FJR felt surprisingly heavy, and very much reminded me of my old ST1300, which while moving felt nimble, when pushing around or lifting off the side stand felt every much the 736lbs wet that it was. The BattleWing tires on the bike provided plenty of grip in turns, and were confidence inspiring. I did not notice any detrimental or beneficial effects of the front wheel being 19" vs 17" on all the other bikes. I did give the spokes on the wheels a little tap, looking for any loose spokes that I've read about on this site, found none that were loose.
This bike is shaping up very well so far!
Wind protection was not quite up to the Sport Tourer level like the FJR (which was the best of the bunch), but was still good, no buffeting/helmet shake, but I could hear a little bit of turbulent air above my helmet, I was not wearing ear plugs like I normally do, which I'm sure would have made for a much quieter ride. The windshield is adjustable, but I left it alone on its setting as it appeared to work well.
The heated grips worked well, and towards the end of the day when the temperatures started to fall some, they were very welcome. Here in slightly cooler temps the wind protection also showed itself to be adequate.
Cruise control is a very, very nice feature. Easy to use, and far superior to the throttle locks I've used in the past. You simply set the speed, and the bike maintains it, elevation changes in the road did not affect speed at all, adjusting the speed up or down is done by a dedicated rocker switch on the left grip. Canceling cruise is done by pressing the cruise button, grabbing the clutch or brake. the FJR was the only other bike with cruise control.
Now for the part I was dreading discovering.
The engine.
The sound and vibration from the big parallel twin is very pleasant. The vibration is very light, and low frequency, does not tire out the hands (unlike the FJR which made my hands numb a few times when I held it in its only vibey rpm range of 4500-5000rpm) The ST was its own brand of smooth at all rpm, no high frequency vibration anywhere, at any rpm, no part of the bike resonated, instead it felt solid all around. I can see how someone could cover very long distances on this bike and feel like doing more.
The power pulses and sound from the engine also reminded me a bit of a big v-twin cruiser engine, just with out the shaking. A few times I remember looking around to see where this cruiser I kept on hearing was, and the entire time it turned out to be the ST making the sound which when combined with wind noise sounded like a cruiser in the distance.
Power....
Ok, the ST has some nice low end torque, and the engine revs out well, but this was the only disappointing part. The power-band built well off the bottom, but then felt flat. I hit the rev limiter a bunch of times in the lower gears, which felt like it came on much too early. The bike seems to be missing mid-range, it builds Bbb-rrrr! then Pfft... rev limiter.... thats it.......
At a point in 1st gear when revving it out, did the bike give a hint that its unloading the front suspension and lifting the front wheel may have come across its mind, but then nope....
One thing I wish I would have tried is turning off the traction control, but I did not think of that until later in the day (I did on the V-Strom)
The FJR has considerably more power than the ST, as I was expecting it to, but feels soft on the bottom end when compared to the ST, and ferocious mid and especially high rpm compared to the ST. The FJ09 was very surprising in the engine department, it has a lot of character (low end grunt, low(er) frequency vibe as its building torque a little similar to the ST parallel twin, but it just keeps on building power and revs out well, not once did I hit the rev limiter on the FJR or the FJ09, and the FJ09 threatened to loft the front wheel a few times before I rolled off the throttle) If yamaha beefed up the FJ09 3-cylinder engine to 1200 cc and stuck in the Super Tenere, they would have a class leading combination!
So coming off the ST, I absolutely love the bike, except the engine......
Its not a bad engine, does everything well, just no mid-to-high range power......
The Yamaha rep guys asked me about the bike, and what I thought about it, I explained what I found, to which they responded by saying that the ST builds power in a different way and that me having owned a B-King I'm used to powerful inline 4s. Another yamaha rep also pointed out that ST owners grow to love the bike over time, its so different that its off-putting at first (talking about its engine character)
This is where I decided to ride the bike again later in the day once I've sampled the other bikes a bit more.
The 2nd ride,
Ok, this time around I tried to use the engine, perhaps the way it was intended to be used, short(er) shifting, and utilizing its strengths, not trying to rev it out like a I3 or I4.
The experience did improve dramatically, and the bike feels a lot more spunky. I can see myself growing to really like this bike.
But, after the 2nd ride, I still feel that the engine is missing a bit of something.....
I did examine the clutch lever assembly and thought about sticking an automotive fuse in there to see if I can get rid of the bike's limitations I read about on here, but the Yamaha reps were keeping a close eye on the bikes and would probably not appreciate people modifying their demo bikes
Now, for my one and only gripe about the bike, its minor, and has been covered on here before.
The Gear Indicator.
What, the, heck, was, Yamaha, Thinking?!?
The gear indicator is easily visible, as it is on the FJR and the nearly identical instrument cluster on the FJ09.
Yet, for (at first) reasons unknown, the gear indicator seems to indicate just a "-" Dash, instead of a gear "number" an infuriating amount of times!?
Several times I'd be coming to a stop, clicking down a few gears, thinking I'm in 1st with out giving the final "tap" on the gear selector to make sure I'm in 1st, but hey, I have a gear indicator, lets look, WHAT?
Where is the darn indicator? where did it go? Huh? What does the Dash "-" mean? is it broken? am I between gears? is that what neutral is?
Tap the shifter, nope, its in 1st... pull it up, ok, "N" shows up, tap it back into 1st, the "-" is back....
Ok, whatever, time to go, start rolling, a second or two later, the gear number "1" shows up....
Ok, I figured out that holding the clutch in makes the indicator show a dash "-" but why?
So many times I would be rolling at low speeds, pulling into a parking lot, or a spot to pull over checking the indicator to see what gear I'm in (after all I'm not familiar with the bike) only to be greeted with the obtuse "-" on the dash... oh well, the indicator is useless 1/2 the time I'd use it (when rolling and clutch out, the indicator does actually show what gear you're in, albeit with a slight delay when shifting, so I guess its better than no indicator at all)
All the other Yamaha bikes of the day, even the FJ09 with the nearly identical dash do not do this, their indicators are immediate, and never display a "-" dash. Neither does the V-Strom 1000, its indicator works normally.
Ok, rant over.
A quick note on the V-Strom 1000.
The bike is a '14 DL1000SE (has luggage)
Its riding position is similar to the ST, but its more cramped, the reach to the bars is a tad shorter. The bike is also taller, with an un-adjustable seat, I had to stand on the balls of my feet. The foot pegs and tank give ample room, however the pegs are positioned exactly where my legs go when standing at a red light, both pegs are very much in my way and my legs would hit them every time. The suspension is not quite as compliant, and a tad harsher, with no electronic adjustability. The bike does feel light, and is lighter than the ST, but at the same time it feels like its carrying a bit more weight up high when compared to the ST. The handling is good, but not as confidence inspiring as the ST.
Now it may sound like I don't like the V-Strom 1000, but on the contrary, its a very nice bike, and feels a level or two below the Super Tenere yet I think it is its main competition with a serious price advantage.
The engine however, is where I think it has an edge over the ST. The 90 degree V-twin has a similar but at the same time different feel than the parallel twin, it feels more sporty, has considerably more mid-range. The mid-range is where the V-Strom excels, its top-end power is not much different from the ST (albeit a bit more punchy), and similar low-end grunt.
Wind protection on the ST is smoother, but its not bad on the DL. I can see the DL being a mid-range bike, possibly being able to do long range comfortably, while I'm very confident that the ST would do very well on a long distance multi day trip. Only once did I hit the rev-limiter on the DL, and I was trying to see what its top end rush was (almost non-existent, like the ST)
The V-Strom is a cheaper alternative to the Super Tenere, I think its clever of Suzuki to position its bike close enough to be an alternative to the ST, but far away enough that its not direct competition.
Here is the Super Tenere ES ready to be loaded onto the Yamaha Power Tour Trailer.
So,
Would I buy any of these bikes if I had the means to right now?
I'm not sure.
At the end of the day, I think the order I'd put the bikes in are as follows:
Super Tenere ES, best all arounder adventure bike
V-Strom 1000, best budget all arounder adventure bike
FJR1300, good all around, smooth, enough power to rule them all
FJ09, spunky bike that could possibly do it all, very similar to a Versys 650 I rode not long ago, but with a FAR superior engine.
After today, I'm still as un-decided as ever.
I think I need to ride more bikes. Maybe that KTM Super Adventure... or the Connie 14.... Versys 1000.....
I did ride the '14 MultiStrada last year, and it was promising (it could almost keep up with the B-King I think)
Hope you guys enjoyed the read,
Do you agree with some of my points? Disagree?
I welcome your opinions, experiences and thoughts.
Easy Flyer
A quick decision today allowed me to attend a Yamaha Power Tour demo day in a near-by town (yep, ducked out of work early to take this opportunity)
Being a Thursday with questionable weather in the forecast turned out to my advantage as with the exception of the first ride which had about 7 riders, I pretty much had the whole place to myself and could test several bikes back to back, including the host Dealer's demo 2014 V-Strom 1000.
And when I say I had the place to myself, I mean, only on two rides were there any other riders present other than me and the "group leader"
The Yamaha rep laughed and called it a "personal demo ride day"
The bikes I rode in order:
'15 Super Tenere
'15 FJR 1300
'15 FJ '09
'15 Super Tenere (yep, rode it twice)
'14 V-Strom 1000
I spent about 4.5hrs riding the various bikes, each time the route was a little different, and the V-Strom I rode by myself, I was not allowed to ride with the actual demo guys when riding the Suzuki (I'm guessing its a demo day, or yamaha rule) The weather turned out to be sunny and rain free, dry roads, traffic only in the in-town sections.
The purpose of the outing for me was to demo and test ride the Super Tenere ES, hopefully with some other bikes thrown in for comparison.
A little background on me,
I've been riding for about 20 years, owned a wide range of bikes
(the complete bike list owned with its highlights or not)
'85 Vulcan 750 (first bike, all around bad due to age/design)
'89 FZR600 (buzzy engine, spunky little 600, very uncomfortable)
'91 FZR1000 (nice power, heavy compared to the 600, mechanical issues, very uncomfortable)
'97 GSF1200 Bandit1200 (comfy, little buzzy, monster torque, soft suspension)
'97 CBR1100XX BlackBird (SMOOTH, FAST!, Comfy, did one track day on it, sold it)
'97 TL1000S (V-Twin torque!, light! great for track days and around town, short trips, mechanical issues)
'98 YZF R1 (best track bike I've ever ridden, effortless to drag knee on the track, fantastic engine, suspension, brakes, all around great sport bike)
'98 GL1500C Honda Valkyrie (Smooooth, torquey, Comfy for around town, great for double riding, not so great long distance/highway)
'05 ST1300A (Best Distance bike I've owned, great range, very smooth and comfortable, good handling, should have kept it, did a 10,000km trip on it to the rockies and back, VERY Heavy)
'07 GSF1250A Bandit 1250 ABS, (smooth, comfy, cheap components, rust!?)
'08 GSX1300BK Suzuki B-King, (muscle bike that handles, a 'Naked" Busa, 170+ hp [full exhaust, tuned etc etc], ok ergos, sold it several weeks ago, the performance did spoil me)
Thats my last bike, the GSX1300BK.
By B-King being my last bike does color my opinion of other bike's engines/performance and other characteristics (braking, handling etc), however long ago I've come to the conclusion that all that power is not necessary and I did not use it, I like having fun, and riding a bike that can be exciting and fun to ride is very important, but I very much like riding long(er) distances, go exploring, and would like to do a few more long bike trips in the future, luggage carrying capacity, comfortable ergos and suspension are equally (if not more) important. I've also come to the conclusion that from time to time I'd like to ride where the pavement stops and gravel/dirt road begins, hence my interest in the "adventure sport-tourer" style bike and the Super Tenere.
Now back onto the Super Tenere ES demo ride,
The Demo bike had 15,500km on it (almost 10k miles) so its well broken in.
All the components looked and felt high quality, great fit and finish on the bike. Instruments are very well placed and easy to read. Most of the hand controls are easy to reach, with the exception of the selector rocker which is way out of the way and awkward to reach with the left hand, this is the rocker that selects levels of suspension preload/damping, grip heater level etc. A few times while riding I've found myself clicking up/down on the cruise control rocker and wondering why the menus are not going up and down, only then to do the finger gymnastics to reach the actual rocker. It was the same on the FJR as it uses virtually the same switch-gear. The V-Strom selector was MUCH easier to use, however that bike is very feature-less compared to the ST ( more on this later )
Sitting on the bike, seat in the low position and suspension set to a solo rider, I could easily flat-foot the bike with both feet (excellent! a big plus for me! I'm 5'11" 210lbs)
Fiddling/adjusting the electronic suspension did yield noticeable results, even in ride height. I rode the bike with the seat in both the low and high positions, and preferred the low.
The bike is very comfortable,
The seating position is a little foreign to me, its very up-right, but the rider triangle (hands, feet, butt positions) felt very natural and well spaced. Plenty of leg room, and the tank is well shaped that you can still hold onto the bike with your legs if you want to. The bars are wide, but well curved and felt natural to hold onto. The grip guards did not interfere in any way like I suspected they might.
The FJ09 was more dirt-bike ish in its ergos, less room, and the FJR albeit very comfy as well has very high foot-pegs in comparison, not sport bike high, but high that I immediately noticed it when hopping aboard. Of all the bikes ridden that day, I felt the Super Tenere was the most comfy by a wide margin.
I did stand up on the bike while riding, and standing was very easy to do. I can see how guys stand on these bikes when riding in difficult terrain. The controls remain easy to reach and use.
The suspension felt very top notch. The bike did not heave forward and back like I was expecting it to while braking or accelerating (with having such a long travel and comfort oriented suspension I thought it would, the FJ09 did heave forward [brake dive] and back [squat] at low speeds while braking/accelerating) . Instead the ST ride was very smooth, steady, compliant, and at the same time firm enough to be sporty, well done Yamaha!
Handling also was surprisingly good, the bike felt planted in turns, could easily change lines mid corner, highway riding was smooth, very confidence inspiring. Great physical balance to the bike, slow speeds and around town maneuvers are a breeze. I've read many times about the ST, its low center of gravity and how it hides its weight very well, and that cannot be overstated. The ST feels MUCH lighter than it indicates it is on paper, and it did not feel much heavier than the FJ09, and felt MUCH lighter than the FJR. The FJR felt surprisingly heavy, and very much reminded me of my old ST1300, which while moving felt nimble, when pushing around or lifting off the side stand felt every much the 736lbs wet that it was. The BattleWing tires on the bike provided plenty of grip in turns, and were confidence inspiring. I did not notice any detrimental or beneficial effects of the front wheel being 19" vs 17" on all the other bikes. I did give the spokes on the wheels a little tap, looking for any loose spokes that I've read about on this site, found none that were loose.
This bike is shaping up very well so far!
Wind protection was not quite up to the Sport Tourer level like the FJR (which was the best of the bunch), but was still good, no buffeting/helmet shake, but I could hear a little bit of turbulent air above my helmet, I was not wearing ear plugs like I normally do, which I'm sure would have made for a much quieter ride. The windshield is adjustable, but I left it alone on its setting as it appeared to work well.
The heated grips worked well, and towards the end of the day when the temperatures started to fall some, they were very welcome. Here in slightly cooler temps the wind protection also showed itself to be adequate.
Cruise control is a very, very nice feature. Easy to use, and far superior to the throttle locks I've used in the past. You simply set the speed, and the bike maintains it, elevation changes in the road did not affect speed at all, adjusting the speed up or down is done by a dedicated rocker switch on the left grip. Canceling cruise is done by pressing the cruise button, grabbing the clutch or brake. the FJR was the only other bike with cruise control.
Now for the part I was dreading discovering.
The engine.
The sound and vibration from the big parallel twin is very pleasant. The vibration is very light, and low frequency, does not tire out the hands (unlike the FJR which made my hands numb a few times when I held it in its only vibey rpm range of 4500-5000rpm) The ST was its own brand of smooth at all rpm, no high frequency vibration anywhere, at any rpm, no part of the bike resonated, instead it felt solid all around. I can see how someone could cover very long distances on this bike and feel like doing more.
The power pulses and sound from the engine also reminded me a bit of a big v-twin cruiser engine, just with out the shaking. A few times I remember looking around to see where this cruiser I kept on hearing was, and the entire time it turned out to be the ST making the sound which when combined with wind noise sounded like a cruiser in the distance.
Power....
Ok, the ST has some nice low end torque, and the engine revs out well, but this was the only disappointing part. The power-band built well off the bottom, but then felt flat. I hit the rev limiter a bunch of times in the lower gears, which felt like it came on much too early. The bike seems to be missing mid-range, it builds Bbb-rrrr! then Pfft... rev limiter.... thats it.......
At a point in 1st gear when revving it out, did the bike give a hint that its unloading the front suspension and lifting the front wheel may have come across its mind, but then nope....
One thing I wish I would have tried is turning off the traction control, but I did not think of that until later in the day (I did on the V-Strom)
The FJR has considerably more power than the ST, as I was expecting it to, but feels soft on the bottom end when compared to the ST, and ferocious mid and especially high rpm compared to the ST. The FJ09 was very surprising in the engine department, it has a lot of character (low end grunt, low(er) frequency vibe as its building torque a little similar to the ST parallel twin, but it just keeps on building power and revs out well, not once did I hit the rev limiter on the FJR or the FJ09, and the FJ09 threatened to loft the front wheel a few times before I rolled off the throttle) If yamaha beefed up the FJ09 3-cylinder engine to 1200 cc and stuck in the Super Tenere, they would have a class leading combination!
So coming off the ST, I absolutely love the bike, except the engine......
Its not a bad engine, does everything well, just no mid-to-high range power......
The Yamaha rep guys asked me about the bike, and what I thought about it, I explained what I found, to which they responded by saying that the ST builds power in a different way and that me having owned a B-King I'm used to powerful inline 4s. Another yamaha rep also pointed out that ST owners grow to love the bike over time, its so different that its off-putting at first (talking about its engine character)
This is where I decided to ride the bike again later in the day once I've sampled the other bikes a bit more.
The 2nd ride,
Ok, this time around I tried to use the engine, perhaps the way it was intended to be used, short(er) shifting, and utilizing its strengths, not trying to rev it out like a I3 or I4.
The experience did improve dramatically, and the bike feels a lot more spunky. I can see myself growing to really like this bike.
But, after the 2nd ride, I still feel that the engine is missing a bit of something.....
I did examine the clutch lever assembly and thought about sticking an automotive fuse in there to see if I can get rid of the bike's limitations I read about on here, but the Yamaha reps were keeping a close eye on the bikes and would probably not appreciate people modifying their demo bikes
Now, for my one and only gripe about the bike, its minor, and has been covered on here before.
The Gear Indicator.
What, the, heck, was, Yamaha, Thinking?!?
The gear indicator is easily visible, as it is on the FJR and the nearly identical instrument cluster on the FJ09.
Yet, for (at first) reasons unknown, the gear indicator seems to indicate just a "-" Dash, instead of a gear "number" an infuriating amount of times!?
Several times I'd be coming to a stop, clicking down a few gears, thinking I'm in 1st with out giving the final "tap" on the gear selector to make sure I'm in 1st, but hey, I have a gear indicator, lets look, WHAT?
Where is the darn indicator? where did it go? Huh? What does the Dash "-" mean? is it broken? am I between gears? is that what neutral is?
Tap the shifter, nope, its in 1st... pull it up, ok, "N" shows up, tap it back into 1st, the "-" is back....
Ok, whatever, time to go, start rolling, a second or two later, the gear number "1" shows up....
Ok, I figured out that holding the clutch in makes the indicator show a dash "-" but why?
So many times I would be rolling at low speeds, pulling into a parking lot, or a spot to pull over checking the indicator to see what gear I'm in (after all I'm not familiar with the bike) only to be greeted with the obtuse "-" on the dash... oh well, the indicator is useless 1/2 the time I'd use it (when rolling and clutch out, the indicator does actually show what gear you're in, albeit with a slight delay when shifting, so I guess its better than no indicator at all)
All the other Yamaha bikes of the day, even the FJ09 with the nearly identical dash do not do this, their indicators are immediate, and never display a "-" dash. Neither does the V-Strom 1000, its indicator works normally.
Ok, rant over.
A quick note on the V-Strom 1000.
The bike is a '14 DL1000SE (has luggage)
Its riding position is similar to the ST, but its more cramped, the reach to the bars is a tad shorter. The bike is also taller, with an un-adjustable seat, I had to stand on the balls of my feet. The foot pegs and tank give ample room, however the pegs are positioned exactly where my legs go when standing at a red light, both pegs are very much in my way and my legs would hit them every time. The suspension is not quite as compliant, and a tad harsher, with no electronic adjustability. The bike does feel light, and is lighter than the ST, but at the same time it feels like its carrying a bit more weight up high when compared to the ST. The handling is good, but not as confidence inspiring as the ST.
Now it may sound like I don't like the V-Strom 1000, but on the contrary, its a very nice bike, and feels a level or two below the Super Tenere yet I think it is its main competition with a serious price advantage.
The engine however, is where I think it has an edge over the ST. The 90 degree V-twin has a similar but at the same time different feel than the parallel twin, it feels more sporty, has considerably more mid-range. The mid-range is where the V-Strom excels, its top-end power is not much different from the ST (albeit a bit more punchy), and similar low-end grunt.
Wind protection on the ST is smoother, but its not bad on the DL. I can see the DL being a mid-range bike, possibly being able to do long range comfortably, while I'm very confident that the ST would do very well on a long distance multi day trip. Only once did I hit the rev-limiter on the DL, and I was trying to see what its top end rush was (almost non-existent, like the ST)
The V-Strom is a cheaper alternative to the Super Tenere, I think its clever of Suzuki to position its bike close enough to be an alternative to the ST, but far away enough that its not direct competition.
Here is the Super Tenere ES ready to be loaded onto the Yamaha Power Tour Trailer.
So,
Would I buy any of these bikes if I had the means to right now?
I'm not sure.
At the end of the day, I think the order I'd put the bikes in are as follows:
Super Tenere ES, best all arounder adventure bike
V-Strom 1000, best budget all arounder adventure bike
FJR1300, good all around, smooth, enough power to rule them all
FJ09, spunky bike that could possibly do it all, very similar to a Versys 650 I rode not long ago, but with a FAR superior engine.
After today, I'm still as un-decided as ever.
I think I need to ride more bikes. Maybe that KTM Super Adventure... or the Connie 14.... Versys 1000.....
I did ride the '14 MultiStrada last year, and it was promising (it could almost keep up with the B-King I think)
Hope you guys enjoyed the read,
Do you agree with some of my points? Disagree?
I welcome your opinions, experiences and thoughts.
Easy Flyer
