Looking for some advise

[Jeffthechef]

I have had my 2010 Super Tenere from new and have never had any serious issues since I bought the bike. I have done just under 250,000 km (154,000 miles) in the five years I have owned the bike. My S10 has done over 30 IBA rides, the Dalton Hwy, numerous adventures in the Australian outback, crossed the Australia continent twice in under four days and has done a 32,000 km two up ride around the states and Canada. I have serviced the bike at regular intervals but have not babied the bike and the only issue that I ever had was a sticky valve tappet.

That was until earlier this week when I went to start the bike and it fired up immediately and then shut down and refused to start again. I had a suspicion it had something to do with the cam chain as it was making a little more noise lately. After loading the bike on the trailer and taking it to my regular mechanic my suspicions were confirmed, the cam chain jumped a few teeth on the sprocket and the the tensioner had failed and needs to be replaced long with the chain but lucky there was no damage done to the valves.

The advise that I am looking for is it worth the money (est $900) to fix these items or use the funds towards another Tenere. As nothing else has gone wrong with the bike so far and with the amount of kilometers already on it am I better to keep the old bike and use the farkles and parts on another Tenere or do you think it has some life left in it.

Any advise or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Nikolajsen]

Sorry to read..

Well, the cam tensioner is a week point on gen 1 S10. So if it is the original, thats probaly why it failed.
But to your question:
If it was me, I would trade your old S10, in exchange for a newer model (2014 or newer), alone because of the many km. But also because the gen2 is improved on many things.

But I don't really know, what would hit you the least on the money.....repair and trade it in, og trying to find a buyer that can fix the repair him self.

 

[Dogdaze]

Firstly, congratulations on the mileage ::008:: Secondly, imo, it would depend on how long you plan on keeping the bike, as a $900 spend, the bike needs to last at least another year.
If it were me, I would let the old girl die with dignity and buy a new ride, from experience, once things start to go, it kind of cascades, then you end up putting more money that the bike is worth........

 

[Sierra1]

....from experience, once things start to go, it kind of cascades, then you end up putting more money that the bike is worth....

::026:: Between the age & miles, you've got your moneys worth. Impressive mileage. I usually keep my cars/bikes until the wheels fall off; I think you may have reached that point. I would find a left over 60th Anniversary edition, ES. (because that is available down there) Either way, keep riding. ::001::

 

[SilverBullet]

I would first enlist your dealer to do some serious lobbying to Yamaha on your behalf. Although your warranty is long expired, Goodwill assistance should be extended. They probably won't cover you 100% but a 50/50 share would be reasonable.

The Gen 1 CCT should have been a recall. Anyone reading the various forums is aware and Yamaha has replaced many under warranty already both pre and post failure. But for the many that just buy and ride the bikes are getting higher in mileage and these failures are showing up at a higher frequency. It will fail prematurely, literally a ticking time bomb.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk

 

[Dogdaze]

I would first enlist your dealer to do some serious lobbying to Yamaha on your behalf. Although your warranty is long expired, Goodwill assistance should be extended. They probably won't cover you 100% but a 50/50 share would be reasonable.

The Gen 1 CCT should have been a recall. Anyone reading the various forums is aware and Yamaha has replaced many under warranty already both pre and post failure. But for the many that just buy and ride the bikes are getting higher in mileage and these failures are showing up at a higher frequency. It will fail prematurely, literally a ticking time bomb.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk

I would agree with you, but for the fact that the bike has 250k km's and the CCT is a borderline 'wear' item.

 

[SilverBullet]

I would agree with you, but for the fact that the bike has 250k km's and the CCT is a borderline 'wear' item.

It is not about wear it is about CCT design. Yamaha knows this, has admitted it by superceded redesign and by proactively covering this under warranty for others prior to failure.

It might not be successful but I would try by getting a quality dealer in your camp asap. If dealer doesn't produce desired result then direct calls in to Yamaha can't hurt.

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[Checkswrecks]

I do like SilverBullet's idea of trying to enlist the dealer.


Beyond, that whether to repair or replace would be really subjective and so hard for any of us to help much with. I rode home last night on an airplane and the guy in the next seat is well-off. He trades bikes in at the first service interval and never more than 8-10,000 miles. Few of us can afford to do that! The $900 is less than a new bike and the cheapest vehicle to own is almost always the one you have. Financially, you probably fit somewhere in between those extremes so we can't help. Most folks here are in North America and will also have a different valuation on the cost of a bike versus your personal income and other expenses.


Probably a bigger question is how attached you are to this bike and how much a new bike is calling to you? You clearly have a long history with this bike and some pride. But then we all know about affairs of the heart. Again, a really subjective decision.

 

[HeliMark]

I would say, if you could financially do it, is replace with a newer one. At some point as you get closer to the 200K mile area, I would expect you to start having more issues just from parts that are getting worn down. Not sure how well the engine is after 200K miles, although this engine is one of the better ones. Plus with the mileage you do, a real cruise control would be great.


Mark

 

[OldRider]

I would question the $900. First off I would put a manual CCT in it so you're talking about $200 for parts + labor.

 

[stutrump]

I'm kind of in the same boat. My feeling is fix it and then start saving for another. If you're very lucky you may even be able to keep your current one and buy another. My S10 has 108,000 miles and in UK that means nobody wants it anyway..(dealers would offer me about £1,000 max for it so if I can fix it then its worth more to me. Hope that makes sense.
ie..if the market is similar there why sell it for such little money when you could even use it for bits yourself

 

[AVGeek]

Once again, Checkswrecks nails it on the head. When I first saw this post, I skipped over the mileage, and my initial thought was "only $900, fix it!" Given some of the other examples of longevity with this bike, I think hanging on to it isn't a crazy notion. I'm also one of those that high mileage isn't necessarily a turn off, I bought my Ford pickup with the much maligned 6.0 diesel with 181k miles, and its still going strong with over 240k now (I'm shooting for 500k!). Sure, I've had to make repairs along the way, and as a friend of mine who works for Ford told me, it's a maintenance-intensive motor (way more than the Teneres!), but I'm perfectly happy with it.

So I say, if you're itching for a new bike, get the new bike (whatever it may be). If you're perfectly happy with your current bike, fix it and keep on rolling!

 

[Jeffthechef]

Thanks for all the advise, suggestions and feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

I still have not made up my mind but will contact my local Yamaha dealer soon. After almost 30 visits for oil and filters they know me quite well and I will discuss the matter with them and see if any good will can be organised.

As far as buying a new bike, if I need to get one that would be no problem but I have spent quite a lot of time on this one and would hate to give up on it if I can get some more life from it for the next year.

If I do go the way of a new bike I would consider getting a low kilometer 10 or 11. There are a few around with only 20,000 km on the clock and going for a good price. As I have an auxiliary fuel cell for my bike I thought I could use the tank from my bike and swap it over to a new bike and avoid the issue of re-drilling and fitting an outlet into a new tank. The idea of heated grips, cruise control and some more electronic convenience is very tempting but I have been so happy with what I know I will most likely go with another Gen 1 at the moment.

Thanks again for the help and will post when I decide what to do.

 

[OX-34]

Jeff, when TigerBill was cleaned up by the car riding my Gen 1 a couple of years ago I considered buying a new one. But I liked my old one, so bought a low mileage replacement. To me they are the same bike, more so because I removed the farkles from the wreck and bolted them to the 'new' one.

I think I'm up to about 120000km on the two bikes combined and my current one is only about 65K.

 

[steve68steve]

I would agree with you, but for the fact that the bike has 250k km's and the CCT is a borderline 'wear' item.

I used to consider the CCT a "wear" item until I replaced mine. There is nothing about it that should wear, in the classical sense: it has few moving parts, they don't move far or fast, and they move in a pressurized bath of oil.


Pistons endure constant explosions, thermal cycling, corrosive gases, a comparatively huge range of motion, with a comparatively tiny amount of oil. Pistons should wear out in a fraction of the time a CCT does.

 

[bruinTENEREguy]

My $.02:

If l'd rack up similar miles on a newer one, I'd replace. If not, I'd spend the $900, because that's probably thousands less than I'd spend on even a good used one.

If I had any interest in keeping the bike as a buddy bike or backup I'd fix and keep, or not fix and keep amd use as garage or man cave decoration if I had the space.

If I was buying a newer one and could find a friend or someone interested in the bike to repair or use for parts, I'd give it to them dirt cheap. It would have to be cheap because there's no guarantee the bike will run after the new CTT, even though it PROBABLY will run and for many miles. I'm thinking a good price might be $500-1000, but it still might be a tough sell (market depending.) I'd probably just give it to a close friend or family and say "good luck and enjoy."

In no event, unless I really didn't want to deal with the bike, would I trade it to a dealer. Any trade value they'd give me, in my eyes, would not exceed a discount they'd be willing to give without the trade. A dealer would have to fix the bike to sell and is taking the same gamble as a private party buyer, or would have to transport it to auction where they'd get next to nothing in its current state.

Tough call. The short version is my decision would depend on whether I had a desire or need to keep the bike, probably as a backup but not for the purpose I've used it for this far, and whether i had the funds for a newer one. I'd lean towards keeping it in any case, as a primary or buddy bike, unless space was an issue. Reason is it's not worth much money but would be worth a lot to me for sentimental reasons, and the price of the repair is also likely to come very close to a sale price even if the bike is running.

 

[Cycledude]

Sounds fixable but as much as you ride I think you should probably upgrade to a later model that is equipped with cruise control. Lots of used parts could easily be sold off the old bike .

 

[rid34fun]

That is awesome on the miles! Congrats. Get a '14 or above, as much as you ride cruise is essential once you get one. I love mine.

 

[Jeffthechef]

Thanks to all the advise and options. All the help was greatly appreciated.

After a long talk with my mechanic who has been looking after my S10 since new I have decided to go ahead with the repairs on my CCT and chain He feels that the motor is in still such good shape as is the rest of the bike. He can not guarantee the longevity of the bike but thinks that it should be good for at least another year or longer but that does depend on how many kilometers goes on it in the next twelve months. I did look around for other Teneres and made an offer on one but I have become quite attached to this bike and feel that since this has been the only major item to go wrong in the last five years it would not be right not to give it one more chance.

My local Yamaha dealer listened to my issues and did offer the parts at a very heavily discounted price but because of the mileage no further goodwill warranty could be given.

Thanks again for all the feedback and help.

 

[Nikolajsen]

::008::
I think it is that you have been treated well, at the Yamaha dealer