MeefZah
Curmudgeonly
I suppose I should check in here, I have been reading up on some threads and replied to a handful in the past few weeks. Seems like a good site, good people, maybe a little more polite than ADV so I will have to curb my tongue... 
My name is Mark, I live near New Philly OH (south of Canton).
I put 70,000 miles on my 2007 V-Strom 650, which was getting pretty long in the tooth. I was leaning pretty hard towards a Tiger 800 as a replacement bike, but the local dealership didn't have any of the roadie 800s in stock. I got to looking at the one un-prepped Tenere they had in stock, which I had been interested in since it was announced that it would be a pre-order US bike. I had never figured on owning one since it seemed too big and too expensive for me... but as it would happen the dealer was itching to move the new black 2012 with 0 miles on it. I made a stupid lowball offer expecting (hoping?) they would reject it, but they ended up accepting it ($11,399). So... I bought it. Also bought a 5 year warranty since I figure this'll have to be a keeper.
I've put 2000 miles on it in the past 2 weeks. Initially, I was not very happy with it. Maybe a combination of buyer's remorse coupled with the fact that the first real ride I took (350 miles) was overnight and in the rain... perhaps the misery of the ride seeped into my psyche and came across as a negative impression of the bike. I also have never had a shaft drive before, never had a hydraulic clutch, never had a 1200 cc, never had a parallel twin, etc... I was also annoyed with the lurching in first gear, and the buffeting from the windshield. Plus, as someone else told me, I put a lot of miles on a 650 Strom and my impressions of what a bike should feel like were probably diluted by that experience.
The Tenere has been growing on me since the first ride, and I am slowly getting to really like it. I'm getting used to the nuances of the shaft drive, the first gear lurching was cured with the clutch switch fuse mod, the buffeting is tolerable and with earplugs in it's a lot less noticeable, I got the controls all adjusted to where they are more comfortable, and I'm just laying down some miles to get to know 'er.
Only mods I've done are Oxford heated grips (pulled off my Strom), a Wolfman Explorer Light tank bag (Strom), GPS and RAM mount (Strom), and an ABS override switch. I may get Happy Trails racks in the future, since I already have bags from my Strom; and maybe a Kriega tailbag to stow my tools and flat tire kit in; and that's really about all I'm interested in as far as farkles go. I do want to install a switch for the clutch override mod, I will get around to that one of these days. I don't see much need for a skid plate or engine guards, or many of the other farkles I've seen on Altrider and Twisted Throttle. Part A, I have no money; and Part B, I rode my Strom in all kinds of wacky stuff and never needed that equipment - and the Tenere sits about like a Strom as far as ground clearance, oil filter, and so on. I do plan on carrying a spare oil filter with me in case I hole this one, though. Probably get Kenda Big Blocks or Heidenau Scout tires when the OEM Tourances die. Hopefully Kenda changes the design to get more life from the Big Blocks, 2000 miles per rear is no good.
About me; I'm married, and have two teenage stepdaughters. I work full time as a police officer and part time as an EMT, and I am also a volunteer EMT and firefighter in a nearby village / township department. My wife rides a V-Strom 650 as well, and I also have a WR250R. I enjoy traveling by motorcycle, reading, shooting, camping, photography, hiking, outdoor oriented stuff. As far as motorcycling goes, I like the roads less traveled and really enjoy ripping up some gravel and dirt roads (tons of that around here!). I dabble in off road stuff on the WR but I'm not fast or particularly skilled. My longest trip on a bike thus far was in 2010, I did 8100 miles over 18 days all through the US - highlights being Engineer Pass and a ton of cool dual sport destinations out west. My most recent trip was a few weeks back, 3 of us on small D/S bikes did 1100 miles of sand and trails over 4 days in Michigan's UP.
So there, that's my story.
Oh, here's my Tenere, it looks like every other Tenere, but this one is mine...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
An edit, 5-30-13: After 9 months and 8000 miles, I have traded in the Tenere on a 2013 V-Strom 650.
I wanted to like the Tenere, I just couldn't get in the groove with it. The things that bothered me that I could not get resolved, were the poor gas mileage (I was getting about 35 mpg average - I'm pretty hard on the throttle), the uncomfortable seat (tried several aftermarket solutions), the erratic power delivery in 1-2 gears (the clutch mod switch seemed to help at times, and at other times seemed to cause more trouble), the frequent surging and then stalling in 1st gear, the weight, and the accelerated tire wear (my last rear went 3000 miles).
Compare that to the V-Strom that I once owned, which is still in my garage being now piloted by my wife. That thing was butter smooth, great on gas, insanely comfortable, and gave me much better tire and component wear. In fact, the tipping point in my Tenere ownership experience was when I decided I'd rather ride her clapped out Strom on a 4 day camping trip than I would my brand new Tenere. I figured at that point, what the hell was I making a bike payment for on something I didn't even really like riding...?
The original selling dealer gave me an acceptable trade in value ($10,000), which put very little negative equity in the new Strom. I got 0% financing on the new Strom, and will take delivery in a few days.
I appreciate the great information I got from this site. I made a few friends, bought and sold some great stuff, and learned a lot.
See you guys on the road.
-Mark
My name is Mark, I live near New Philly OH (south of Canton).
I put 70,000 miles on my 2007 V-Strom 650, which was getting pretty long in the tooth. I was leaning pretty hard towards a Tiger 800 as a replacement bike, but the local dealership didn't have any of the roadie 800s in stock. I got to looking at the one un-prepped Tenere they had in stock, which I had been interested in since it was announced that it would be a pre-order US bike. I had never figured on owning one since it seemed too big and too expensive for me... but as it would happen the dealer was itching to move the new black 2012 with 0 miles on it. I made a stupid lowball offer expecting (hoping?) they would reject it, but they ended up accepting it ($11,399). So... I bought it. Also bought a 5 year warranty since I figure this'll have to be a keeper.
I've put 2000 miles on it in the past 2 weeks. Initially, I was not very happy with it. Maybe a combination of buyer's remorse coupled with the fact that the first real ride I took (350 miles) was overnight and in the rain... perhaps the misery of the ride seeped into my psyche and came across as a negative impression of the bike. I also have never had a shaft drive before, never had a hydraulic clutch, never had a 1200 cc, never had a parallel twin, etc... I was also annoyed with the lurching in first gear, and the buffeting from the windshield. Plus, as someone else told me, I put a lot of miles on a 650 Strom and my impressions of what a bike should feel like were probably diluted by that experience.
The Tenere has been growing on me since the first ride, and I am slowly getting to really like it. I'm getting used to the nuances of the shaft drive, the first gear lurching was cured with the clutch switch fuse mod, the buffeting is tolerable and with earplugs in it's a lot less noticeable, I got the controls all adjusted to where they are more comfortable, and I'm just laying down some miles to get to know 'er.
Only mods I've done are Oxford heated grips (pulled off my Strom), a Wolfman Explorer Light tank bag (Strom), GPS and RAM mount (Strom), and an ABS override switch. I may get Happy Trails racks in the future, since I already have bags from my Strom; and maybe a Kriega tailbag to stow my tools and flat tire kit in; and that's really about all I'm interested in as far as farkles go. I do want to install a switch for the clutch override mod, I will get around to that one of these days. I don't see much need for a skid plate or engine guards, or many of the other farkles I've seen on Altrider and Twisted Throttle. Part A, I have no money; and Part B, I rode my Strom in all kinds of wacky stuff and never needed that equipment - and the Tenere sits about like a Strom as far as ground clearance, oil filter, and so on. I do plan on carrying a spare oil filter with me in case I hole this one, though. Probably get Kenda Big Blocks or Heidenau Scout tires when the OEM Tourances die. Hopefully Kenda changes the design to get more life from the Big Blocks, 2000 miles per rear is no good.
About me; I'm married, and have two teenage stepdaughters. I work full time as a police officer and part time as an EMT, and I am also a volunteer EMT and firefighter in a nearby village / township department. My wife rides a V-Strom 650 as well, and I also have a WR250R. I enjoy traveling by motorcycle, reading, shooting, camping, photography, hiking, outdoor oriented stuff. As far as motorcycling goes, I like the roads less traveled and really enjoy ripping up some gravel and dirt roads (tons of that around here!). I dabble in off road stuff on the WR but I'm not fast or particularly skilled. My longest trip on a bike thus far was in 2010, I did 8100 miles over 18 days all through the US - highlights being Engineer Pass and a ton of cool dual sport destinations out west. My most recent trip was a few weeks back, 3 of us on small D/S bikes did 1100 miles of sand and trails over 4 days in Michigan's UP.
So there, that's my story.
Oh, here's my Tenere, it looks like every other Tenere, but this one is mine...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
An edit, 5-30-13: After 9 months and 8000 miles, I have traded in the Tenere on a 2013 V-Strom 650.
I wanted to like the Tenere, I just couldn't get in the groove with it. The things that bothered me that I could not get resolved, were the poor gas mileage (I was getting about 35 mpg average - I'm pretty hard on the throttle), the uncomfortable seat (tried several aftermarket solutions), the erratic power delivery in 1-2 gears (the clutch mod switch seemed to help at times, and at other times seemed to cause more trouble), the frequent surging and then stalling in 1st gear, the weight, and the accelerated tire wear (my last rear went 3000 miles).
Compare that to the V-Strom that I once owned, which is still in my garage being now piloted by my wife. That thing was butter smooth, great on gas, insanely comfortable, and gave me much better tire and component wear. In fact, the tipping point in my Tenere ownership experience was when I decided I'd rather ride her clapped out Strom on a 4 day camping trip than I would my brand new Tenere. I figured at that point, what the hell was I making a bike payment for on something I didn't even really like riding...?
The original selling dealer gave me an acceptable trade in value ($10,000), which put very little negative equity in the new Strom. I got 0% financing on the new Strom, and will take delivery in a few days.
I appreciate the great information I got from this site. I made a few friends, bought and sold some great stuff, and learned a lot.
See you guys on the road.
-Mark
