New Owner- a few questions...

[BadNews]

May I suggest an oversize "foot" for the kickstand as a early farkle? Will save a lot of worry when you park it somewhere soft..

All suggestions are welcome and yours sounds like a good one. Thanks!
I see you are from Bowling Green, KY. I lived there when I was in 3rd-4th-5th grade, can't remember the street exactly, but Russellville Rd. comes to mind for some reason. My niece and nephew and respective kids still live there. Home of the Corvette factory and museum (I've visited the museum) and not far from Mammoth Cave (class field trip!)

Can't wait until tomorrow when I take delivery!!! ::015::

 

[CentralCal]

May I suggest an oversize "foot" for the kickstand as a early farkle? Will save a lot of worry when you park it somewhere soft..

That was my 1st farkle ::012::

 

[tomatocity]

Congrats on the 2015 ES.

... Surprisingly the stock ES suspension has been OK for me. I have not been seriously off-road and have not been camping. Do like rough twisty roads. Do not ride 2up. I have ridden the piss out of it on fast and tight twistys. It rides straight and stable on freeways if you upgrade the windshield.

+ Agree the upgrading the kickstand with an over-sized foot.
+ A larger windshield will add to your comfort.
+ Viz-Tec SupaBrake II (safety)
+ Pay attention to the seat position.
+ Eastern Beaver PC8
+ Additional lights for night riding.
+ Powerlet if you have the need.
+ ...

You will like this Adventure motorcycle.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I ride rain very frequently as a commuter and had a Fender Extender on my 2012.
I will not have another on my 2014 Tenere. I and a number of others have had them get caught on the skid plate. It temporarily locks up the steering and breaks the fender.

I'd suggest using the search function to learn about this and any of the other farkles that you are interested in, for more detail.

 

[BadNews]

Well, here it is! Rode in on my FJR which I traded in for this:

One mile on the clock, rode another 12 to get home, checked all fasteners and spokes, now I have a few more questions:
What is this plug under the seat for?

Attached my battery tender cable, does this look like a good setup? (sorry, a little hard to follow the cable)

I threw a few farkles from my FJR on just to see if they would fit. The Nelson-Rigg UV-2000 half cover works well, but if I run out of room to pack things, it will get left behind.

The Nelson-Rigg tail pack fits perfectly in the space where the pillion seat mounts, the radius exactly matches the tail rack front radius.

 

[colorider]

+ A larger windshield will add to your comfort.

Tim,
Yammy tall or other brand?

Rod

 

[colorider]

Yeh, I spent some time lurking back then when I was deciding if I wanted an FJR or a 2012 Tenere. I test rode both and I went with the 2013 FJR back then, which I don't regret, it is a fantastic bike. I just can't make myself fit on it anymore, tried peg lowering kits, Garaulds hi way pegs, seat in high position with Airhawk on it, just can't get comfortable nowadays. Besides, I found myself passing up some interesting looking gravel roads that I know the FJR can do, but the ST would do better.

I can relate to the FJR vs Tenere question. I went from a '08 FJR to a '12 Tenere. And then back to a '13 FJR. And then to a '14 FJR and now going back to a '15 Tenere. Both are EXCELLENT bikes, IMHO!!!!!

::022::

 

[BadNews]

Congrats on the 2015 ES.

... Surprisingly the stock ES suspension has been OK for me. I have not been seriously off-road and have not been camping. Do like rough twisty roads. Do not ride 2up. I have ridden the piss out of it on fast and tight twistys. It rides straight and stable on freeways if you upgrade the windshield.

+ Agree the upgrading the kickstand with an over-sized foot.
+ A larger windshield will add to your comfort.
+ Viz-Tec SupaBrake II (safety)
+ Pay attention to the seat position.
+ Eastern Beaver PC8
+ Additional lights for night riding.
+ Powerlet if you have the need.
+ ...

You will like this Adventure motorcycle.

Did I say ES? My bad, I went back and forth about that some, and decided to go with the standard suspension. I based this decision on several things:
1) My FJR had the standard suspension and once I got it dialed in I was satisfied with it.
2) I get accustomed to the suspension behaving in a certain way, and then to change it up would throw me off kilter. I like it to behave exactly the same no matter what the terrain.
3) I ride solo only.
4) $$$
5) I'm a Luddite.

As far as the windshield, I will play around with it first. I had it in the low position on the ride home (12 miles) and I didn't notice any issues. This is with the seat in the low position also. BTW, I am 6'2" with 34" inseam. So I have set the seat in the high position and raised the windshield all the way up, but the test ride for that setup will have to wait until tomorrow.

I like your farkle list. I am thinking I will run an extra set of lights, GPS, and eventually heated gear, which raises my next two questions:

How much spare alternator capacity does this machine have?
How do you attach a GPS to the round mounting bar?

TIA for any replies.

 

[BadNews]

I ride rain very frequently as a commuter and had a Fender Extender on my 2012.
I will not have another on my 2014 Tenere. I and a number of others have had them get caught on the skid plate. It temporarily locks up the steering and breaks the fender.

I'd suggest using the search function to learn about this and any of the other farkles that you are interested in, for more detail.

Looking at the picture I can see how that might happen. As the suspension compresses it moves the fender closer to the skid plate. Not good.
Now another question:
If I ride mostly pavement with an occasional gravel or forest service road, will I really need a skid plate?

 

[colorider]

BadNews,

For GPS, I've had pretty good luck with the RAM ball setup on the handlebar clamp.

RAM

 

[Radioman1030]

How do you attach a GPS to the round mounting bar?

TIA for any replies.
[/quote]

Congratulations on the new bike. I bought my S10 from Kevin and his team at Mid-Ohio as well. Probably the best dealer I have had the pleasure of working with.

My Salesman had a brain cramp and thought I wanted a Blue 2014 even though I specifically told him a 2014 Gray ES. Imagine my surprise when I flew to OH to pick it up and they showed me a Blue bike (not available with ES in the US). Most other dealers would have said sorry can't help you, but not Kevin. He insisted on making it right no matter what (you don't run into too many folks like that anymore).

I did I not want Red and wanted an ES and there were no other Gray bikes to be had. He traded another dealer for a 2015 Red ES and swapped the Blue panels from the 2014 that they had. Making a one of a kind 2015 Blue ES and giving me a leftover price too boot! Talk about service.

I had the pleasure of watching his guys setup my bike and install my luggage for the trip back to Dallas. They are very through and torque everything to spec (nice too see no shortcuts in their shop). I will I've Kevin the chance to sell me all of my future bikes.

As far as the GPS goes, I highly recommend the RAM bar mounts and the device specific mounting bracket (if they have it for your GPS). See reply #10 on this post for pictures.

http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=17817.msg270565#msg270565

I trimmed the u-bolts down for better adjustability. I have just over 5k on the bike now and the mounts have never budged. Let me know if I can help with any info about them.

 

[JV]

"Attached my battery tender cable, does this look like a good setup? (sorry, a little hard to follow the cable)"


Badnews, I used the same setup and location on mine as you have done. Then I routed my fused GPS wires to plug into the tender plug when on the road.

 

[tomatocity]

Tim,
Yammy tall or other brand?

Rod

I went with the Tall OEM windshield and it is good for me. If it was an inch taller it would be perfect. The only times it is in the high position is on the freeway, during wet conditions and during bug season. 95% of the bugs hit just above the visor of my Arai Signet-Q.

 

[dietDrThunder]

the spoke thing gets a lot of play, primarily I believe because Tenere owners just don't have much in the way of other things to worry about. I'd get in the habit of pinging the rear spokes with a screw driver now and again when it's on the center stand, an off note may signal one loosening up but the odds are pretty low. This is a very smooth machine for a parallel twin, I don't think much is apt to rattle off and the build quality is quite good. Assuming the dealer who sets it up is reasonably competent my guess is you will have no issues at all like most of us. I would recommend the dealer 600 mile service. It's always handy to have a factory representative look it over and certify that things are good to go. That is the one service I would never skip if you can avoid it. Other than that, it's farkle time. The two I would recommend to anyone is crash bars and a Madstad bracket. Bars because if it fall on the left that can get to be expensive (Happy-Trail bars are both stout and fairly priced). The Madstat just gives you much more screen adjustment and makes doing that much easier.
'Enjoy the new bike, you can do pretty much anything with one.

Just as an fyi, the spoke thing really is a thing. I posted a question about it on the ADV forum when I first got mine, and most folks were kinda in agreement with rider33, in that it's not a bad idea to check them, but really not a big deal.

I went for a 20 mile ride 2 days later and lost a rear spoke.

Definitely check 'em with the ping test every time you check your tire pressure. It only takes about a minute.

I agree 100% re: the Madstad even though I don't have mine yet (do have a TT model). Many folks have a bit of an ordeal getting comfortable/quiet'/smooth/desirable air flow with this bike, and the adjustable brackets go a hugely long way to addressing this. Also get the side wing thingies if you have issues in this area. I just installed some eBay UK sourced ones today ($75 shipped) and they made a huge difference.

Have fun, and welcome!

 

[tomatocity]

I have the fix for the broken / lost spokes. I bought extra spokes

 

[colorider]

I went with the Tall OEM windshield and it is good for me. If it was an inch taller it would be perfect. The only times it is in the high position is on the freeway, during wet conditions and during bug season. 95% of the bugs hit just above the visor of my Arai Signet-Q.

Thanks! I've read several favorable report on the OEM tall screen. I'll know more after my ~800 mile ride home next week on the new bike.

Rod

 

[BadNews]

I can relate to the FJR vs Tenere question. I went from a '08 FJR to a '12 Tenere. And then back to a '13 FJR. And then to a '14 FJR and now going back to a '15 Tenere. Both are EXCELLENT bikes, IMHO!!!!!

::022::

Agreed. Wish I could afford both!

 

[BadNews]

Congratulations on the new bike. I bought my S10 from Kevin and his team at Mid-Ohio as well. Probably the best dealer I have had the pleasure of working with.

My Salesman had a brain cramp and thought I wanted a Blue 2014 even though I specifically told him a 2014 Gray ES. Imagine my surprise when I flew to OH to pick it up and they showed me a Blue bike (not available with ES in the US). Most other dealers would have said sorry can't help you, but not Kevin. He insisted on making it right no matter what (you don't run into too many folks like that anymore).

I did I not want Red and wanted an ES and there were no other Gray bikes to be had. He traded another dealer for a 2015 Red ES and swapped the Blue panels from the 2014 that they had. Making a one of a kind 2015 Blue ES and giving me a leftover price too boot! Talk about service.

I had the pleasure of watching his guys setup my bike and install my luggage for the trip back to Dallas. They are very through and torque everything to spec (nice too see no shortcuts in their shop). I will I've Kevin the chance to sell me all of my future bikes.

About a month or so ago when I was in Mid-Ohio looking at the new iron, one of the salesman told me the story of how one of the Teneres had the body panels etc swapped out. So you're the guy!!
I've bought about about 6 or 7 bikes from them starting from the late 80's, they have always treated me fairly and their service is top notch! Highly recommended!
Thanks for the linky on the GPS mount.
So how did a guy from Texas wind up buying a bike from Central Ohio? Just curious...

 

[HeliMark]

I didn't see it answered, but that plug under the seat in your picture is a diagnostic plug.

As far as skid plate, for what you say you are going to do, I would get something just for the peace of mind. But I would not get a heavy duty one. Something even like the factory one, which is good for forest roads and crap that you pick up on the road just riding. Cheap insurance. Lots of threads on this here.

Mark

 

[BadNews]

"Attached my battery tender cable, does this look like a good setup? (sorry, a little hard to follow the cable)"


Badnews, I used the same setup and location on mine as you have done. Then I routed my fused GPS wires to plug into the tender plug when on the road.

JV, thanks for the feedback on the battery tender cable, much appreciated!