Newbie modification questions

[eram310]

I just put a down payment on a 2015 ES after selling my Tiger 800
I rode a friend’s 2012 last year and really liked it, but my main concern is the weight and the height of the Super Tenere . The Tiger 800 is the heaviest bike I have ever owned and I am 5’8” 155lbs with a 30 inch inseam.
I have a few question to the experts here.
1. I am thinking about buying the OEM luggage and am getting a good price form the dealer. They might not be the lightest, but I don’t think they are the heaviest. Any thoughts?
2. Engine guards. This is going to be a used mostly for sport touring/ two up with the occasional gravel roads. Looking for engine guards to mainly protect the bike from a drop in the garage or in the parking lot. What are lightest ones on the market?
3. Skid plate. On the Tiger I thought the plastic one that came with the bike was good enough. (and it was) If I put one on the Tenere it is just to protect the oil filter from rocks when on gravel roads. What is the lightest skid plate?
4. I have used Sargent seats before and liked them. I am thinking about getting one in the future. Does the Sargent lower your feet to the ground? I am also considering the OEM Low seat, but it would be my second choice.

I think that is good enough for now although maybe next year I will consider adding either a slip-on or a full exhaust system mainly to the lower the weight a little.

Thanks

 

[snakebitten]

I'll likely draw the ire of some when I say this, but it's too late to be concerned with the weight of the Tenere.
It's heavy naked. It's heavy laden with crash protection and luggage.

The good news is that I really don't believe the weight differences between the various skid plates and crash bars are going to be noticeable while riding the bike.
Really, I don't.
If one skid plate weighed 5lbs less than another, you couldn't possibly know which one is mounted, without looking down.
So I wouldn't advise choosing those products based on weight. Makes more sense to consider other attributes instead.

Now, as far as seats and seat height.........THAT is a very valid and important concern for stature. Getting that correct will make a very noticeable difference!
Getting those feet on the ground and feeling confident is all you need to truly get a chance to enjoy your new ADV Tenere.

Good luck!

 

[default]

having farkled the hell out of a KLR, i have to agree. youre already screwed concerning weight. what i have to say is this:

most protection is made the same, as in tubing and where it covers. if you want less weight, youre going to sacrifice coverage, so if youre set on loosing weight in that way then youll have to make the choice between coverage and slightly heavier.

if youre going to be touring with it, a set of good crash bars can add places to mount lights and highway pegs so you can cruise more comfortably.


soft luggage is the lightest, and can be the cheaper option. not to mention it could be more modular than hard luggage too.

what it boils down to with weight will be negligible. i doubt youll ever notice a difference in any brands or versions of bars/skid plate (especially the skit plates)

seats will make an amazing difference. altho i enjoy my stocker.

 

[oldbear]

OEM low seat will definitely help you. It's about 30mm lower....its kinda hard though : reminds me of the Corbin I had on my FJR........

 

[eram310]

Thank you for the advice. At this point I will get the OEM bags and maybe look into the OEM lower seat. Maybe look for the least expensive crash bars. There are some that are under $200.

 

[squarebore]

If you are just on the highway, the stock plastic crash bars have proven to do their job many times. Have a look on YouTube for some examples of s10s sliding on them.

 

[motoguy]

Mastech makes some affordable and worthy crash bars and lower end protection . I have the skid plate and like it. They didn't have the crash bars at the time so I went with the AltRider.

http://www.mastechnousa.com/Yamaha/yamaha-super-tenere

 

[Rasher]

Agree with comments on weight, if it concerns you do not buy a 1200cc Adventure Bike with a shaft drive....

...On the plus side a full set of protection adds such a marginal amount of weight compared to how it ships you won't notice it, so just buy what you like the look of and suits your budget, I have SW Motech stuff on mine, they look OK fit well, and the cost was OK. If planning on seriously rough roads (i.e. parking the sump on rocks) your options would be more limited, but for protection against flying debris chipping paint of engine they will all do OK.


The OE luggage is very small (62L combined) which for my requirements (two-up touring) just would not do so I got a 37/45 combo from SW Motech (Mainly because the quick release fitting system suits me well).

The one thing I liked with the OE luggage was how close to the bike it fitted, and combined with the small size keeps the bike very narrow with the luggage fitted, and using the same key is the ignition is also handy, so if you can live with the size they may be a good option.

There are a huge range of other stuff out there if the OE does not suit, and if your planning on off-roading and may occasionally drop the bike you will need to choose a bit more carefully as many boxes will not survive even a low speed tumble very well.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Welcome to the new bike.


We have multiple threads about every question you asked, and all can be found with a search from "Home" located beneath your avatar photo.


To show it works and the depth of how much info you can find, there are multiple threads about lowering the Super Tenere for shorter riders. At 5'8" you tower over some owners and I would suggest starting with this huge thread:


http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=3452.msg195509#msg195509