Review after 3k miles. The Good, The Bad, The Muddy.

[WenWa]

Wow

3000 miles. Doesn't seem a lot, but they've been quality adventure miles.

I've also been a Japanese cruiser biker. Honda Davidson, Kawasaki, Suzuki (one and done on that one), yet I never owned a Yami. The 2014 Super Tenere took care of that.

My favorable impressions are numerous:
-excellent power (I don't care what adrenaline junkies think, this bike in sport mode is FUN!)
-comfort (seating position, cruise control, heated grips)
-reliability
-affordability (price and maintenance)
-customability (yeah, not a word, but it rhymes)
-MPG (44.5 avg)
-looks (the '14 blue is better in person than any picture I've seen. Strange but true.)
-sound (hitting that 4k rpm grunt just stirs my soul)
-low end grunt (sometimes I ride in 2nd gear off-road at 10 mph. Hard to stall this beast)
-And the most important noun/verb: ADVENTURE

Yeah, I can't do the serious stuff, but I'm not kidding myself. My buddy's XL650 handles off-road better, but he isn't taking that bike over a hundred miles on the freeway to get to the good stuff. I can and do. Looking forward to Utah next year!

The bad:
-Gear shift indicator is annoying. Sometimes I come to a stop, and don't know what gear I'm in, just a pain.
-Finding Neutral is a challenge. Bouncing between 1st and 2nd, continually missing N, annoys me.
-I can find the handlebar controls well, but at night sometimes I have to search for brights. Lighted buttons would be nice.
-Fuel and reserve indicator is bizarre.
-The windshield adjusting bracket is worthless. Madstad fixed that.
-ABS needs a shutoff switch.

-All the above criticisms are chicken feed and doesn't counterbalance the positives. Not even close.

The muddy:

The first three pictures are north of Wenatchee, WA. I rode this on the stock tires twice. Big old gnarly rocks and dirt ruts. The Battlewings did quite well. These pictures have the TKC 80 front, Mitas E07 rear.

The next two pics are further up this rocky road, in the woods.

 

[WenWa]

The Muddy continued...

The next pics are going south now from Wenatchee WA.

The first pic is my riding bud and me overlooking the Columbia river.
We continued up the road on a different day, but it had rained a lot and the S10 could not get up a 200-300 yard stretch of mud. Slimey, snotty crap mud. I officially hate the stuff. I went down 3 times in 150 feet, before we gave up.

The second pic is me after we picked up the bike. 600 lbs. Whew!

The next pic is another trail that quickly faded away, but the S10 handled it fine. Saw four elk down that way.

The next two are other shots in that area.

 

[WenWa]

The first pic is my official christening of my first drop. I was rather confident, scooting over a gravel road, over a hill, then saw this really big puddle. I didn't know how deep it was. I was by myself, miles away from civilization, so I slammed the breaks. Unfortunately, ABS rolled me to a stop, so I turned and dumped it before rolling into the middle. Rumbux crash bars did their job, not a scratch on the bike. Used the back/leg lift and got the bike up.

The following pics are around central WA area. The lake is Lake Chelan. These pics are a mixture of three different rides in three different areas.

I've only scratched the surface of Central WA.


The S10 has accomplished the number 1 reason I bought this bike:

To find Adventure at the end of the pavement.

I've never done any kind if riding like this before in my life. I have never ridden a dirt bike. Ever.

Look at me now brothers and sisters.

If I can do it--you know the rest

That's my review.

Got to finish now.

I'm riding to Idaho tomorrow. ::022::

 

[saddletramp]

Nice review & pictures.

I rode that area quite a bit when I lived in Ephrata. Wenatchee is a great area to have an adventure bike.

Now that I've relocated to Walla Walla I'm now exploring the Blue Mts.

Sounds like the Tenere was the right choice for you.

Happy riding! ::022::

 

[RED CAT]

As for finding neutral while stopped. I find that I do a little light downshifting before coming to a stop including snicking it into neutral just before stopping. Saves a lot of farting around. Some people say you shouldn't stay in neutral while waiting for a light to change but I do and then just snick it into 1st and take off. A lot easier on a hot clutch and your left wrist. Less wear and tear too.

 

[Bio]

You have a problem finding neutral? I've never had that problem with the S10. It's a very distinctive half step on my '13.

 

[regulator]

^^^^Agree^^^^ Not a problem for me with a gen1 or gen2.

Might want to have it looked at.

 

[greg the pole]

^^^^Agree^^^^ Not a problem for me with a gen1 or gen2.

Might want to have it looked at.

yep..never an issue. I do what Red Cat does. even at lights it doesn't matter.
My ktm 450 is next to impossible, and it doesn't have a neutral light

 

[TimLaw]

Had the same problem shifting with my '14 until I lubed the shifter. Believe it or not, many come from the factory without much lube which causes that problem. Also, at a stop, roll the bike a hair and you will find N immediately.

 

[eemsreno]

Great pictures

 

[Checkswrecks]

Thanks for the write-up and photos.


The only times I've had trouble finding neutral were when the shifter pivot needed to be lubed (fix: http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=15230.0) and when due to my own abuse I damaged the clutch.

 

[WenWa]

Guess I need to lube the shifter. I usually kick it into N as I slow to a stoplight. Also, when I'm wearing my Alpinstar mid calf touring boots, harder to find that subtle neutral.

Just got back from St. Maries Idaho. Took the long way there and the extra longer way back, about 700 miles round trip, versus typical 500 miles.

Have another minor negative. The seat. It's great for 150 miles or so, but it wears on the butt after that. In all fairness, I've never had a bike that could do long distance without needing a custom seat or cushion.

In hindsight, when I researched ADV bikes, Yamaha really did itself a disservice by not kitting it out appropriately with beefy protection and TKCs.

I remember reading and watching a youtube video by an Australian motorcycle magazine that pitted the BMW, KTM, and the S10. One clip had them climbing a wicked hill that I've got no business on. Anyways, the S10 sat out cause they sent the bike with stock battlewings for an offroad shoot out. Come on Yamaha! Man up!

Pic of Columbia River in NE Wa state Highway 25. Beautiful ride.