I guess I was ignorant to the fact that the Traction control should be shut off when riding off road.
With that knowledge I think back of a time when the Tenere fully surprised me. I was riding a sand road through a pasture and the road turned into a blowout area with very deep sand in an uphill maybe 5% grade. I was making great progress until a cow was standing broadside in the middle of the narrow blown out area not allowing me to get by. I had to stop before hitting the cow and lost my momentum that was keeping me move forward and came to a stop. I was all alone and getting dark fast in an area with no cell phone service. I attempted to back up and turn the Tenere around but the sand was too deep and trail too narrow to turn around.
When the cow stopped laughing at me and wondered off the trail my only option was to attempt to get moving again in that deep sand starting off uphill. Without disabling the TC, I pointed it up the deep sand hill and attempted to drive out. The traction control was working overtime and every time the TC light blinked I regained traction for a moment propelling the bike slightly ahead. I continued up that deep sand hill in shocking disbelief that I was able to even move never mind drive out of there. I don't think there was any way I would've got out of that situation without the TC helping me regain traction. It prevented me from spinning the back tire, digging a hole and standing me out in the boonies but I didn't realize I was likely beating my clutch up using it.
With that knowledge I think back of a time when the Tenere fully surprised me. I was riding a sand road through a pasture and the road turned into a blowout area with very deep sand in an uphill maybe 5% grade. I was making great progress until a cow was standing broadside in the middle of the narrow blown out area not allowing me to get by. I had to stop before hitting the cow and lost my momentum that was keeping me move forward and came to a stop. I was all alone and getting dark fast in an area with no cell phone service. I attempted to back up and turn the Tenere around but the sand was too deep and trail too narrow to turn around.
When the cow stopped laughing at me and wondered off the trail my only option was to attempt to get moving again in that deep sand starting off uphill. Without disabling the TC, I pointed it up the deep sand hill and attempted to drive out. The traction control was working overtime and every time the TC light blinked I regained traction for a moment propelling the bike slightly ahead. I continued up that deep sand hill in shocking disbelief that I was able to even move never mind drive out of there. I don't think there was any way I would've got out of that situation without the TC helping me regain traction. It prevented me from spinning the back tire, digging a hole and standing me out in the boonies but I didn't realize I was likely beating my clutch up using it.