Well not quite 100,000 miles - 97,000 (I HTF nothing catastophic happens in the next 3000!)
Added a farkle report here - http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=16570.0
It was 4 years ago on August 2 that I collected the Super Ténéré from Romney Cycles in West Virginia. After a year and 11500 miles of running around the eastern US we left DC heading west then south, and by Christmas 2013 we were in Ushuaia. By May 2014 we'd moved across the pond to Madrid, circled around Europe and Morocco for a bit, then headed east for Iran, and now in Armenia. Total mileage 97,000 miles/156,000 km.
This bike has been everything I'd hoped for (remember, it had only been out a year at that time, so a bit of an unknown quantity), and can't think of a better one for the kind of trip I'm on. I doubt there has ever been a motorcycle that has done this much work with so few problems?
Here's how the mileage works out – average of 24,250 miles/39,000km per year, or deduct the low mileage first year and you get 28,500 miles/46,000km per year for the last 3 years (3-year trip anniversary is actually a month away, but I won't be adding much mileage between now and then.)
And here's the list of issues, starting with the most serious;
1.) Rear shock failure
Baja Mexico. I knew the shock was undersprung for my weight, but in typical Aussie fashion I thought, she'll be right! And anyway I didn't want to spend $1200 on an Ohlins. But no, on the dirt near Coco's Corner it overheated, something broke internally and lost all damping. Luckily I was close enough to San Diego to bounce back there and get the Ohlins I should have had in the first place. To be fair to Yamaha, I was running raising links and that may have contributed to the failure.
2.) Cracked frame
Near Puerto Montt in Chile I noticed a bit of flaking paint and rust where the rear downtube connected to the swingarm pivot on the right side. Close inspection revealed a hairline crack around the pivot. That was unexpected! I hadn't heard of that problem on a Super Tenere, before or since. I figured my heavy load and a lot of corrugated roads in Bolivia, and perhaps a sub-standard weld, caused the crack. I found a good welder, and a day's work with him, and $100, saw the problem fixed, with some reinforcing, and no problems in the 60,000 miles since then.
3.) Failed cam-chain tensioner
Paris, 76,000 miles. This is the only thing that has really stopped me, but I'm reluctant to blame the bike... rather it was a maintenance failure. I'd heard of a couple of high-mileage US bikes that had a problem, and knowing that a tensioner failure can be catastrophic, got the revised 2014 model part from Yamaha UK within a few days. Unfortunately they had no time to fit it, but Yamaha France could do it for me the next week. Not too many miles away, I didn't think it was a big risk. When I got to Paris I parked the bike for a few days. I was literally 20 miles from having the tensioner replaced when the next time I tried to start the bike I heard a horrible clatter/clunk; I knew exactly what had happened. Sitting for a few days, all the oil (which provides hydraulic pressure) had drained from the tensioner and allowed the chain to jump the sprockets. Now it was just a question of how much engine damage had occurred. Gulp. Yamaha France were brilliant, collected the bike and changed the part. Chain had jumped 4 teeth but no bent valves! Woo Hoo! Sometimes you can be lucky.
4.) Cracked rear rim, x2
At 80,000 miles I noticed a crack emanating from a spoke hole. Then soon after, another. I was in Morocco at the time so no real opportunity to get it fixed, and anyway, it didn't seem like wheel failure was imminent. 4000 miles later I had a new rim laced up in France, but now 13,000 miles later I find another crack. It seems like it was probably laced a bit too tight. Yamaha have torque specs for the spokes and I doubt this was followed. The new rim had just a single crack in it, I had it welded and think it will be fine. The wheels are a bit of a weak spot – rims are a bit soft (I had 3 dings taken out in South America, 2 front one rear, $25 a time. There's another in the front now, but the quote I got in France to fix was €250. Needless to say I didn't want to pay that much and the ding is still there – tire was losing some air, but it's fine with a tube in it.).
5.) Leaky final drive seal
Replaced under warranty in San Diego, 22,000 miles. Replaced again in the UK, 75,000 miles. Started leaking again recently, then stopped a few hundred miles later. If it starts again I'm going to try cleaning underneath it, the same method that has worked for me on fork seals. I heard this worked for somebody recently.
6.) Leaky fork seals
One replaced under warranty in Arizona. This was the first of 4 leaky fork seals, and the last of my warranty jobs. Since warranty was invalid outside of the US, from here on all fixes were on me. So the next 3 leaky fork seals? All fixed by cleaning underneath them with a piece of x-ray film, a la Seal Mate. I reckon the first one could have been fixed the same way. Had known that at the time I wouldn't have bothered taking it in for warranty.
7.) Two melted headlight bulb connectors
There was a recall on this part of the harness, got the part and fixed myself.
8.) 3 blown headlight bulbs
9.) Replaced front discs
84,000 miles. Not a problem, just a wear item. Got a pretty good deal on some Brembos.
10.) Rear Ohlins rebuilt, 84,000 miles (60,000 on the shock). Again, normal wear.
And that is really all there is – normal maintenance otherwise, valve adjustment being the biggest headache, but intervals are long so it's not so bad.
Everything else that one might have expected some trouble with by now – clutch, electrics, battery, electronics, wheel and steering head bearings, final drive, fuel pump and/or fuel filter, all still in good shape. I do have a bit of a stutter sometimes at small throttle openings, could just need a throttle body sync, but probably something else I have to chase down.
Fuel consumption is still around 46 mpg (US)/5.1L/100km and often better than that. I've used some pretty poor fuels at times, but as long as I'm not to heavy handed with the throttle it's been ok. Sometime I add some octane booster as a precaution. Oil consumption is about 500ml between changes (every 4-5000 miles).
All in all, not a bad report card, don't you think?
Added a farkle report here - http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=16570.0
It was 4 years ago on August 2 that I collected the Super Ténéré from Romney Cycles in West Virginia. After a year and 11500 miles of running around the eastern US we left DC heading west then south, and by Christmas 2013 we were in Ushuaia. By May 2014 we'd moved across the pond to Madrid, circled around Europe and Morocco for a bit, then headed east for Iran, and now in Armenia. Total mileage 97,000 miles/156,000 km.
This bike has been everything I'd hoped for (remember, it had only been out a year at that time, so a bit of an unknown quantity), and can't think of a better one for the kind of trip I'm on. I doubt there has ever been a motorcycle that has done this much work with so few problems?
Here's how the mileage works out – average of 24,250 miles/39,000km per year, or deduct the low mileage first year and you get 28,500 miles/46,000km per year for the last 3 years (3-year trip anniversary is actually a month away, but I won't be adding much mileage between now and then.)
And here's the list of issues, starting with the most serious;
1.) Rear shock failure
Baja Mexico. I knew the shock was undersprung for my weight, but in typical Aussie fashion I thought, she'll be right! And anyway I didn't want to spend $1200 on an Ohlins. But no, on the dirt near Coco's Corner it overheated, something broke internally and lost all damping. Luckily I was close enough to San Diego to bounce back there and get the Ohlins I should have had in the first place. To be fair to Yamaha, I was running raising links and that may have contributed to the failure.
2.) Cracked frame
Near Puerto Montt in Chile I noticed a bit of flaking paint and rust where the rear downtube connected to the swingarm pivot on the right side. Close inspection revealed a hairline crack around the pivot. That was unexpected! I hadn't heard of that problem on a Super Tenere, before or since. I figured my heavy load and a lot of corrugated roads in Bolivia, and perhaps a sub-standard weld, caused the crack. I found a good welder, and a day's work with him, and $100, saw the problem fixed, with some reinforcing, and no problems in the 60,000 miles since then.
3.) Failed cam-chain tensioner
Paris, 76,000 miles. This is the only thing that has really stopped me, but I'm reluctant to blame the bike... rather it was a maintenance failure. I'd heard of a couple of high-mileage US bikes that had a problem, and knowing that a tensioner failure can be catastrophic, got the revised 2014 model part from Yamaha UK within a few days. Unfortunately they had no time to fit it, but Yamaha France could do it for me the next week. Not too many miles away, I didn't think it was a big risk. When I got to Paris I parked the bike for a few days. I was literally 20 miles from having the tensioner replaced when the next time I tried to start the bike I heard a horrible clatter/clunk; I knew exactly what had happened. Sitting for a few days, all the oil (which provides hydraulic pressure) had drained from the tensioner and allowed the chain to jump the sprockets. Now it was just a question of how much engine damage had occurred. Gulp. Yamaha France were brilliant, collected the bike and changed the part. Chain had jumped 4 teeth but no bent valves! Woo Hoo! Sometimes you can be lucky.
4.) Cracked rear rim, x2
At 80,000 miles I noticed a crack emanating from a spoke hole. Then soon after, another. I was in Morocco at the time so no real opportunity to get it fixed, and anyway, it didn't seem like wheel failure was imminent. 4000 miles later I had a new rim laced up in France, but now 13,000 miles later I find another crack. It seems like it was probably laced a bit too tight. Yamaha have torque specs for the spokes and I doubt this was followed. The new rim had just a single crack in it, I had it welded and think it will be fine. The wheels are a bit of a weak spot – rims are a bit soft (I had 3 dings taken out in South America, 2 front one rear, $25 a time. There's another in the front now, but the quote I got in France to fix was €250. Needless to say I didn't want to pay that much and the ding is still there – tire was losing some air, but it's fine with a tube in it.).
5.) Leaky final drive seal
Replaced under warranty in San Diego, 22,000 miles. Replaced again in the UK, 75,000 miles. Started leaking again recently, then stopped a few hundred miles later. If it starts again I'm going to try cleaning underneath it, the same method that has worked for me on fork seals. I heard this worked for somebody recently.
6.) Leaky fork seals
One replaced under warranty in Arizona. This was the first of 4 leaky fork seals, and the last of my warranty jobs. Since warranty was invalid outside of the US, from here on all fixes were on me. So the next 3 leaky fork seals? All fixed by cleaning underneath them with a piece of x-ray film, a la Seal Mate. I reckon the first one could have been fixed the same way. Had known that at the time I wouldn't have bothered taking it in for warranty.
7.) Two melted headlight bulb connectors
There was a recall on this part of the harness, got the part and fixed myself.
8.) 3 blown headlight bulbs
9.) Replaced front discs
84,000 miles. Not a problem, just a wear item. Got a pretty good deal on some Brembos.
10.) Rear Ohlins rebuilt, 84,000 miles (60,000 on the shock). Again, normal wear.
And that is really all there is – normal maintenance otherwise, valve adjustment being the biggest headache, but intervals are long so it's not so bad.
Everything else that one might have expected some trouble with by now – clutch, electrics, battery, electronics, wheel and steering head bearings, final drive, fuel pump and/or fuel filter, all still in good shape. I do have a bit of a stutter sometimes at small throttle openings, could just need a throttle body sync, but probably something else I have to chase down.
Fuel consumption is still around 46 mpg (US)/5.1L/100km and often better than that. I've used some pretty poor fuels at times, but as long as I'm not to heavy handed with the throttle it's been ok. Sometime I add some octane booster as a precaution. Oil consumption is about 500ml between changes (every 4-5000 miles).
All in all, not a bad report card, don't you think?
