So, it seems that a consistent negative review of our beloved ride is "no character". Often, this used in comparison with that other adventure bike. For the second year in a row, I got to leave the Great Pacific NW of the US and venture East and South to Townsend, TN and rent from Dan at GSM Motorent some adventure bikes with a longtime riding buddy. Dan IS a GS fan and has several bikes for rent (and he actually encourages off road riding), plus some KLR's, a Triumph Tiger (not the Explorer) and one Super Tenere. Give him a call for a great experience and tell him to increase his ST fleet (gsmmotorent.com). This year, as I now own one, I let my buddy experience the ST and I took the GS so that I could see how it felt and performed after doing about 2500 miles on my own ST. Some pictures attached to show you the experience. Great one of my buddy doing a water crossing on the ST (not that you can tell which machine it is)!
Anyway, I have rented several GS's over the past few years, and generally have liked them. I will say, they are more "flickable" on the Dragon and other twisties BUT not as confidence inspiring on the gravel or dirt (not that the ST isn't capable and fun in the turns). Also, in comparison with the ST, it seemed that - only way that I can describe it - you were riding on a bunch of parts versus a nice tight, unified machine that is "part of you" (vs. you being merely on top of something). Switching back to the ST reinforced this. All I could do is think of the character descriptions given elsewhere in this forum:
- refined
- solid
- planted
- effortless and natural
- smooth
- truly go anywhere with confidence
So, here is a thread dedicated to trying to define the character of Super Tenere. I am sure that we can collectively come up with a nice, definitive character description to refer to when asked: "Huh?". Not that it really matters what others think, but it's all for fun anyway, right? How do you see it?
Anyway, I have rented several GS's over the past few years, and generally have liked them. I will say, they are more "flickable" on the Dragon and other twisties BUT not as confidence inspiring on the gravel or dirt (not that the ST isn't capable and fun in the turns). Also, in comparison with the ST, it seemed that - only way that I can describe it - you were riding on a bunch of parts versus a nice tight, unified machine that is "part of you" (vs. you being merely on top of something). Switching back to the ST reinforced this. All I could do is think of the character descriptions given elsewhere in this forum:
- refined
- solid
- planted
- effortless and natural
- smooth
- truly go anywhere with confidence
So, here is a thread dedicated to trying to define the character of Super Tenere. I am sure that we can collectively come up with a nice, definitive character description to refer to when asked: "Huh?". Not that it really matters what others think, but it's all for fun anyway, right? How do you see it?
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