Traded in my 2012... Bittersweet Day

[tenbob]

Crikes ya must never be at home! ??? Awesome stats... Interesed to hear how the bike faired over that milage too...

 

[scott123007]

Hi Chris -

That's a ton of miles in three years for any kind of vehicle, but especially a motorcycle. Do you mind sharing how you racked up so many miles? Purely recreation, commuting between home and vacation house, business, iron butt rallies?

A few more questions:

1. Was the bike starting to show its miles (burning oil, stuff breaking, etc) or was it just time for a new one?
2. Biggest complaint about the bike, and was it fixed or improved on the '14?
3. You must have worn out a ton of tires. What were your favorites (performance on and off road, in the rain, mileage/durability)?
4. Did you stay with the stock seat or go with something else?
5. What riding pants do you wear? Was it Rukka Armas top and bottom?

Hope you don't mind all the questions but you're kind of a lab rat around here!

Thanks,
Bob

Bob,
A little friendly advise if you don't want to wait for a response. You can click on Sail2xx and then go to "show posts". You may find most of what you are looking for just by reading his previous posts

 

[sail2xxs]

That's quite a few miles, nice to see someone who does ::021::

Bet you have the original CCT & clutch basket ?

Hope you enjoy your new ST as much...

The cam chain tensioner was swapped out around 119K miles. The clutch was changed at that time as well, but it wasn't necessary - more than 75% of the original clutch remained. ;D

I'm as excited about the new ST as I was about the old one, and am almost finished the break-in miles.

Best,

Chris

 

[sail2xxs]

Hi Chris -

That's a ton of miles in three years for any kind of vehicle, but especially a motorcycle. Do you mind sharing how you racked up so many miles? Purely recreation, commuting between home and vacation house, business, iron butt rallies?

A few more questions:

1. Was the bike starting to show its miles (burning oil, stuff breaking, etc) or was it just time for a new one?
2. Biggest complaint about the bike, and was it fixed or improved on the '14?
3. You must have worn out a ton of tires. What were your favorites (performance on and off road, in the rain, mileage/durability)?
4. Did you stay with the stock seat or go with something else?
5. What riding pants do you wear? Was it Rukka Armas top and bottom?

Hope you don't mind all the questions but you're kind of a lab rat around here!

Thanks,
Bob

Hi Bob,

The miles on the bike were a combination of commuting to work year round (120 miles/day), riding to work locations 4-6 times/year instead of flying, and recreation. I did some Iron Butt rides ( SS1K, BB1500, SS2K, SS3K) but those were not the focus of the trips, they were part of getting to the good stuff or getting home. I work full time, have my girls every other weekend, and also enjoy singlehanded sailing on my boat, so bike trips tended to be pretty intense - if I want to see or explore an area that is further away, I never have more than 5 days to get out there and back.

The bike was starting to run rough, and dealer service techs couldn't figure out why. It also was burning oil for the first time ever. I use the bike for work travel when possible, and while my boss thinks it's really cool that I ride to Chicago, NYC, Atlanta, or Dallas for work, I know that the first time I have a mechanical problem on a trip that delays my arrival for work will be the last time I get the ok to ride. I think with time the rough running and oil burning would have been solved (and were probably related) but the deal on the 2014 was too good to pass up, especially from a risk/reward standpoint.

I can honestly say I had no complaints about the 2012. I think Yamaha nailed it straight out of the box. Yes, there were some issues with the headlight wiring harness, and I did go through several final drive inner and outer seals, but those were all addressed under warranty. I like the windshield on the 2014, which I think has even better wind management than the 2012 did. The spacer thingy under the headlights also seems to make a difference. I had the stock shield on the 2012 in the lowest position year-round. On the 2014, I've got the stock shield in the lowest position as well. What I'm not so keen on yet with the 2014 are the menus and trip reset functions. I haven't spent much time practicing with the help of the manual, but so far I have only managed to reset twice successfully, and both were "intentional accidents" - I have no idea how I did it.

My preferred tire is the Heidenau K-60, which I ran exclusively after the original tires were worn out at 14,935 miles. I tend to get really good mileage on those tires, and used 5 sets over the time I had the bike.

I replaced the stock seat with a Sargent at about 60k miles. The Sargent was a substantial improvement over stock on really long days, though I preferred the stock seat for more aggressive off-road rides. Not saying the Sargent is bad for off-road, just that the bike was easier to paddle with the stock seat.

I use the Rukka Armas jacket and pants, as well as the Rukka Pluto gloves. The Armas is absolutely the best money I have ever spent on riding gear. It is worth every penny. The support from Revzilla when it came time for a few warranty repairs was top-notch.

A couple other things that are worth noting - I had the 5 year YES warranty on the bike, and have the same warranty on the new bike. It got used, and was well worth the money. The Yamaha dealers, techs, and factory reps that I met and worked with over the time I had the bike were excellent. Issues were always promptly and cheerfully handled, and I think Yamaha and the dealers went out of their way to provide exceptional customer service. The degree of product support was truly impressive - and played a significant role in my decision to buy the 2014.

If you are interested, I'd be happy to send you a copy of the maintenance log I kept for the bike. Just drop a PM.

Best,

Chris

 

[arjayes]

Hi Bob,

The miles on the bike were a combination of commuting to work year round (120 miles/day), riding to work locations 4-6 times/year instead of flying, and recreation. I did some Iron Butt rides ( SS1K, BB1500, SS2K, SS3K) but those were not the focus of the trips, they were part of getting to the good stuff or getting home. I work full time, have my girls every other weekend, and also enjoy singlehanded sailing on my boat, so bike trips tended to be pretty intense - if I want to see or explore an area that is further away, I never have more than 5 days to get out there and back.

The bike was starting to run rough, and dealer service techs couldn't figure out why. It also was burning oil for the first time ever. I use the bike for work travel when possible, and while my boss thinks it's really cool that I ride to Chicago, NYC, Atlanta, or Dallas for work, I know that the first time I have a mechanical problem on a trip that delays my arrival for work will be the last time I get the ok to ride. I think with time the rough running and oil burning would have been solved (and were probably related) but the deal on the 2014 was too good to pass up, especially from a risk/reward standpoint.

I can honestly say I had no complaints about the 2012. I think Yamaha nailed it straight out of the box. Yes, there were some issues with the headlight wiring harness, and I did go through several final drive inner and outer seals, but those were all addressed under warranty. I like the windshield on the 2014, which I think has even better wind management than the 2012 did. The spacer thingy under the headlights also seems to make a difference. I had the stock shield on the 2012 in the lowest position year-round. On the 2014, I've got the stock shield in the lowest position as well. What I'm not so keen on yet with the 2014 are the menus and trip reset functions. I haven't spent much time practicing with the help of the manual, but so far I have only managed to reset twice successfully, and both were "intentional accidents" - I have no idea how I did it.

My preferred tire is the Heidenau K-60, which I ran exclusively after the original tires were worn out at 14,935 miles. I tend to get really good mileage on those tires, and used 5 sets over the time I had the bike.

I replaced the stock seat with a Sargent at about 60k miles. The Sargent was a substantial improvement over stock on really long days, though I preferred the stock seat for more aggressive off-road rides. Not saying the Sargent is bad for off-road, just that the bike was easier to paddle with the stock seat.

I use the Rukka Armas jacket and pants, as well as the Rukka Pluto gloves. The Armas is absolutely the best money I have ever spent on riding gear. It is worth every penny. The support from Revzilla when it came time for a few warranty repairs was top-notch.

A couple other things that are worth noting - I had the 5 year YES warranty on the bike, and have the same warranty on the new bike. It got used, and was well worth the money. The Yamaha dealers, techs, and factory reps that I met and worked with over the time I had the bike were excellent. Issues were always promptly and cheerfully handled, and I think Yamaha and the dealers went out of their way to provide exceptional customer service. The degree of product support was truly impressive - and played a significant role in my decision to buy the 2014.

If you are interested, I'd be happy to send you a copy of the maintenance log I kept for the bike. Just drop a PM.

Best,

Chris

Hi Chris -

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, really appreciate it. The 4-year YES warranty was my first farkle. For ~$400 that was a no-brainer.

If you had really pursued I bet you could have gotten some kind of gesture from Yamaha for your story with the 2012, as in a discount on the new bike or maybe even a freebie. I'm an engineer, not a marketing guy, but I'm betting that your testimonial could sell quite a few Teneres.

Happy sailing on the '14! I'll take you up on the maintenance log offer (PM coming).

Thanks again,
Bob

 

[scott123007]

Hi Chris -

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, really appreciate it. The 4-year YES warranty was my first farkle. For ~$400 that was a no-brainer.

If you had really pursued I bet you could have gotten some kind of gesture from Yamaha for your story with the 2012, as in a discount on the new bike or maybe even a freebie. I'm an engineer, not a marketing guy, but I'm betting that your testimonial could sell quite a few Teneres.

Happy sailing on the '14! I'll take you up on the maintenance log offer (PM coming).

Thanks again,
Bob

If it was a 1,300,000, you might have a point , but 130,000...really?

 

[arjayes]

If it was a 1,300,000, you might have a point , but 130,000...really?

130,000 problem-free miles in three years with only routine maintenance and a warrantied headlamp harness is damn impressive. A free bike is probably a stretch, but how much would it cost Yamaha to pay someone to torture test a bike like that? As I said, I'm not a marketing guy. But that seems like a very marketable story to me, especially considering Yamaha's competition in this segment.

 

[Ramseybella]

130,000 problem-free miles in three years with only routine maintenance and a warrantied headlamp harness is damn impressive. A free bike is probably a stretch, but how much would it cost Yamaha to pay someone to torture test a bike like that? As I said, I'm not a marketing guy. But that seems like a very marketable story to me, especially considering Yamaha's competition in this segment.

Wouldn't that be something?
If Yamaha gave me what I make at my livelihood I would pound as many miles as I could!! ::024::

 

[TimLaw]

Very impressive story to say the least. How many problem free BMW 130k stories have we read? Correct, that's why I chose the Tenere.

 

[snakebitten]

And to be fair, "problem free" is not exactly accurate for Chris' 130,000 miles.

Close, but not exactly.
Let's just say it's the kind of 130,000 I hope I get from ANY motorcycle I ever put that many miles on.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I have no idea how I missed seeing this thread. What else am I missing around here.

A belated congratulations, Chris. For the first time in a very long time, there's a slim chance I have more miles showing on my odometer than you do. If so, I'm fully aware it won't last.