Defekticon
Active Member
I've been looking at them for a few months but had a long deployment that I couldn't really do anything but look before/while I was gone. Got home went to go test ride one at a local dealer, but they sold it before I got there. Found out about a yamaha factory test ride event in Deptford, NJ so I hopped on my trusty KLR650 and rode the 60 miles out there. I was on the fence about whether to get an ES or Non-ES. Test rode the '15 ES and realized midway through the ride that the on the fly electronic adjustment just wasn't really a feature i wanted to pay 1500 more for, not to mention only came in red, and I didn't like that color.
However, the bike was amazing. Just... gobs and gobs of power compared to my KLR. Also... Doodads. All sorts of buttons lol. Those were the major impressions that I walked away with. I really loved the unified braking. I stalled the bike once, and had trouble transitioning between T/S modes, however that feature is just great. I noticed for relaxed driving S mode was really jerky when trying to just move through low speed traffic so the T mode was awesome there, and still had plenty of power for the on ramp.
Ended up buying a '14 in blue (Which was the color that I really wanted more so than the red or the ES. If they had a blue ES I probably would have gone ahead and dropped the extra cash on it. But the nearest '15 ES model was over 200 miles away and according to the Yamaha reps, the factory was sold out of '15 ES models. I couldn't find an '14 ES Model either anywhere near me.
The good news is, that I got the grip heaters thrown in with the sale which was the one thing that I definitely wanted that the ES had. I pick the bike up this week as soon as my bank sends the dealer the check for the balance of the bike. The dealer did offer me a set of side luggage cases for 1047 (with brackets + tax) I'm seeing that they may be cheaper (without tax) online? Anything else I should add in from the factory? Is the yamaha extended warranty worth it? I generally prefer to do maint myself. Short of a catastrophic engine failure.
However, the bike was amazing. Just... gobs and gobs of power compared to my KLR. Also... Doodads. All sorts of buttons lol. Those were the major impressions that I walked away with. I really loved the unified braking. I stalled the bike once, and had trouble transitioning between T/S modes, however that feature is just great. I noticed for relaxed driving S mode was really jerky when trying to just move through low speed traffic so the T mode was awesome there, and still had plenty of power for the on ramp.
Ended up buying a '14 in blue (Which was the color that I really wanted more so than the red or the ES. If they had a blue ES I probably would have gone ahead and dropped the extra cash on it. But the nearest '15 ES model was over 200 miles away and according to the Yamaha reps, the factory was sold out of '15 ES models. I couldn't find an '14 ES Model either anywhere near me.
The good news is, that I got the grip heaters thrown in with the sale which was the one thing that I definitely wanted that the ES had. I pick the bike up this week as soon as my bank sends the dealer the check for the balance of the bike. The dealer did offer me a set of side luggage cases for 1047 (with brackets + tax) I'm seeing that they may be cheaper (without tax) online? Anything else I should add in from the factory? Is the yamaha extended warranty worth it? I generally prefer to do maint myself. Short of a catastrophic engine failure.
