I don't think that's the case, Dirt Dad. Like I said earlier, my criteria for a bike boils down just a few requirements:Your criteria makes it darn near impossible to limit yourself to just one bike. I'm at three and I think I have my bases covered.
Good luck...I think you need more than one to fulfill your riding requirements. Nothing wrong with that.
Sounds like an Africian Twin is in your future.I don't think that's the case, Dirt Dad. Like I said earlier, my criteria for a bike boils down just a few requirements:
1) It has to provide a good solid platform for loaded two up touring, where the pillion has some level of comfort for long distances and isn't perched on the pillion saddle like a bird on a wire.
2) It has to have proven reliability. A thousand miles from home in the back of beyond is not a good place to be wrestling with a bike that has "character".
3) It has to have some capability for riding on dirt and gravel roads without a lot of scary moments.
4) It has to be maintenance friendly for a home mechanic. I realize that's a pretty subjective requirement, since "maintenance friendly" is determined by the skill of the mechanic, but I'd like to be able to do stuff like flush the brakes without needing a $400 proprietary scan tool in order to do it.
Shaft drive would be nice, but I feel like making that a criteria might limit the options too much.
The Super Tenere fulfils all those requirements. I think there's an impression in the thread that I'm dissatisfied with the S10 platform, and that isn't the case at all. It's been a great bike for me, and I wouldn't have any problem buying another one. However, as I said, I've been riding my S10 for a decade now, and other bikes have entered the ADV market in that passing decade. Since I don't switch bikes very often, a lot of those newer bikes are an unknown quantity to me, so I was looking for guys with first hand experiences at switching from the S10 to another bike, and what those experiences were like.
I do like the T7, and the Transalp, and a lot of other bikes that, as much as I may like them, don't really meet the things I need and want in a motorcycle. I don't think any of my criteria require that I have multiple different bikes.
Be careful in trying to be so objective, because motorcycles are anything but.Motorcycling is like life...full of temptations.
Whenever I hear or read about a new "great" bike I add it to my spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet contains the criteria that are important to me (as of today).
Right now, the "next bike" winner is the 2024 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
YOMV <Your Opinion May Vary>
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High exhausts can be a PITA! I can’t stand using the OEM panniers on the Super Tenere and didn’t want to go down the fitting a rack route in order to have other options. The high exhaust makes simple throw overs difficult. So many bikes now have upswept exhaustsMe too. I’m even thinking about buying a new ST in Florida and using a firm to import it from the States. It’ll cost £17-18k, with VAT and import duty, but that appeals more than anything available here. I agree about the V-Strom 1050 - Laguna in Kent are doing the cast wheel version for £9,995, but chain drive puts me off as does the awful dustbin silencer which places panniers well above the level of the pillion seat.
It’s on the WWW. It’s gotta be trueEven I don't think that every Beemer is bad. But it's not like they'll let you keep bringing one back until you find a good one. Here's a couple of lists. The top one is the one that's been floating around since '15. The bottom one is from May '23.
---------------------------------------------Reliability rating--------------Likely to buy again (%)----------------Average lasting mileage for touring bikes--------------------------------
Motorcycle Reliability by Brand (Consumer Reports, 2015) Brand Predicted Failure Rate by 4th Year Can-Am 42% BMW 40% Ducati 33% Triumph 29% Harley-Davidson 26% Victory 17% Kawasaki 15% Honda 12% Suzuki 12% Yamaha 11%
Number Brand Reliability Rating Likely to Buy Again (%) Average Lasting Mileage (for Touring Motorcycles) 1 Honda 9.2 87.1 100,000+ miles 2 Yamaha 9.0 84.9 80,000+ miles 3 Kawasaki 8.8 82.4 80,000+ miles 4 Suzuki 8.7 81.3 90,000+ miles 5 BMW 8.5 77.2 120,000+ miles 6 Harley-Davidson 8.2 74.9 80,000+ miles 7 Triumph 8.0 72.1 90,000+ miles 8 KTM 7.8 68.7 50,000+ miles 9 Ducati 7.5 65.2 70,000+ miles 10 Indian 7.2 61.9 100,000+ miles
That is what I have done….upgrade an older S10 for a new S10. I bought a low mileage 2022 BMW R1250GS and bought/traded in my 2021 S10 for a new 2023 S10 eight months later. I am selling the BMW this summer after riding it to the national BMWOA rally in Bend, Oregon. The S10 is staying.
I can't relate to the wrenching part. I bought a KTM and pretty much hung up the wreches. Wrenched all my life. Never really found it to be the enjoyable part of motorcycling. I'd rather ride. Overall letting a pro wrenching on the KTMs has been pretty reasonable for cost and well worth it.As a KTM owner, this hits pretty close to home, but I think it really applies to twin-cylinder KTMs.
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I see KTM is now offering an extended warranty for some of their bikes including some of the big ADV bikes. The article stated that there was no charge if you have your dealer service the bike.I can't relate to the wrenching part. I bought a KTM and pretty much hung up the wreches. Wrenched all my life. Never really found it to be the enjoyable part of motorcycling. I'd rather ride. Overall letting a pro wrenching on the KTMs has been pretty reasonable for cost and well worth it.