Jules
Race Dog
As you know I am a VERY happy Tenere 660Z Owner, It’s been 6 months and 10 000km’s of absolute pleasure! Coming from the KLR650 (08) it was a significant step up as far as power suspension and overall build quality was concerned.
I enjoy my adventure riding on the more extreme end of the scale and love to “play” while riding, I will look for the steeper climbs and anything that looks like it might get me some extra “air”.
Li and myself try to ride almost every Sunday and often do 300k’s of as much dirt as we can find, We also try to do a weekend away at least once a month where we will leave on a Friday and come back on a Sunday or Monday afternoon, again with as much dirt as possible, I will far rather take 8 hours to do 350km’s of dirt than power down the highway and get there in 3hours. For us each moment on the bike “IS” the adventure. As we both ride our own bike and hate traffic and tar a bigger more powerful adventure bike never appealed to me that much.
I was however very interested in seeing if a bigger more powerful bike could still give me the off-road thrill I get from the 660 but be more long distance friendly. So while booking my 660 in for her 10 000km service I enquired from the good folks at Shimwells if they had a 1200 Demo available. Sure says Braham you can have mine for the weekend, we will drop it off for you when we drop of the 660 after its service. Talk about taking care of your customers!!!
So as promised “Solly” dropped off my freshly serviced 660 and a shiny new silver Super Tenere 1200 on Thursday afternoon. At first glance the 1200 was an intimidating beast, the wide almost hunched over shoulders just shouting “this bike means business”, I spent a few minutes getting acquainted with the ST and then took a short ride around the block to check if any of the controls needed adjusting for me. All I needed to change was the gear lever and that is very easy, an adjustable rod connects the gear lever and after loosening the locking nuts it’s a simple twist and the gear lever moves up or down.
The folks at Shimwells are well known for their constant innovation and modifications and even though the Super Ten is relatively new in SA they have already started the process of making it more SA friendly and an all-round better bike. The first thing I notice is the ABS switch next to the left mirror stalk. The Super Tenere’s ABS is not switchable right?
Well Shimwells decided to fix that and they did a great job. A very neatly integrated switch allows you to turn off the ABS at any time, No need to stop just flick the switch to the off position and half a second later the ABS is totally deactivated, The ABS light on the dash comes on to notify you that ABS is now off. To turn it back on it is necessary to stop, flick the switch to on and turn the bike off and back on again and all is back to normal. What’s nice with this integration is that if you are spending a day off road you can simply leave the ABS off permanently, no need to keep turning it off after each stop, Or if you prefer the safety aspect of ABS always turning back on after a stop simply get used to flicking the switch off and then back to on each time and the ABS will automatically be back on after a restart! Simple and effective! It must be said though that the ABS on the ST is truly amazing as a lot of others have stated it works so well in dirt its almost not necessary to turn it off. I did a few high speed emergency stop tests and came away amazed, 120kph on loose gravel, grab a big handful of front brake and the bike will stop so quickly your eyeballs will leave sticky marks on your visor, I did this again and again on all types of terrain and not once did it ever let me down, in fact on a few occasions coming down a tricky technical section I loved the fact that I could simply grab the front and both brakes would do their thing, leaves your feet free to steer and balance the bike around obstacles.
The other “new” to me aspect of the ST was the Traction Control, There are 3 settings available, TCS1 TCS2 and TCS Off,
TCS1 or “Nanny Mode” controls around 90% of wheel spin, This will be a great help in mud and thick sand as it does not cut power or abruptly slow the bike down it simply limits the amount of power until sufficient traction is restored.
TCS2 or “Controlled Hooligan Mode” allows a lot more wheel spin and some truly spectacular power slides around sweeping dirt corners, so spectacular in fact that Li, my wife would often exclaim her amazement over the intercom from here KTM behind me, Things like “you’re going to give me grey hairs”, “what would be the point of going around a corner sideways! “and “Why would you do that!”. With the Supper Tenere its so easy, Set TCS mode 2 pick a corner and give LOTS of gas, the rear steps out the grin widens as the TCS light lights up to tell you how well you are doing! Fantastic unobtrusive implementation.
TCS Off as the name suggests totally disables the traction control, I tested it like this a few times but as with the ABS I honestly never needed to turn it off. The only thing I would like is the option of leaving TCS on mode 2 permanently, I would often stop to wait for the other riders in the pack to catch up, then start up and head off, only to get to the next corner and find the rear wheel not wanting to come out to play, Then needing to stop to turn TCS back to mode 2 again. (You must be stationary but need not turn the bike off and on to change modes). Shimwells also have a new washable foam filter for the Super Tenere which is easier to clean than the normal paper unit.
As for the rest of the bike I was pleasantly surprised! I never expected to have this much fun on a big heavy dual purpose machine. It was incredibly stable on the dirt high ways and the suspension coped exceptionally well with everything I threw at it. When planning our trip to the Berg I plotted some routes that I assumed would be just a few twisty dirt passes, Well as it turns out the Verlore Vallei and Bezhuidenhouts Passes are a LOT more technical that I anticipated, Yet again the Super Ten impressed with great suspension and nimble predictable handling, We did some scary off road stuff and not once did I feel that the Super Ten was out of its depth, even when I hit a rather large whoop on the way to the pass and took some big air the landing was soft and controlled with not even a hint of bottoming out from the suspension.
On tar the big Tenere just eats up the kilometres! Very composed in the sweeping twisties and rock solid at speed. On a long open stretch I saw 230kph on the clock and was amazed how quick it got there.
Ergonomically the Super Tenere suited me very well, Comfortable seating position and a great standing position. I also had the opportunity to pillion someone on rough dirt as well as some fast tar sections and the Super Tenere again impressed me and the Pillion, She informed her husband that they should sell the Vstrom 1000 and get a Super Tenere ;-).
I spent 4 days and 1300km’s with the Super Tenere and not once did I get even a little bit of the dreaded monkey but! Even the long 4 hour trip home was a pleasure.
So the big question is would I buy one!
If I was doing regular trips with a pillion and spent more time doing long distances without a doubt I would have one in my garage right now! But Lisa and I ride our own bikes and I tend to ride mine very aggressively and as such I would find the Super Tenere to be a little limiting when I want to take a really big jump or fly down a rocky mountain. If I could afford it I would have a 660 and 1200 standing side by side right now but as I can only have 1 bike for now it’s the 660Z. I’m sure when I grow up it will be a Super Tenere I spend my time on.
Thanks again to the wonderful folks at Shimwells for loaning me their bike for the long weekend.
If you want to buy a Yamaha give Shimwells a call and prepare to be amazed at the level of service and support they offer their customers.
I love the fact that for a very reasonable fee (R130) they will collect and deliver your bike for a service etc!
Also speak to Braham about adding an ABS switch to your Super Tenere!
www.shimwells.co.za
Some Pictures
Shimwells ABS Switch
How Hot is this beast!
Some hard core riding on a 1200!
View from the Top
Some Videos
TCS Tests
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/6oLoAl37n8g[/flash]
ABS Tests
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/q7akBcHk-lk[/flash]
Roll on in 6th to 200kph
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/2g2nTXYPFrM[/flash]
High Speed dirt trail and ABS test at the end
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/K_jMe8c-QCA[/flash]
Power Slide at speed
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/exe26IoNHuk[/flash]
I enjoy my adventure riding on the more extreme end of the scale and love to “play” while riding, I will look for the steeper climbs and anything that looks like it might get me some extra “air”.
Li and myself try to ride almost every Sunday and often do 300k’s of as much dirt as we can find, We also try to do a weekend away at least once a month where we will leave on a Friday and come back on a Sunday or Monday afternoon, again with as much dirt as possible, I will far rather take 8 hours to do 350km’s of dirt than power down the highway and get there in 3hours. For us each moment on the bike “IS” the adventure. As we both ride our own bike and hate traffic and tar a bigger more powerful adventure bike never appealed to me that much.
I was however very interested in seeing if a bigger more powerful bike could still give me the off-road thrill I get from the 660 but be more long distance friendly. So while booking my 660 in for her 10 000km service I enquired from the good folks at Shimwells if they had a 1200 Demo available. Sure says Braham you can have mine for the weekend, we will drop it off for you when we drop of the 660 after its service. Talk about taking care of your customers!!!
So as promised “Solly” dropped off my freshly serviced 660 and a shiny new silver Super Tenere 1200 on Thursday afternoon. At first glance the 1200 was an intimidating beast, the wide almost hunched over shoulders just shouting “this bike means business”, I spent a few minutes getting acquainted with the ST and then took a short ride around the block to check if any of the controls needed adjusting for me. All I needed to change was the gear lever and that is very easy, an adjustable rod connects the gear lever and after loosening the locking nuts it’s a simple twist and the gear lever moves up or down.
The folks at Shimwells are well known for their constant innovation and modifications and even though the Super Ten is relatively new in SA they have already started the process of making it more SA friendly and an all-round better bike. The first thing I notice is the ABS switch next to the left mirror stalk. The Super Tenere’s ABS is not switchable right?
Well Shimwells decided to fix that and they did a great job. A very neatly integrated switch allows you to turn off the ABS at any time, No need to stop just flick the switch to the off position and half a second later the ABS is totally deactivated, The ABS light on the dash comes on to notify you that ABS is now off. To turn it back on it is necessary to stop, flick the switch to on and turn the bike off and back on again and all is back to normal. What’s nice with this integration is that if you are spending a day off road you can simply leave the ABS off permanently, no need to keep turning it off after each stop, Or if you prefer the safety aspect of ABS always turning back on after a stop simply get used to flicking the switch off and then back to on each time and the ABS will automatically be back on after a restart! Simple and effective! It must be said though that the ABS on the ST is truly amazing as a lot of others have stated it works so well in dirt its almost not necessary to turn it off. I did a few high speed emergency stop tests and came away amazed, 120kph on loose gravel, grab a big handful of front brake and the bike will stop so quickly your eyeballs will leave sticky marks on your visor, I did this again and again on all types of terrain and not once did it ever let me down, in fact on a few occasions coming down a tricky technical section I loved the fact that I could simply grab the front and both brakes would do their thing, leaves your feet free to steer and balance the bike around obstacles.
The other “new” to me aspect of the ST was the Traction Control, There are 3 settings available, TCS1 TCS2 and TCS Off,
TCS1 or “Nanny Mode” controls around 90% of wheel spin, This will be a great help in mud and thick sand as it does not cut power or abruptly slow the bike down it simply limits the amount of power until sufficient traction is restored.
TCS2 or “Controlled Hooligan Mode” allows a lot more wheel spin and some truly spectacular power slides around sweeping dirt corners, so spectacular in fact that Li, my wife would often exclaim her amazement over the intercom from here KTM behind me, Things like “you’re going to give me grey hairs”, “what would be the point of going around a corner sideways! “and “Why would you do that!”. With the Supper Tenere its so easy, Set TCS mode 2 pick a corner and give LOTS of gas, the rear steps out the grin widens as the TCS light lights up to tell you how well you are doing! Fantastic unobtrusive implementation.
TCS Off as the name suggests totally disables the traction control, I tested it like this a few times but as with the ABS I honestly never needed to turn it off. The only thing I would like is the option of leaving TCS on mode 2 permanently, I would often stop to wait for the other riders in the pack to catch up, then start up and head off, only to get to the next corner and find the rear wheel not wanting to come out to play, Then needing to stop to turn TCS back to mode 2 again. (You must be stationary but need not turn the bike off and on to change modes). Shimwells also have a new washable foam filter for the Super Tenere which is easier to clean than the normal paper unit.
As for the rest of the bike I was pleasantly surprised! I never expected to have this much fun on a big heavy dual purpose machine. It was incredibly stable on the dirt high ways and the suspension coped exceptionally well with everything I threw at it. When planning our trip to the Berg I plotted some routes that I assumed would be just a few twisty dirt passes, Well as it turns out the Verlore Vallei and Bezhuidenhouts Passes are a LOT more technical that I anticipated, Yet again the Super Ten impressed with great suspension and nimble predictable handling, We did some scary off road stuff and not once did I feel that the Super Ten was out of its depth, even when I hit a rather large whoop on the way to the pass and took some big air the landing was soft and controlled with not even a hint of bottoming out from the suspension.
On tar the big Tenere just eats up the kilometres! Very composed in the sweeping twisties and rock solid at speed. On a long open stretch I saw 230kph on the clock and was amazed how quick it got there.
Ergonomically the Super Tenere suited me very well, Comfortable seating position and a great standing position. I also had the opportunity to pillion someone on rough dirt as well as some fast tar sections and the Super Tenere again impressed me and the Pillion, She informed her husband that they should sell the Vstrom 1000 and get a Super Tenere ;-).
I spent 4 days and 1300km’s with the Super Tenere and not once did I get even a little bit of the dreaded monkey but! Even the long 4 hour trip home was a pleasure.
So the big question is would I buy one!
If I was doing regular trips with a pillion and spent more time doing long distances without a doubt I would have one in my garage right now! But Lisa and I ride our own bikes and I tend to ride mine very aggressively and as such I would find the Super Tenere to be a little limiting when I want to take a really big jump or fly down a rocky mountain. If I could afford it I would have a 660 and 1200 standing side by side right now but as I can only have 1 bike for now it’s the 660Z. I’m sure when I grow up it will be a Super Tenere I spend my time on.
Thanks again to the wonderful folks at Shimwells for loaning me their bike for the long weekend.
If you want to buy a Yamaha give Shimwells a call and prepare to be amazed at the level of service and support they offer their customers.
I love the fact that for a very reasonable fee (R130) they will collect and deliver your bike for a service etc!
Also speak to Braham about adding an ABS switch to your Super Tenere!
www.shimwells.co.za
Some Pictures
Shimwells ABS Switch
How Hot is this beast!
Some hard core riding on a 1200!
View from the Top
Some Videos
TCS Tests
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/6oLoAl37n8g[/flash]
ABS Tests
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/q7akBcHk-lk[/flash]
Roll on in 6th to 200kph
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/2g2nTXYPFrM[/flash]
High Speed dirt trail and ABS test at the end
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/K_jMe8c-QCA[/flash]
Power Slide at speed
[flash=425,344]https://www.youtube.com/v/exe26IoNHuk[/flash]
