Yamaha Super Ténéré XT1200Z

I assume that Yamaha must have conceived this bike well before the world's financial troubles. The turmoil and resulting currency changes have left the UK with an effective devaluation and surely this has caught out Yamaha - at least as far as UK is concerned. Looking at just one example of their price hikes (TDM 900), suggests that the Super 10 might perhaps have been priced at around £10,000 originally. Wouldn't that have changed our view of the bike completely? At that price, if it did not quite square up to the BMW, who would have cared? It's surely a fine bike. I am mystified by Yamaha's price hikes though (financial mess or no); other Japanese manufacturers seem to have avoided this, so far. Yamaha might be better off making some bikes in the UK!

Yamaha seems (if I'm not mistaken) to have concentrated on its sports bikes and left most of the other bikes largely as they were. Taking the eye off the ball, perhaps? Some updates of appearance at least would have helped to refresh the range, but now they've no money to do that. And as fine bikes as they may be (or are), they are now further at risk seeming to be pricing their products like 'Bentleys'. The Europeans are better at that and, what's more, they have moved on.

I have just read an article by Mr KA's 'Daily Telegraph' colleague, Mike Rutherford in Saturday's 'Motoring' supplement. It has made me think about Yamaha pricing policy again. Ford have ridiculously high prices for their cars too. So, now some dealers are openly advertising huge discounts (24% to 37% mentioned). May be this is the trick: a goodly proportion of buyers will not negotiate a discount, they do not like doing that. So that's a nice profit for everyone involved in the supply. That leaves the rest who should be shaving the price - being ready even before the test ride. So, if Yamaha want to sell the bike in numbers (surely), they'll finance dealers to be able to haggle. Perhaps a (reasonable) 'ten grand, some hundreds' Super Ten is still possible? Sales via the internet, of course - no chance.

On the subject of cloning and the Super Ténéré, I was amused to read this test report: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/277/7526/Motorcycle-Article/2010-Yamaha-Su...

Originally phrased it may be, but it’s almost a point-for-point copy of Kevin’s essay on this site (even to the extent of sharing the same structure and overall argument). So, a cloned test report of a cloned motorcycle? Oh, the irony. No doubt Kevin will be in touch to claim his share of the fee (unless, in his absence, it’s Mr Ash who has himself been half-cloned and outwardly has taken on a new and rather more fetching female form…). ;-)

As to whether the bike is a clone of the GS, I’d say not. Or at least it’s no more of one than the first GS was a clone of the original XT (it addressed broadly the same market segment and “Gelandstrasse” is a pretty reasonable approximation of “Cross Trail”). Obviously designed as a direct competitor to the GS, the architecture of the Super Ténéré is different in most respects: i.e. engine, suspension and brakes. For what it’s worth, I test-rode the Tén pretty much back to back with the 2010 R1200GS and ended up buying the Yamaha.

For me the Ténéré is superior in most important respects. Some have remarked that the engine seems a bit flat at first blush and I can see their point, though after riding the bike for a few hours I think this has more to do with the very smooth, progressive delivery of power (which I’d say is being softened off somewhat at the bottom end by electrotrickery) than any real performance deficit. Certainly in real world fast road situations I think there’s enough there for most riders, other than unreformed sportsbike junkies, to have fun with. I much prefer the engine feel to that of the latest twin-cam GS which, in my case, still sends enough high-frequency buzziness through the 'bars to leave fingers tingling after as little as 50 miles or so. The Tén’s fuelling is immaculate (better than any other non-carbed bike I’ve ridden) and the shaft drivetrain is slick and unobtrusive. It doesn’t steer as sharply as the GS, but the front end feels more natural to me and the suspension is both lush and controlled – just how I like it. The linked brakes are excellent, and overridden by pre-emptive use of the rear. As to weight, well, don’t believe everything the spec sheets have to say. A couple of magazine tests have now put the bikes on the scales, wet, and found the BMW to be somewhat porkier than its makers were letting on. The real difference between the bikes seems to be about 17kg – which I think I’d struggle to discern in any event when each machine weighs north of 240kg. In practice, the Ténéré almost always feels lighter than the GS because it’s that bit more compact and the weight is carried so low.

Build-quality wise I give the Yamaha the nod – frame welds are neater, paint is better applied, and there are some nice quality touches such as a brake pedal lifted off a WR enduro bike. And, at the risk of stirring some controversy into the mix, I’d bet heavily on the Yam proving the more reliable. Here I speak as one who has experience of the early 12GS… You’re supposed to be able to go to remote places and do adventurous things on an adventure motorcycle so, yes, I think it does matter.

That leaves the thorny issue of price. No excuses here, it’s too high in the UK relative to the GS, though even in this respect things are not quite as black and white as the UK bike press would have you believe. I suspect that next to no GSs are sold in this country in their basic spec (which doesn’t even include ABS). The difference is nearer £1k if you try to match spec for spec (and that isn’t fully possible, I’ll admit). But of course the price you actually pay is the one that matters and here my local BMW dealer’s parsimonious trade-in offer (they don’t stoop so low as to sell non-BMW bikes off their lavishly appointed sales space) handed the advantage back to Yamaha. I still think the RRP will prove a stumbling block over here, though. As you say Twinrider, I gather from ‘net contacts that the bike is doing very well in other territories where it isn’t necessarily any cheaper than in the UK, in absolute terms, but is priced more competitively in relation to the GS.

Not yet. But what it does have is the world's first accessory tank pad in the likeness of Lawrence of Arabia, before he had his cataracts done, wearing some of the Invisible Man's cast-off bandages.

Beat that BMW!

To what extent have you toadied up to Kevin to get your upload facility back?

I've obviously not earned enough loyalty points yet or would have appended an inappropriate builder's cleavage pic for you to compare & contrast with the tank sticker. Are you sure you stuck the bits on in the right order?

I would have thought the T E Lawrence connection will only serve to fan the flames of the europe-japan debate, given his love for - and ultimate parting company with - the Brough Superior. This incidentally posthumously leading to the development and widespread introduction of the crash helmet.

Dunno why it's started working again. I guess it must be like starting an old-school big single. You know the drill: wait 'til the wind's in the right direction on the last day of February in a leap year, swing a black cat over your head whilst whistling La Marseillaise backwards and applying a perfectly polished brogue to the kick start... And no, I'm not going to tickle your carbs for you.

A fascinating figure, and "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is still worth a read today. I saw something on TV not long ago in which it was mentioned that Lawrence is being taught in the US forces' officer training schools. Sadly the Super Tén was unavailable to him, otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd have wanted to storm Aqaba from the saddle of one. I'll swap for the Brough Superior if anyone's offering, though...

There's an interesting piece on this site about Lawrence's last beautiful Brough SS100 - "George VII" - on which he covered 25,000 miles in three years (during the early 1930s!) and which at one point following his death changed hands for just £1.

http://www.brough-superior.com/ws/frontend/seite/SeiteCms.php?coId=263&c...

Hello sv20man,

Apologies for not commenting earlier. This is the first time I've read this thread.

I own a 2004 TDM900 and ride it almost every day to visit clients in Melbourne. It's a great, reliable and adequately powerful bike for my purposes. I have noticed over the years that bike journalists who've ridden it almost have to say it's a competent, o.k. tool but I get the impression saying it hurts - like they have to write the words out the side of their mouths. The TDM is the absolute antithesis of style, sexy, beauty, manliness, classic design, trendy. I'm 61 years old and can care less about those considerations. For the money it's probably better than anything in its class but you have to ride it like we did in the old days. You know, change gears to keep the revs fit for purpose. Seems like people don't want to ride... if the tool can't pull in sixth gear from 40 kmh it's just not good enough! Ride the TDM properly and it's good fun!

I've tested the MTS1100S, Tiger 1050, FJR1200, FZ1 and CBF1000. Whilst they all had their good points, I didn't consider any of them sufficiently better or different to the TDM to get me to switch. I'm going to test the new MTS1200S when I can get my cheeks on a demo. It might get me off the TDM but would have to be awful good at the price they're wanting.

I'd be interested in what you decided to do, sv20man.

What have the austrians done for motorcyclists,KTM, say no more,great bikes.

"And how about this for marketing, dismissing the opposition with a quote from Kipling ... Great quote too, Captain. I feel another wave coming...."
... being a bit of a quality guru, one of my constant mantras has been one of Kipling's:

'I keep six honest serving-men:
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.'

"Six Serving Men" - Poem by Rudyard Kipling - following the story "Elephant's Child" in "Just So Stories" published in 1902...

Apply 'What, Where, When, How, Why & Who' to any problem and you can usually come up with a worthwhile solution/process to satisfy most of what life throws at us. It's just that nobody at Yamaha looked into the Where (...to demo!) ;-D

Tenere tinted and touring windshields available now.

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Tenereprod.html

I'm not sure why LED indicators aren't more widely fitted as standard.  Is it a type approval thing?  Or a conspiracy of accountants to see how many bits on new bike can be sold to the same buyer twice over? The ones in the picture above are official accessories for which you'll be relieved of a further £100 for a set of 4: http://www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/accessories/acc_details.jsp?accessoryCode=...

It's easily the best bike I've ever ridden (so far this week). And it's quite a novelty having a Japanese bike that's a rarer sight than its competitors.  In fact I've been fairly pestered whenever I've stopped within shouting range of another rider.  To be greeted with incredulity ("you didn't even test the Multistrada?!?!"), or condescension ("BIKE magazine says the GS is better and it's too expensive and too Japanese and Ewan'n'charley won't be riding one of those and...").  With the odd compliment thrown in too, which is nice.

The downside of there not being many around is that I don't have anyone to talk to at Ash On Bikes.  The upside is that it does simplify things when it comes to debating the merits of mods and accessories.  I have only to ask myself for a decision and generally speaking I end up agreeing with me.

I saw one of these in Australia when I was down there a couple of months ago. I'd agree with the comments that they're a nice looking bike, and the finish seemed on a par (if not better) than the GS.

I have no idea why LED indicators aren't offered as standard on bikes. BMW list them as an option for most of their models. The standard (Japanese) approach is to build a single spec, and then all options are deal fit accessories after the initial sale. I suspect that the former means that the production process is more complicated, and it takes time for a bike to arrive, whereas the latter makes production cheaper, and allows stocks to be maintained so shorter delivery times.

Obviously, this being Ash on Ducatis, you should have bought a Multistrada, and now you'll be facing an immediate life ban from the forums for failing to do so. :)