Super Tenere
Ian Kerr assesses Yamahaʼs latest rival to BMWʼs GS
Love them or hate them, there is no doubt that a certain celebrity pairing did wonders for the sales of German off-road
motorcycles, not to mention German metal luggage and accessories. So much so that London now has many of these machines transporting their adventure seeking riders into battle with the four wheel drive brigade.
Cynicism over, the increased sales of bikes and accessories (which also includes clothing) suddenly came up on the radar of other manufacturers, apart from KTM who were already there. Hence a rash of what the Americans call Dual Sport machines, designed for the long distance tourer aimed at capturing a slice of the perceived ‘new’ lucrative market.
It would, however, be very unfair to suggest that Yamaha are simply following a trend to gain a few extra Yen with the Super Ténéré as they have actually been in the Adventure Sport market for longer than most. If you look at the results of the infamous Paris Dakar rally, you find that not only did Yamaha totally dominate the 1990’s, but they won the first two events with Cyril Neveu on an XT500 and have had far more wins than BMW and currently equal KTM in the overall standings. In fact, the humble XT was to form the basis of their large capacity off-road, Dual Sport range that gradually increased in capacity spawning the Ténéré moniker along the way. This is a long-winded way of saying that Yamaha are not just jumping on
26 The ROAD
the bandwagon and the Super Ténéré is not really anything radically new, but just the latest in a long lineage. It does however, become the first to sport a shaft drive and does have some electronic gismos, which some may find useful or attractive. In addition it offers a few factory options to avoid the need to scour aftermarket catalogues should you ever feel the need to look for some real adventure apart from myopic car drivers and pot holes!
So on the face of it, the Super Ténéré is a go-anywhere adventure machine, based on a superb heritage to go beyond the paved road, complete with
central for perfect balance and light, agile handling at speed. In addition they have used technology to make things safer, with the fitting of the intelligent Unified Brake System with ABS
on the face of it, the Super Ténéré is a
go-anywhere adventure machine, based on a superb heritage to go beyond the paved road
spoked wheels, generous ground clearance, a reasonable engine and basic bike protection. It is a good basis for most people, although the serious round –the- world adventurer will want to beef up a lot of areas, but that will always be so on a mass produced bike, whichever manufacturer makes it. Yamaha’s design brief was to keep the bike’s mass low and
stopping power and a three- mode traction control system that can easily be turned off when off the road.
So the burning question is, have they succeeded in producing something to give the opposition a real run for their money? Well the answer is yes and possibly no, depending on your particular need and wants,
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