vmaxaust
Reviewed: 04 September 2010
Very user friendly mile eater which is great in the bush also
Great handling, great brakes, ABS and traction control work perfectly, traction control and the excellent linked brakes can be turned off easily, plenty of power and torque, relaxed high speed riding, very comfortable, very stable,strong roll on power, well at home in the dirt, low center of gravity feels light to ride and push around. no shaft drive torque reaction, excellent transmission shifting, fairing pulls heat away from rider effectively, fuel tank capacity is very good,
No gear indicator, factory bags should be tougher, factory optional engine bash plate has weak bolt on points and will die if hit hard, windscreen buffeting is evident in head winds, windscreen height adjustment should not require tools, heated grips, driving lights and crash bars should be standard equipment, shorter riders like me need (5'6") the seat flatter and the handlebars fitted with riser/barbacks for maximum comfort although this is a personal nitpick.
I test rode this bike and fell in love. Have ridden the BMW GS and it was too much of a handful to push around, feels way too top heavy for me, brakes are not in the same league as the Yamaha although the engine is at least as good. The BMW valve lash intervals compared to the Yamaha tell the real story about engine technology and it's a no brainer to see Yamaha is hard to beat in this department as well as saving on major service costs over time. The Yamaha gives you total confidence and a user friendly feeling very quickly. My other bikes are an '09 Vmax and a '99 Vmax so I'm very used to mental power and acceleration but the Tenere keeps me very happy despite the significant drop in power output. It is deceptively fast to accelerate especially on highway passing where a small roll on of the throttle sees illegal speeds very easily and great passing power. The bike eats miles like a Honda Gold Wing and handles the sharp twisties as well as many sports bikes. It's flickable nature makes you feel right at home on it on either highway or on our Australian bush tracks. The traction control is magnificent in wet, muddy or other slippery conditions where sometimes one forgets to get off it and can easily pay the price.
If someone levels the claim that Yamaha has tried to simply copy the BMW GS and has not done it as well, then I think they just don't get it. Yamaha obviously tried to incorporate good GS features, why wouldn't you? The Yamaha for me is superior in every way.
