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Going from Harley to Adventure bike! GS1200A, Triumph Explore or Super Tenere?? Help Going from Harley to Adventure bike! GS1200A, Triumph Explore or Super Tenere?? Help
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #31  
Old 17 Feb 2012
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I am in a similar situation to Moulin.

My 1150 GSA with all the trimmings has been written off by the insurance company and I now have a small cheque from them to compensate.

We are going RTW 2-up next year and we are camping so I am tempted with another GSA - but it is so heavy.

Anything suitable for 12 months away from home two up do you think?
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  #32  
Old 18 Feb 2012
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Super Tenere
I traded my KLR for a Super Tenere last July, got 13,000 miles on the Tenere now. I was 2 weeks from getting a GS when Yamaha made it available in the U.S. Price, dual swing-arm strength, low maintenance, dealer network and Japanese reliability made the S10 my clear choice. I hope to cover a few hundred thousand more miles of mountain roads, trails and daily commutes on it. Ride one, thats all it will take.
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  #33  
Old 18 Feb 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k woo View Post
I traded my KLR for a Super Tenere last July, got 13,000 miles on the Tenere now. I was 2 weeks from getting a GS when Yamaha made it available in the U.S. Price, dual swing-arm strength, low maintenance, dealer network and Japanese reliability made the S10 my clear choice. I hope to cover a few hundred thousand more miles of mountain roads, trails and daily commutes on it. Ride one, thats all it will take.

Thanks for the useful, real world experience of the S10.

I don't make a habit of quoting motorcycle magazines and their reporting, but there was an interesting article in a UK bike mag back in Nov 11.
It concerned the Nick Sanders' super tenere that did 3 return trips of the Pan-American; this amounted to 51,000 miles in about 4 months.
But the interesting bit was the strip down of the engine and the photos and description of the mechanics. Servicing for the 51K miles is described as 2-3 oil changes and nothing else, not even the air filter was changed.

The most serious issues found with this bike were a couple of weeping seals, specifically for one of the fork legs and in the final drive which incurred some kind of damage (vaguely attributed to a strap).
All of the engine internals are described as showing wear consistent with a bike of about 10K miles maximum and many are "just run in" or "as new".
Apart from the seals, everything is original, even the spark plugs.

I hope your S10 gives just as good service in your travels!!
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  #34  
Old 7 Mar 2012
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May I suggest taking the 3-day BMW intro off-road motor course before buying the big GSA. I did and it didn't take long to realize that the bike is way to heavy to go to a lot of places the smaller ones could get to. I also am making the transition from Harley to adv.bike. Good luck & hope to see you on the road.
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  #35  
Old 8 Mar 2012
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Deal done, Goodbye Harley- Hello BMW GSA :)
Hey guys, thanks for the feedbacks. Just want to give some update and also real feedback, hopefully will help someone...
To start, let me make it official and say that I traded my beautiful HD black St. Glide for a 2012 Red GSA. Loving it, even though a little overwhelmed still...
So, I test drove the Yamaha Super Tenere. Really like that bike, perfect every where, light, powerful and I even took it off road during the test drive (as per sales guy suggestion , and It was fun riding it standing up. The down side was that there was no crash bar, and the windshield was a little smaller.
Test drove 2 GSA and 1 GS, in 2 different dealers. The GS was fun and nimble, like it, but did not love it. I was sold on the bad ass imposing look of the GSA (also compare to S.Tenere. Wish Tenere had a "offroad" version on the show room, it probably would sell more!)
Why did I buy the GSA instead of Tenere.... Tenere did make more sense $$ wise, about 4K cheaper than GSA (even suit up).
I guess the biggest reason for buying the GSA was 3 things. One looks, two proven reliability, and lots of positives feedbacks, and The most important reason was about the Name status and Riding club/group rides.
You may only understand this if they come from Harley Davidson.... HD biggest selling points are the Harley Groups and Group Rides that you are automatically invited if you own a Harley, and that IS A BLAST. I never done group riding until I bought my First Harley and I love that friendship and camaraderie that Other Harley rides have to each other...
While test riding my 2nd GSA, the sales guy invited me to come back later in the week that they were having the monthly BMW owner club meeting, so I did. I truly enjoyed meeting the group, they are actually a more mature group of guys (a few girls) just nice group of people, getting together, having a chili cookout, planning some upcoming rides. Not as group riding oriented as the Harley, but as close as you will find I guess.
Yamaha, Honda, not even the Triumph have much of that...( I've owned them all!) at the least not around my area anyways...
Ohhh another thing.... That is something cool to do when someone asks... What bike do you ride... and you say Harley! (people almost expect that! I have seen disappointing faces in the past when I used to say Honda) Now, I can proudly say BMW It Would not be the same if you say Yamaha,, even you if quickly say Super Tenere behind it, since nobody really will know what that is...
PS: To back up my point... when I told my wife that I was torn between the BMW and Yamaha, she said..."BMW sounds like a better bike, just get that one! " and she knows nothing about motorcycle
Well here is my honest review...
Cheers.
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  #36  
Old 8 Mar 2012
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That sounds like a well motivated decision.
I wish you lots of fun riding your BMW GSA.
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  #37  
Old 9 Mar 2012
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This is a great forum for tech info on all the GS bikes. Opinions vary on the 1200, but the majority seem to think the build quality is nowhere near as good as the earlier bikes.
I wouldn`t fancy taking any of the biggies you mention on anything other than firm tracks. If you travel solo I reckon a 650 or 660 would do you better. They happily chug along at 70mph all day fully loaded. The XT660Z is a great bike.
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