YCC-T with 3-stage
traction control plus Yamaha D-mode
First edition adventure
pack
Tough spoked, tubeless
aluminium rims
Adjustable front and rear
suspension
Adjustable seat height
Adventure travelling takes skill, courage and
endurance – as well as faith in your machine. Faith that it’ll love rocky river
crossings and dirt roads as much as you do. Faith that it’s going to be
comfortable on a long freeway haul. Faith that it’s got what it takes to carve
up twisty mountain roads.
The all-new Yamaha Super Ténéré is built from the ground up to be the most
exciting next-generation adventure tourer, combining Yamaha’s Dakar-bred
toughness and reliability with light, easy handling and advanced rider assist
technology.
Calling the 2010 Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tènèrè "the
R1 of adventure tourers" isn't just hyperbole, it shares important technology
with the superbike, most evidently in the crossplane crankshaft. In the R1, that
innovation eliminates inertial torque and alters the power delivery to make the
most of available traction. In the Super Tènèrè, that should help get the 110bhp
and 84lb/ft the 1199cc parallel-twin makes to the ground, whether that ground be
asphalt, dirt or sand. Helping that along is a three mode traction control
system that measures relative speeds of the front and rear wheels, then adjusts
power to suit the riders demands. The traction control system is fully
defeatable, but the ABS brakes are not.
The Super Tènèrè's interesting mechanical spec doesn't stop there. There's one
radiator, mounted on the left side of the engine and final drive is shaft to
reduce maintenance. The parallel-twin engine is mounted as far forward in the
chassis as possible and relative to opposed- or v-twin competitors is relatively
short, allowing for an exceptionally long swingarm, which should, in turn, help
traction. The battery and electrical components are mounted to the right of the
engine, mirroring the radiator.
Despite the lack of an ABS "off" switch, Yamaha
is serious about the Super Tènèrè's off-road ability, fitting it with a 19-inch
front wheel and a 17-inch rear. Both wheels are spoked, but tubeless. The riding
position has been optimized for both seated and standing positions and brush
guards are standard. Stand up on the pegs and the vibration-reducing rubber
insert will compress, allowing your boots to grip the spiked metal pegs. Side
engine protectors and a sump guard are also standard and the rear subframe is
reinforced to survive impacts even while the panniers are fitted and fully
loaded. At 6.07 gallons, the oversized fuel tank should allow some serious
distance between fill ups. A 12-volt power socket mounted in the is also
standard, the seat adjusts between 33.3 and 34.3 inches in height and the screen
is also adjustable.
Fully-fueled, the Super Tènèrè weighs 261kg/575lbs.
Giant adventure
tourer showdown
With the release of the 2010 Yamaha Super Tènèrè
and the Ducati Multistrada 1200, there's now five serious adventure tourers
competing for your round-the-world budget. We've broken them down by their
performance figures to help you decide which one's best.
All these numbers come straight from the manufacturers. We've chosen to use dry
instead of wet weights since the relatively large difference in tank sizes would
artificially skew the comparisons. While these aren't the weights you'll
experience as you try to navigate across a sandy slope, they do lead to the
fairest comparison possible. We've italicized what we feel is the winner in each
category; in the case of rider aids, this is a bit subjective, feel free to
decide which setup works best for you. We've thrown the originator of the
current adventure tourer archetype, the 1980 BMW R80G/S into the mix just to
give you an idea how far things have come.
Power
BMW R1200GS: 110bhp @ 7,750rpm
Ducati Multistrada 1200 150bhp @ 9,250rpm
Yamaha Super Tènèrè 110bhp @ 7,250rpm
KTM 990 Adventure 105bhp @ 8,250rpm
Suzuki V-Strom 1000 98bhp @ 7,400rpm
'80 BMW R80G/S: 50bhp @ 6,500rpm
Power to weight (bhp:kg)
BMW R1200GS: .54:1
Ducati Multistrada: .79:1
Super Tènèrè: .45:1
KTM Adventure: .50:1
V-Strom 1000: .47:1
'80 R80G/S: .27:1
Torque to weight (lb/ft:kg)
BMW R1200GS: .43:1
Ducati Multistrada: .47:1
Super Tènèrè: .35:1
KTM Adventure: .35:1
V-Strom 1000: .36:1
'80 R80G/S: .22:1
Rider Aids
BMW R1200GS: optional and fully-defeatable ABS
Ducati Multistrada: push-button adjustment of suspension height, power delivery
and traction control, fully-defeatable ABS
Super Tènèrè: combined brakes, non-defeatable ABS, three-mode traction control,
two-mode power delivery
KTM Adventure: fully-defeatable ABS
V-Strom 1000: none
'80 R80G/S: balls
As you can see, the new Multistrada comes out on
top in terms of performance, but its 17" front wheel, street-biased tires and
lack of engine or frame protection means its off-road capability is extremely
limited. This comparison is very unflattering for Super Tènèrè; it's the
heaviest bike here by 77lbs and, thanks to the strong Yen, it'll likely be the
most expensive too. That weight, combined with the 19" front wheel and non-defeatable
ABS is also going to limit its ability off-road.
All that means the BMW R1200GS and KTM 990 Adventure are, in our minds at least,
still the leaders in this category. Both are genuinely capable off-road, fast on
it and comfortable over long distances. If the high prices put you off, the
Suzuki V-Strom looks like a bargain. Sure it'd need a couple grand in
modifications before it could hit the dirt, but even with the add-ons, it'd
still be the cheapest of this group.
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