F800GS VS. Super Tenere

[Mad Mac]

Doesn't the Super Tenere have tubeless radial tires? Doesn't the 800GS have tube tires? To me, that would make a huge difference. Tubeless tires and shaft drive makes the Yamaha competitive with BMW's big GS, in my opinion. But I could be wrong. I often am. Enjoy your new ride.

[ggamster]

Yes, I was trying to achieve a 25% sag. I unloaded bike on the center stand. I measured from the dust seal to the bottom of the axle on the front with a measurement of 12 5/8 and measured from the center of the furthest back grab handle bolt to the bottom of the rear axle with a measurement of 24 3/4. the bike has a wheel travel of 7.5" approximately. Therefore I thought that a sag of 2" would be a good sag a little between 25 and 30%. I took the bike off of the center stand and sat my weight on the bike. to get the correct sag I had to turn up the rear almost all the way to the hard and the front to six lines exposed which is only about a half of a turn. I am confused with me only weighing 190lbs why do I have to have the preload turned almost all the way up on the rear? What to people do that ride two up or weigh 225 and gear? I know I am getting of topic so I will post this elsewhere. I'm just looking for help where I can get it.

[ggamster]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac

Doesn't the Super Tenere have tubeless radial tires? Doesn't the 800GS have tube tires? To me, that would make a huge difference. Tubeless tires and shaft drive makes the Yamaha competitive with BMW's big GS, in my opinion. But I could be wrong. I often am. Enjoy your new ride.

Yes it does and I found that lowering the psi in the rear mad a big difference in the feel of the suspension.

[Mk5mike]

Looking for an update on this thread. If both bikes are near the same price which bike should I be spending my money on? Commuter sight see er with two up on occasion?

[Mk5mike]

Also looking at maintenance scheduled and price of them. Guessing s10 is less to maintain then the f800gs?

[cug]

Originally Posted by Mk5mike

Looking for an update on this thread. If both bikes are near the same price which bike should I be spending my money on? Commuter sight see er with two up on occasion?

As always (broken record): if you want an oversized dirt bike that can do some road, get the F800GS, if you want an oversized road bike that can do some dirt, get the Tenere.

[GrahamD]

Originally Posted by Mk5mike

Looking for an update on this thread. If both bikes are near the same price which bike should I be spending my money on? Commuter sight see er with two up on occasion?

The S10 for the same money.

At the same they are not exactly the same kind of bike. So read and research. I do a fair amount of dirt road, a few miles of crappy non roads to get to places. It's all good on the S10. But if I was seeking out crappy roads to play on all the time and they weren't too far away I may have gone with an 800cc size bike, but not for the same price if you get mt drift.

[cug]

Originally Posted by GrahamD

But if I was seeking out crappy roads to play on all the time and they weren't too far away I may have gone with an 800cc size bike, but not for the same price if you get mt drift.

You mean you would choose the bike less suited for what you do just because you think it's the overall better value for what others do with them? Beats me, I don't get your drift ...

On the other hand, between these two I would choose the Tenere easily if they are the same price. But that's because both fit my riding and my "wish list" probably with the same number of "points" if I just add them up.

In the end I chose neither because there was a bike that fit me even better than the dirt bike F800GS, or the land barge Super Tenere (I don't care where the weight is, it was 50kg more than I wanted at the time ...). I wanted lighter and smoother. Have a Tiger Roadie now. But I would likely be nearly as happy with a Tenere, just for different reasons (heavy with shaft vs lighter with chain, comfort vs handling, indestructible reliability vs smooth and lovely engine).

There are so many reason to choose one or the other even for the same price that I think none of us can answer that for the other guy.

[GrahamD]

Originally Posted by cug

You mean you would choose the bike less suited for what you do just because you think it's the overall better value for what others do with them? Beats me, I don't get your drift ...

Let me put it another way. There are BMW's and there are better value bikes out there, where I live.

I wouldn't buy an F800 where I live because they just are not worth the price of entry. Does that explain it a little better.

Hence an S10 rather than a more popular model of 1200cc bike. The F800 is not exactly what I was looking for and especially not at a similar price as an S10. There are other 650-800cc bikes out there if I was going that way.

Clearer now?

[cug]

Originally Posted by GrahamD

Clearer now?

I don't think I misunderstood you. I was just pulling your leg about something that I thought didn't make sense and I also thought you didn't really mean it that way.

BMW certainly has a price. In some countries it's so bad it's not even worth thinking about. In the US they certainly are more expensive than most but I also think they offer more than most - at least if you are into gadgets. And I am.

I had a BMW F800GS and I wasn't really happy with it. Overall quality was fairly poor, certainly not up to my expectations from a BMW. The F series isn't comparable to the R series and while they are much less expensive they are so much cheaper built that I have a hard time recommending them. My Tiger's quality is much closer to the R1200GS I had than to the F.

So, as said before, I can see your point and between the wo I'd also get the Tenere. Fortunately there were other bikes o the market that I liked more. The Tenere is an awesome bike and in the US an absolute price hit, I might even get one in addition to my Tiger - though they are too close in usage for that to make sense. But, fortunately again - it doesn't have to make sense, just fun.

[llamapacker]

On the suspension question. We shoot for around 60mm on sag. I am 180 lbs, ran the OEM springs/shock with all preload off on forks, and tuned the compression and rebound (don't recall what I ended up with on clicks). The shock was probably like 70mm sag for best ride, then crank it up for 2up.

The fork springs are dual rate, and will be pretty harsh when you run out of the softer part which is about 3" travel.

Lots more info on the yamahasupertenere.com forum.

[Mk5mike]

Is a 800gs really that much of a "dirt" bike compared to a super tenere? They both them like long haul adventure bikes to me. I know the r1200gs is the king of the bunch but I can bring my self to get a bike that almost costs more then my car

[pluric]

Originally Posted by Mk5mike

Is a 800gs really that much of a "dirt" bike compared to a super tenere? They both them like long haul adventure bikes to me. I know the r1200gs is the king of the bunch but I can bring my self to get a bike that almost costs more then my car

Let's just say it's still royalty.

[cug]

Originally Posted by Mk5mike

Is a 800gs really that much of a "dirt" bike compared to a super tenere? They both them like long haul adventure bikes to me.

Ride both and you'll know. There is roughly a 60kg weight difference between the two. That means my wife riding the F800GS weighs less than the Tenere sitting in the corner ... also the 21" front wheel and the narrow overall profile, the low underseat fuel tank, ... so, yes, the F800GS is much closer to a dirt bike than the Tenere.

Originally Posted by Mk5mike

I know the r1200gs is the king of the bunch but I can bring my self to get a bike that almost costs more then my car

Depends on how you define that. It's definitely the king in sales and gadgets. I never had trouble with mine and I loved the features (that aren't even available on the Tenere), and the standard GS is still about 20kg lighter than the Tenere.

I think they serve different customers, and slightly different requirements. Both are superb bikes, but when you talk about integration of comfort features, Yamaha has done a pretty poor job. They delivered a plain vanilla, no nonsense "Big Trailie" type bike. The BMW has the integration of features much better under control. As said, different targets. Both bikes can do the same things, I don't think anybody can say (honestly) one is better than the other - they have different strengths and integration levels.

My opinion: BMW has the issue of trying to be too fancy and sometimes falling short with it, Yamaha has the issue of being not fancy at all sometimes to the point of being ridiculous (hand warmer controls). Just my personal view.

[GrahamD]

Originally Posted by Mk5mike

Is a 800gs really that much of a "dirt" bike compared to a super tenere? They both them like long haul adventure bikes to me. I know the r1200gs is the king of the bunch but I can bring my self to get a bike that almost costs more then my car

It depends what has brocken and fallen off on the ride. At the beginning a bit better, by half way into a good ride the rattles and cracks are usually worrying the rider, by the end it depends on how fast you can push it.

Yes that was an exaggeration of the facts. Some people may see it as a small one and some will get all upset.

I was just amusing myself.