The Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z Big Thread

[dcstrom]

Isn't the front wheel on the concept bike shown at the Tokyo Show a 21 incher? Definitely has more dirt-oriented tires on it than the release version.

Maybe the engineers WANTED to do something more KTM-like, but the marketers got cold feet?

[ag_streak]

Originally Posted by R3B

Yup that's what i meant, that GS had a lot of sheared of parts just by the decelleration (which was quite abrupt i have to say) the komplete subframe whit the beak was loose, the protruding lips of the headstock mountings were all broken open...

And luckily i wasn't on it, sadly my girlfriend was on it, had some mending to do, but now she rides a 660 B10 (baby-tenere)



And that was a real eyeopener, we also have a Derbi with that 660 engine, but in the Yamaha it is a real magnitude nicer, where the Derbi balk and bucks at low rev's the Tenere is a real smooth-operator©

Knowing the impressive traction of the TDM900 270°, i expect great ridability, and impressive traction out of corners, with the Ducati Oumpfff which pushes you into the buddy, feel ing the tires claw into the tarmac.

Will cost a lot of TKC's knobblies i'm affriad...

Holy Crap! THIS must not have been much fun!!

alt="foto">

Foto afkomstig van:
Sylvia Stuurman en Ernst Anepool.

Scary! I'm glad Sylvia's OK. Good on her!

[R3B]

Originally Posted by MookieBlaylock

ironic given ducati's new multi is like twice the power and half the weight. Let's see if i were going to spend 15 or 20 k on a bike

Ehm better first get yer facts right, the Duc aka The Mandril, is a SMT with just a little less lard, and only a bit more hp, but at high revs 118,7 Nm @ 7500 rpm, compared with the 114 Nm @6000 of the Tenere, and knowing the Yamaha Kodo philosophy (a little less blunt power, a it more ridability) i think it will even be ideal to plodder through jampacked traffic in central london. And then wrench it open to get to the boat to Santande in half an hour (without changin gears more than a time or four :-)

[eakins]

looks 19" to me.

Originally Posted by dcstrom

Isn't the front wheel on the concept bike shown at the Tokyo Show a 21 incher? Definitely has more dirt-oriented tires on it than the release version.

Maybe the engineers WANTED to do something more KTM-like, but the marketers got cold feet?

[eakins]

most people see this as a reliable, low-maintenance copy of the 1200gs, which it is.

if you were at yamaha making a design & $$$ decession on what this bike should be, would copy a 1200gs (the bike that has extremely strong sales worldwide, is the benchmark for the adv category & is bmw's best seller) or a 990 adv (a niche bike, that doesn't sell anywhere as good)???

so? what's your answer?

yamaha builds what they think will sell very well, not what is a niche, cool bike. judging by the brisk sales (during a economic downturn) of the wr250r & the tenere worldwide, i'd say yamaha knows perfectly how to execute a DS/ADV bike for the broad market. neither of these bike are cutting edge in performance yet they are flying off the shelf.

in the end the majority of people worldwide want reasonable performance and features, with a reasonable price built around a solidly reliable machine.
yamaha delivers and will also deliver with this bike. i predict sales to be extremely well.


bmw has built their reputation on premium machines/pricing that are suppose to be solidly built/reliable.
as we have seen the reliability pereception(reality) has serious flaws and so people are questioning why am i paying so much more for this and having more problems. like toyota, this crack opens a huge void for the super tenere to fill. without bmw's missteps, yamaha might not have ever built this bike.

Originally Posted by jeffs900s

I have a BMW and actually rather like the new Yamaha. And, why wouldn't I, it basically is an R1200GS/GS Adventure. Similar size, weight, price, power,accessories, features... My only real criticism is that Yamaha didn't demonstrate a lot of imagination here, and didn't give me any reason to switch from my current bike to theirs. If they had made a reliable, low-maintenance KTM 990 copy instead, I may have been tempted.

[Motorcyclist]

I am so glad that I don't work as a designer for a motorcycle manufacturer. I dunno what the tallest building is in Japan, but after listening to some of you guys, I'd probably be on the ledge of it.

Yamaha obviously targeted the heavyweight dual sport market, because that is where the sales numbers are. How many 990 Adventure units does KTM sell? I'm guessing not enough to even be a blip on the RADAR, at least in the US. I don't think Yamaha is interested in spending a lot of R&D $$$ to create another orphan bike for a small niche of a larger niche.

This has the potential to be a great bike, and get the Big 4 competing in the big dual sport market in earnest. I'm at least going to reserve judgement until I can read about it from someone who has ridden one and not just speculate. I'd like to see one of these and a BMW GS weighed side by side, and my guess is that they'll be pretty close in actuality (<8%). Weight is not always a bad thing, and weight in the right places can create more robust components that take more abuse without failing. And some of the folks who complain about the weight are no doubt less than svelte, potentially causing a more serious issue by raising the bikes CG. After people actually ride it and the weight issue is ruled in or out, then it is all about how it performs and how it meshes with your particular riding style.

And I disagree that they won't take sales from current BMW riders if it is a good performer. There is a subset of people riding BMW's who are sick of the company's crap, but like the way the bike works. Or have been stung by serious mechanical issues (read: $$$$) and just deal with it because there is no easy alternative with a shaft drive. Now there may be another fish in the pond that gives people some options.

I'll eagerly await learning more about the bike. More choice in the marketplace is generally a good thing.

[ktm950se]

Greetings,
What's going to protect all that pretty plastic around the gas tank, and the radiator itself, when this thing lays down? Perhaps an engine guard even WIDER than the Yamaha's accessory version?
At that point the ST will be approaching GS width!

ktm950se

[Motorcyclist]

Originally Posted by eakins

most people see this as a reliable, low-maintenance copy of the 1200gs, which it is.

if you were at yamaha making a design & $$$ decession on what this bike should be, would copy a 1200gs (the bike that has extremely strong sales worldwide, is the benchmark for the adv category & is bmw's best seller) or a 990 adv (a niche bike, that doesn't sell anywhere as good)???

so? what's your answer?

yamaha builds what they think will sell very well, not what is a niche, cool bike. judging by the brisk sales (during a economic downturn) of the wr250r & the tenere worldwide, i'd say yamaha knows perfectly how to execute a DS/ADV bike for the broad market. neither of these bike are cutting edge in performance yet they are flying off the shelf.

in the end the majority of people worldwide want reasonable performance and features, with a reasonable price built around a solidly reliable machine.
yamaha delivers and will also deliver with this bike. i predict sales to be extremely well.


bmw has built their reputation on premium machines/pricing that are suppose to be solidly built/reliable.
as we have seen the reliability pereception(reality) has serious flaws and so people are questioning why am i paying so much more for this and having more problems. like toyota, this crack opens a huge void for the super tenere to fill. without bmw's missteps, yamaha might not have ever built this bike.

You and I must be channeling each other, because you 205'd me

[Deuce]

+1

Originally Posted by Motorcyclist

I am so glad that I don't work as a designer for a motorcycle manufacturer. I dunno what the tallest building is in Japan, but after listening to some of you guys, I'd probably be on the ledge of it.

Yamaha obviously targeted the heavyweight dual sport market, because that is where the sales numbers are. How many 990 Adventure units does KTM sell? I'm guessing not enough to even be a blip on the RADAR, at least in the US. I don't think Yamaha is interested in spending a lot of R&D $$$ to create another orphan bike for a small niche of a larger niche.

This has the potential to be a great bike, and get the Big 4 competing in the big dual sport market in earnest. I'm at least going to reserve judgement until I can read about it from someone who has ridden one and not just speculate. I'd like to see one of these and a BMW GS weighed side by side, and my guess is that they'll be pretty close in actuality (<8%). And then it is all about how it performs and how it meshes with your particular riding style.

And I disagree that they won't take sales from current BMW riders if it is a good performer. There is a subset of people riding BMW's who are sick of the company's crap, but like the way the bike works. Or have been stung by serious mechanical issues (read: $$$$) and just deal with it because there is no easy alternative with a shaft drive. Now there may be another fish in the pond that gives people some options.

I'll eagerly await learning more about the bike. More choice in the marketplace is generally a good thing.

[R3B]

Originally Posted by ktm950se

Greetings,
What's going to protect all that pretty plastic around the gas tank, and the radiator itself, when this thing lays down?

It *is* the protection of the tank, likewise the 660 sideparts are reletive cheap easy to replace "fenders", once invented by Honda on the ST, this (somewhat different) ST follows the same principle.

I presume the small black handrails under the "tank" just onder the fenderplates are even small parkingspillprotectors.

[Geonik]

Does anyone know anything about the price?Solid information,not speculation.Anyway,i knew this would end up in a bmw-yamaha duel.My feeling is yamaha decided to produce a cheaper alternative to the 1200gs adv.What they sould definetly do is to recruit the entire bmw marketing department.Those guys perforn miracles.They could make a 300kg bike look like the ultimate adventurer.I'm also surprised that some people refare to the power output of the multistrada 1200.That bike is a supermoto on steroids,it has nothing to do with adventure riding.Ducati's claim that this bike has an off road riding potencial with a 17'in front rim is an insult to our intelligence

[DakarBlues]

Originally Posted by R3B

It *is* the protection of the tank, likewise the 660 sideparts are reletive cheap easy to replace "fenders", once invented by Honda on the ST, this (somewhat different) ST follows the same principle.

I presume the small black handrails under the "tank" just onder the fenderplates are even small parkingspillprotectors.

Reminds me of the pucks of the Buell Ulysses, or the tankguardxs of the KTM 990.
It's the same principle, the difference being they are upside on the Ulysses while they are on the lower side of the tanks on ST and LC8.
I am pretty sure it has been well thought of to avoid turning said radiator into a
pancake!

[Tee Dee Mmm]

Originally Posted by Geonik

Does anyone know anything about the price?Solid information,not speculation.Anyway,i knew this would end up in a bmw-yamaha duel.My feeling is yamaha decided to produce a cheaper alternative to the 1200gs adv.What they sould definetly do is to recruit the entire bmw marketing department.Those guys perforn miracles.They could make a 300kg bike look like the ultimate adventurer.I'm also surprised that some people refare to the power output of the multistrada 1200.That bike is a supermoto on steroids,it has nothing to do with adventure riding.Ducati's claim that this bike has an off road riding potencial with a 17'in front rim is an insult to our intelligence

It is quoted in MCN as $13,500 british Pounds which comes to about $20,500usd
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne.../?R=EPI-122421

[B.Curvin]

If I hadn't already picked up a 98 Tiger I'd be seriously interested.

Of course I'd lace a 17" on the front as soon as I got it.

I look at these bikes as an even more comfortable Bandit1250S and that is my intended use for them.

The Tiger is my goldwing, sportbike, commuter, weekend curvy road blaster all wrapped up in one,

and a few dirt roads thrown in here and there.

[AKTroy]

Originally Posted by Tee Dee Mmm

It is quoted in MCN as $13,500 british Pounds which comes to about $20,500usd
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne.../?R=EPI-122421