So as some of you already know I am currently looking for a new bike for next year.
My riding style is hard and fast. The more technical the better, but I like to do lots of distance too. We often do 300+ km's on a Sunday. I don't commute and hate tar!
After a bit of research I ended up with a few options.
Initially I liked the 800GS but after ridding one it just didn't feel right for me. All I can say is it felt more road based than dirt based (My Opinion only no need to flame me Propeller Heads! :biggrin
Same can be said for the TA.
Thanks to Blazes I got to spend a day on the KTM690E and was very impressed with it. A road legal dirt bike with killer suspension and can do 170+. I wanted one! but after a few days of thought I kept coming back to a few issues, Its not comfortable for distance Its expensive to maintain and its too hard core! On the rides we do most often it would be in its element maybe 10% of the time and the rest it would be a pain, I would constantly be spinning the back and lifting the front and that would cost me more RRR.
If I was Rockafella and not just a Normal Fella I would have one in the garage for sure.
I liked the look and specs of the new Tenere but wasn't sure if it would fit my needs, I friend of mine arranged with the guys Shimwells and before you know it a shiny new (300km's) Blue Tenere was delivered to my door on a Friday morning with instructions to "Get it dirty! We will collect it from you on Monday" The demo bike had a set of my favorite Dunlop D606's on and they are the perfect tire for this bike!
I spent 2 days and 600km's exploring everything the Tenere had to offer and I came away Very impressed.
As with any bike there was a few issues for me, At first the seat bugged me, I'm used to moving around on my KLR seat and found the Tenere's seat to be very restricted. I felt as if I was being pushed forward and was convinced it would mess my sometimes problematic back up, I kept waiting but the back pain never came, I still wanted more movement but found that after 2 days I had no back pain or monkeybut at all, there is some magic trickery in that seat!
The screen was the 2nd thing to bug me, I'm around 6.1 and found that at 110kph my head would get buffeted by the wind rushing over the top of the screen, it was enough to blur my vision at speed and was a big problem, I did get used to it on day 2 but It is a problem I would need to fix should I get one, I think an extension or some modification of the stock screen might solve the problem. The Fuel gage tells Porky Pies, and had me convinced I had used all 23 liters in 220km's. I blamed my VERY heavy right wrist but found after a few more kilos that it "reset" itself and was back to only half way again, I filled up anyway and got 14L in the tank for 250km's Not bad at all!
Without going into to much detail I loved everything else about the Tenere, It was great at speed on rough terrain it felt very nimble at low speed and was great on the tar with only the slightest vibrations at higher revs, Saw 150 on the speedo on some B grade dirt roads with no issues at all.
I'm about 99% sure that this is the bike for me! I will need to make a few adjustments but then thats part of the fun for me, Just look at my KLR ;-)
Shimwells Yamaha had made a few interesting modifications to the Tenere already at told me they are planning some more good things soon!
The most impressive to me was the removal of all the indicators and the relocation/modification to the Headlight and tail light to include them, The double row LED tail light was modified with a row of yellow LED's squeezed in next to the red ones when indicating the corresponding brake light strip would blink off as the yellow LED's blink on! Genius!
The front indicators were built into the headlight (Check Pic) Again genius as it streamlines the bike even more. These little details and the great and friendly service I got from Shimwells will make them my dealer of choice when I purchase mine!
Some Pics of my weekend.
I had the sign put there to point out the bike incase you missed it!
Breeds Nek
Some water near Brits
Dirt High Way on the way to Parys
Railway Station near Potch
Mountain near Lenasia
Thanks again to Shimwells for the demo, https://www.shimwellsyamaha.co.za/Contact.asp
Anyone want to buy a very pimped KLR?
Jules
My riding style is hard and fast. The more technical the better, but I like to do lots of distance too. We often do 300+ km's on a Sunday. I don't commute and hate tar!
After a bit of research I ended up with a few options.
Initially I liked the 800GS but after ridding one it just didn't feel right for me. All I can say is it felt more road based than dirt based (My Opinion only no need to flame me Propeller Heads! :biggrin
Same can be said for the TA.Thanks to Blazes I got to spend a day on the KTM690E and was very impressed with it. A road legal dirt bike with killer suspension and can do 170+. I wanted one! but after a few days of thought I kept coming back to a few issues, Its not comfortable for distance Its expensive to maintain and its too hard core! On the rides we do most often it would be in its element maybe 10% of the time and the rest it would be a pain, I would constantly be spinning the back and lifting the front and that would cost me more RRR.
If I was Rockafella and not just a Normal Fella I would have one in the garage for sure.
I liked the look and specs of the new Tenere but wasn't sure if it would fit my needs, I friend of mine arranged with the guys Shimwells and before you know it a shiny new (300km's) Blue Tenere was delivered to my door on a Friday morning with instructions to "Get it dirty! We will collect it from you on Monday" The demo bike had a set of my favorite Dunlop D606's on and they are the perfect tire for this bike!
I spent 2 days and 600km's exploring everything the Tenere had to offer and I came away Very impressed.
As with any bike there was a few issues for me, At first the seat bugged me, I'm used to moving around on my KLR seat and found the Tenere's seat to be very restricted. I felt as if I was being pushed forward and was convinced it would mess my sometimes problematic back up, I kept waiting but the back pain never came, I still wanted more movement but found that after 2 days I had no back pain or monkeybut at all, there is some magic trickery in that seat!
The screen was the 2nd thing to bug me, I'm around 6.1 and found that at 110kph my head would get buffeted by the wind rushing over the top of the screen, it was enough to blur my vision at speed and was a big problem, I did get used to it on day 2 but It is a problem I would need to fix should I get one, I think an extension or some modification of the stock screen might solve the problem. The Fuel gage tells Porky Pies, and had me convinced I had used all 23 liters in 220km's. I blamed my VERY heavy right wrist but found after a few more kilos that it "reset" itself and was back to only half way again, I filled up anyway and got 14L in the tank for 250km's Not bad at all!
Without going into to much detail I loved everything else about the Tenere, It was great at speed on rough terrain it felt very nimble at low speed and was great on the tar with only the slightest vibrations at higher revs, Saw 150 on the speedo on some B grade dirt roads with no issues at all.
I'm about 99% sure that this is the bike for me! I will need to make a few adjustments but then thats part of the fun for me, Just look at my KLR ;-)
Shimwells Yamaha had made a few interesting modifications to the Tenere already at told me they are planning some more good things soon!
The most impressive to me was the removal of all the indicators and the relocation/modification to the Headlight and tail light to include them, The double row LED tail light was modified with a row of yellow LED's squeezed in next to the red ones when indicating the corresponding brake light strip would blink off as the yellow LED's blink on! Genius!
The front indicators were built into the headlight (Check Pic) Again genius as it streamlines the bike even more. These little details and the great and friendly service I got from Shimwells will make them my dealer of choice when I purchase mine!
Some Pics of my weekend.
I had the sign put there to point out the bike incase you missed it!
Breeds Nek
Some water near Brits
Dirt High Way on the way to Parys
Railway Station near Potch
Mountain near Lenasia
Thanks again to Shimwells for the demo, https://www.shimwellsyamaha.co.za/Contact.asp
Anyone want to buy a very pimped KLR?
Jules
