Yamaha Super Tenere Road Impressions

The Yamaha Tenere has been around for more years than anyone can remember, a bit like BMW’s GS (1980) and Honda’s Transalp (1987). It first appeared in 1983 as a replica of the Yamaha’s run by Yamaha France and ridden by Cyril Neveu to victory in the Paris-Dakar (as it still was in those days) of 1979 and 1980 and was powered by a single-cylinder, four-valve 600cc motor.

It continued thus throughout the ‘80’s, ‘90’s and 2000’s, with a brief interlude from 1989 to 1996 when the parallel twin 750 Super Tenere version was introduced and ran alongside the singles. It was this twin that formed the basis for further Paris-Dakar machines that took victory six times in the early 90’s.

Come the late 2000’s and it was clear that to compete for sales, parity with the market-leading BMW was needed, and so, in 2010, the 1200 Super Tenere was introduced. Already we are at 2012 and the big Yam is established as one of the more competent competitors in the super-successful large capacity Adventure market.

The adventure market is huge, but all the players share one thing in common; adventure bikes are a compromise between off- and on-road capability and it is how far they lean into one camp or the other that defines whether they will be successful. What I mean is that the majority of bikes out there will never see a piece of dirt so the on-road performance has to be slightly dominant over off-road. And it is as road bikes that they are supremely effective; tall enough to see over traffic, with punchy acceleration, smooth, vice-free handling and great rider comfort. As for off-road performance, I couldn’t comment but, as I am one of those who do the vast majority of their riding on-road, my tests naturally concentrate on this aspect of a bike’s performance.

So to the Yamaha. Don’t expect anything remarkably different in terms of styling to anything else in the market; a 19-inch front wheel, clever multi-function carrier at the rear, remarkably efficient front screen and the essential tall suspension, propelled by shaft and bevel gears. The one area that I didn’t like was the front end treatment; it looks like the jaw of a face has been blown off by a shotgun, leaving only the eyes! Looked at one way, it could emphasize how much extraneous bodywork rival bikes have at the front, but maybe there’s a reason for that!

Yamaha has returned to the twin-cylinder theme for the 1200, but this time with a little sophistication thrown in. It is a 270 degree twin, which mean that the cylinders fire closely, giving much better power characteristics than a 360degree twin, especially when the going gets slippery off-road. The only downside is that it gives a strangely flat note to the sound of the motor when compared to such engines as Triumph’s triple-cylinder as fitted to the Tiger Explorer. No bad thing, but if you judge an engine by how it sounds – which is completely irrational, I know – then this might disappoint.

It comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect – in fact it boasts more electronic wizardry than the R1! Switchable traction control and ABS are becoming de rigeur for these bikes and the Yamaha has them. It also has ride-by-wire throttle, dual power modes and linked braking.

I suppose that you either love the look of a big adventure bike or you hate it. Personally, I like the chunky, utilitarian looks of them (and I’m tall enough to be able to ride the things) and there isn’t really much to choose between the main contenders in the market segment so it all comes down to which badge you want sitting in your garage. Certainly the BMW has the reputation but you ignore the Yamaha at your peril; unlike Triumph, Yamaha have been making these (and winning the toughest races with them) for years and many of the lessons learnt have found their way onto the production bikes. It is surely only a lack of cubic centimetres that has prevented it, in the past, from keeping up with the runaway success of the BMW.

One really good feature of the bike is the gearbox. It shifts like a hot knife through butter and the first three gears are fairly closely spaced to allow for useful off-road and around-town performance whilst raising the ratios of the next three gears to allow for relaxed highway touring. What is more, the engine is perfectly flexible and the fuelling absolutely spot on to allow for smooth low-rev, low-speed manoeuvring with no jerkiness.

The suspension is everything you would expect in a tall adventure bike, being supple but well controlled and with easy adjustment to firm it up if that’s how you like to ride. The brakes are really good, although probably not any better than any of its rivals, which would be hard to judge without doing a back to back test. As with all ABS systems, the back brake has a really wooden feel to it. You can’t turn the ABS off. The linked braking system is disabled if you touch the back brake before the front but is active if the other way round.

The traction control has three settings; full nanny, slightly naughty nanny and drunken nanny passed out on the sofa. The engine mapping has two settings – sport and touring – which can be changed on the fly.
At the end of the day, as I said before, it all comes down to which badge you want between your legs. To most of us mere mortals, any of the top contenders in the Adventure market are supremely competent to a greater or lesser degree in all the areas for which they were designed. You would have to be such an expert to tell any of them apart that it becomes academic.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Yamaha Super Tenere. In terms of pricing, it is right on the button…………. and, given their history in the Paris-Dakar, you would have to think that they know a thing or two about making a tough, reliable bike that would be a useful tool to have with you in any situation. I liked it for daring to tread in BMW’s hallowed wheel tracks and posing a real threat to the established leader.