As Yamaha U.S.A. has yet to announce a 2014 model Super Ténéré, Yamaha Canada has revealed that the 2014 Super Ténéré has received a number of improvements, both in standard form and in the form of a new model, the Super Ténéré ES. We had a positive impression of the 2012 Super Ténéré when we tested it, but the heavyweight Adventure Tourer market includes several new competitive models introduced in the last two years.
Yamaha has made engine changes, including reduced friction, revised piston and rings, and intake and exhaust refinements. The result is an unspecified increase in both horsepower and torque for 2014. Additionally, a new KYB electronic suspension system is available (standard on the ES model) which allows push button selection of preload and damping settings by the rider.
Other 2014 changes include a new cruise control system, a new instrument panel, a new four-position adjustable windshield (no tools required), new aluminum tapered handle bar (revising the riding position), as well as new LED signals, revised handlebar switches and muffler cover.
In addition to the standard electronic suspension system, the ES model (pictured at the top of this article) will come standard with heated grips. It seems almost certain that all of these changes will appear in the 2014 Super Ténéré U.S. models when they are announced. We don’t have specifics regarding pricing for 2014 in the United States at this time. Stay tuned.
Any beakless motorcycle looks better than a beaked motorcycle. I’m just saying.
I like the beak look and this needs one.
Yamaha realizes that the Tenere will see lots more road duty than off-road. The tires are only slightly oriented towards fire-trials and farm-to-market roads. The lack of a “beak” on the front end help a lot, though the styling still could use some love, just not DNA from the GS or V-Strom strains. The blue and dark gray livery look pretty good, not so sure regarding the gauge “cluster”.
This hog is way too heavy, has nothing innovative and it looks like a Daffy Duck cartoon with it’s beak slapped off. The new light weight 850cc triple in Adventure form with fully sorted fueling and decent suspension would be worth waiting for.
You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about skybullet. Keep your ignorant cheap shots to yourself.
Skybullet said there is nothing innovative (and in this segment, it doesn’t), is too heavy (subjective, I suppose, but is there a heavier adv bike?), and that he doesn’t care for the design. He hasn’t said anything that many others here haven’t stated. Enlighten us as to why these are ignorant, cheap shots.
Well, all that having been said, the crux of the biscuit really is the apostrophe.
Ha!
All 1200cc adv bikes are heavy. Yam’s 850cc triple would be a poor choice for an adv bike as it’s too wide to place as low in the chassis as the twin and its fueling is no better sorted than the ST. The suspension on the Tenere is already better than decent and the “beak” comment is nothing more than saying it doesn’t look like a BMW. I don’t know if having hugely useful staged traction control and ABS that actually works off road is innovative enough for sky, but it all sure works well. So, sky has made a couple of subjective comments about styling (cheap shots) and his other comments were apparently made without knowledge of the bike (ignorant). I’ve had my Tenere all over the place from twisty asphalt to mountain passes loaded with bags and camping gear and the bike takes all of it in stride. It’s also as reliable as an anvil, holds a lot of gas and is a great package.
I won’t argue that this bike isn’t overweight, but there’s a lot of innovative stuff going on here. The S10 boasts one of the only ABS options capable of dealing with dirt and included wide-by-wire TC earlier than most. More importantly, it’s one of the only big ADV bikes that is (over)built enough to handle proper dirt abuse, with protection built-in for critical systems, intakes built very high to prevent water ingestion, and service access better than most any other machine.
I don’t own one, but you might want to look into into before blasting it based on spec-sheet speculations.
Way too heavy for what, Skybullet? It’s an adventure touring bike, not a single track dirt bike, and works brilliantly in that role. I’ve owned one for more than a year, bet you’ve never even ridden one given your comment…
I am a geezer rider (mid-60’s) with +45 years of riding. The S-10 is a geezer bike. Motorcycling is a big world and there is room in it for all kinds of bikes. The only thing that a S-10 does not do well is demo ride. I have about 30K miles on my S-10 and like it better all the time. It is super comfortable and stone reliable… gas, oil, tires. Period. OK, the stock windshield sucks, but a Parabellum completely solves the problem. 40lbs added to a 250lb dirt bike is a big deal. 40lbs added to a 540lb adventure bike is not such a big deal. Do not think that any of the “adventure” bikes are off road bikes. They are not. They are bad road bikes; they are for roads that have no paint. If you a hard charger, get a KTM and ride it on the pegs. If you have to have a BMW, live with the expense, maintenance, and reliability uncertainty. If you plan a real adventure south of the border or into Asia, get a KLR or DR650. You will never be going faster than 65 anyway. Would it really be a better world if we all agreed on the “right” bike and all rode the same “right” bike?
Thanks for the windshield tip. I hadn’t heard of Parabellum before
A plug for Parabellum: I can’t say anything about the Tenere but I’ve owned Charlie Perethian designed windshields and fairing since he was part of Rifle in the early eighties. Every one has worked very well, quiet smooth air flow and increased milage and performance. I have a Rifle Sport on my Sportster, I had the same fairing on my ’82 BMW and it works as well on the Harley as it did on the Beemer.
I’d give them a try: http://parabellum.com
Goose
I am also a Geezer Rider (62) with 45+ years of riding and agree with Bill M. I have put 20,000 plus miles on mine of which approximately 15,000 were paved and 5,000 a mixture of gravel, hard packed dirt and some pretty rocky trails as well. I have had zero problems with it. The right tires for off road riding make a BIG difference. This is a touring bike that can do gravel roads and forest access trails as well. I have seen people in sand and silt with it as well(not me). It is big and heavy but the beauty of today’s motorcycle market is we have the best choices ever. So if you can figure out what are the most important traits for the type of riding you want to do, there is a bike out there for it. And yes, I know, we all want lighter, more powerful, more features and cheaper.
By the way I got a Wunderlich Tobinator Windcreen Adjuster with the taller Yamaha shield and it works great, very little buffeting. I raise it to the top on the highways and drop it down in the dirt. I believe Touratech makes a similar accessory.
I guess I must be a geezer too! My S-10 has about 22K miles now – about 12K from my 22 day journey up and around Alaska last June. I love the bike. The changes on the new model intrigue me. Also, this bike makes a great stable-mate for my FJR; it’s nice having the choice every morning.
hey..good to see the adventure market growing..the Yamaha..its more a street bike with some off road points..the thing is that these manufacters are building motorcycles with comfort and style,,if you can ride it on backroads that’s good,,for sure change out the tires,,I heard Honda put in the US patent rights for 2014 the badge {Africa twin} so we might see it,,back in 1989 and 1990 the transalp was entered here,,a bike ahead of its time and the America market didn,t and still to some degree not understand the concept of these types of bikes,,they are the HUMMERS of bikes,,go anywhere,,seek places no one travels to,, so praise the manufacturers for building these bikes,,their is a bike for everyone..some bike,,some small..we all enjoy the passion of riding,,lets not put it down..now get out there and do a ride,,a safe and enjoyable one as well..
If I was truly buying an “adventure” bike first on my list would be…how much does it weigh? then we could go to power and amenities. Clearly this one is not in the hunt but I do commend them for being beak-less.
Again……..I’m keeping my ’06 955i Tiger (and I am HAPPY!!!!!)
I hope that Touratech offers a beak for this bike. It really needs one. I mean, you just glance at it and your mind says “Yeah, that’s where a beak should be.”
So true.
Ten years ago I would have never thought that the future would offer this many choices in Adventuring bikes. The new Yammy is a great bike. And there are a lot of other great bikes. And the really good news is that all of this competition is forcing manufactures to make their already great bikes even better.
We can all nitpick all day long. But put this bike along side anything from yesteryear and the advances in engineering and design are pretty clear.
I owned a 2012 for one year. The worst buffeting you can ever imagine with this bike. Tried a madstad and different windshields and it was always annoying. He stock windshield was just terrible. I would not own one of these until they make huge changes to the wind management. The engine has plenty of power and it is comfortable to sit on. After 6000 miles of head pounding I got rid of it. They just did not design the bike for someone 6 feet tall. Take a very thorough test ride if you are thinking about one of these. The buffeting can be awful depending on your height.
Yamaha Super Tenere (post 2012) is losing ground. They do not have a competitive product.
Too bad.
Seriously. How can this thing weigh so goddamn much, and what needs to go to drop 50lbs?
If not for the weight, it would be my choice in this class. I already ride a R1150GS that is too damn heavy.
The muffler
make that 100#. It’s basically a giant UJM with “adventure styling”. A really nice UJM though don’t get me wrong.
I’d like to see them get serious about an f800GS type bike. Either the new 900 triple or (better yet) 700 twin could be a great starting point.
What does it weigh? Over 500 pounds dry?
Per Motorcycle Consumer News:
Tenere: 587 Lb. full (6 gallons) of fuel.
1200GS: 543.5 Lb full (5.28 gallons) of fuel.
BTW, the Yamaha also get poor milage (average 37.9 MPG) Vs. the GS (44.0 MPG). The Yammie needs the extra .72 gallons to have similar range. it also makes less power, peak HP/ torque Tenere 91.3/72.3 Vs. BMW 94.99/ 71.83. Same dyno/ same operator.
Never having ridden either I can’t say anything about how they feel to ride but I do have to say the BMW looks better on paper.
Goose
So these “Adventure” bikes weigh more than a 1200cc Sportster that is not intended for off-road use. Hmm….I see now why someone would convert a Sportster into an adventure bike – to end up with a bike that weighs less than a BMW or Yamaha purpose-built adventure machine! Ain’t progress great!
I’m not a weight weenie but I’d be a lot more impressed if they dropped 50 pounds off the bike. The Tenere is the heaviest bike in the class by a bunch. Not a great thing on the pavement and a clearly bad thing off the pavement.
Goose
Finally! A manufacturer managed to debeakify an adventure bike! Now if’n they can only deseamify the fuel tank, then they got sumpin’!
Since Yamaha now has mid-sized parallel twins with the same sort of crank and that use counterbalancing similar to the Honda 700cc parallel twins, an obvious question is whether they have added the same sort of counterbalancing to this engine. I would be surprised, because it would be too big of a change. I think I probably would prefer the 900cc triple over this.
I’m afraid I’m not sure what you are trying to say the Tenere has had counterbalances from day one. A 1200CC 270 degree paralel twin has huge uncompensated forces, it would unridable without a counterbalancer.
Keep in mind that while Yamaha may not have been the first company to build a counterbalanced engines but they were the company that brought them to the mainstream of motorcycling clear back on the mid-1970s with the TX500 and 750
Goose
I’m still waiting for the ADV class as as whole to go from ugly ducking to swan.
Its good thing I’m not holding my breath.
IMO the KTM 1190 and SV650 are looks-wise, the best of the bunch.
Otherwise, I’m sure this is a functionally fantastic standard with good ergo’s and un-punishing amount of suspension travel with plenty of power, a great exhaust note, if a bit heavy. A real shame about how it looks. Pretty women make me turn my head,for me it’s the same with bikes.
The SV650 is not an ADV bike. I assume you meant DL650 (V-Strom).
Oops, good catch, you assume correctly. Yep, I meant the wee strom. There may be one of these in my future. The current one looks to me like a sort of mod cafe racer. It’s a shame Suzuki didn’t just use the same styling for the new V-Strom 1000.
Do you mean the DL650? The SV650 isn’t ADV material?
Bring the TDM900 over.
Nah
I test rode the old model a while back and really wanted to like it as Ive owned many Yamahas and really like them overall. The motor felt very weak for a 1200 cc bike and overall just didn’t do it for me. I left disappointed. About a month ago I got to do a demo on KTM’s 1190 adventure (both models)now this is more like it. Mega motor and much less weight, friggen awesome. Gotta get one of these.
Really? At 1200cc, power isn’t much of a comparison factor – unless you’re talking Harleys. The Super Ten has well over a hundred horsepower. How fast do you really need to go down the highway or on a fire trail?
Man card revoked
I guess the power is somewhat muted by having to move all that weight. They really should drop that sweet new 900cc triple into a new smaller/lighter ADV bike to compete with the Triumph Tiger 800 and the BMW F800GS. I’d be FAR more interested in that. OR… or at least bring the existing XT660 Tenere to our market (althought it’s only 120 lbs lighter than the Super Tenere).
Most dyno charts I’ve seen for it show about 90 hp, which is about what it feels like when riding. It’s not that it’s not fast enough to get down the road, it’s that if you’re going to ride a 1200cc bike that weighs 600 lbs, it might as well be fast because it isn’t light.
I never said it was inadequate, but there was a pretty dramatic difference as compared to the R1200GS and the Triumph 1200 Tiger. I rode all 3 the same weekend and the Yamaha power plant disappointing in comparison. I went into the process thinking the Yamaha would be my favorite, and it ended up third on my list at the end of testing them all. The R1200GS was the hands down winner, at least in my opinion.
Had I only ridden the Yamaha, I wouldn’t have felt it was under powered. The rough spot in the engine would have been a problem for me though. I did think the Yamaha was the most comfortable of the three, but all 3 bikes were comfortable.
I am a big fan of Yamahas though. They may be the most reliable of any brand made.
Oops…Sorry, Todd, I thought you were responding to my comments further below. I see I’m not the only one who was disappointed by the power provided by the Yamaha.
After seeing all the other cool choices including the newer MV Augsta, kinda feels like Yamaha should just develop the TDM900 Triple to bring back the excitement the FZ09 produced. Just itching for a third steed for my corral.
Well, maybe the TDM850…I really liked the classic round headlight setup from the 90’s.
I test rode the old model a while back and really wanted to like it as Ive owned many Yamahas and really like them overall. The motor felt very week for a 1200 cc bike and overall just didn’t do it for me. I left disappointed. About a month ago I got to do a demo on KTM’s 1190 adventure (both models)now this is more like it. Mega motor and much less weight, friggen awesome. Gotta get one of these.
Yeah, down with clean air so I can have more performance and make my bike 10 lbs lighter! Really?
Yamaha should put their three cylinder crossplane motor in the Tenere.
+1
Or you could wish that the 900 had shaft drive. I kinda do, but it would be heavier by at least 25 lbs, probably more like 50. But, the extra weight would be low, and probably would not affect the handling much.
I test rode one last year and probably would have purchased it, but there was a very rough spot on the motor on acceleration and deceleration, which I didn’t feel I could live with. I investigated it on the Super Tenere boards and there were a lot of complaints about it. Hopefully the new engine changes will fix that. I also really wanted electronic cruise control, and I’m glad to see they addressed that.
It’s also underpowered compared to its primary rivals. I did like the suspension though. Only the 1200GS had a better suspension, among the bikes I tested. Too bad the improvements didn’t come out last year, I probably would have bought one and saved a lot of money.
Love the muffler. Looks weird with no beak.
Guess I’m just a contrarian.
Well equipped and blissfully beak-free. Too bad fewer and fewer bikes have analog gauges anymore. There will be a trip to the Yamaha shop when the new ones arrive.
+1 I too will miss Analog gauges. Given enough time, Analog should become “new” again!
No s–t. We went through this with cars…2 decades ago, or is it now more like almost 3?
Back in the early `80s Yamaha had at least 1 bike model w/o analog gauges and it didn’t sell well. I’ve never liked anything but analog gauges, but I’m an old fart too.
This is a great time to be an adventure bike rider. When the decision making process includes outstanding motorcycles from Yamaha, BMW, Triumph, Ducati, KTM, Suzuki and Aprilia, it’s hard to complain. Also good to see that Yamaha didn’t rest on a very good bike, but chose to try and make it a great bike. Decisions, decisions.
re: “Yamaha, BMW, Triumph, Ducati, KTM, Suzuki and Aprilia, it’s hard to complain.”
unless you’re a Honda dealer.
That’s a good one…
Right you are. Honda should be in the middle of this fight, but they have missed the boat. They had some good bikes to build upon like the Africa Twin and the Transalp, but they took a wrong turn and never got back on the right road. They have nothing to directly compete with the others. It’s a shame, because they have always built a good, reliable motorcycle. Recently they have taken a turn for the quirky, although I respect that they now offer some smaller, lighter and affordable bikes. A company that large, however, should be able to produce a killer 1000 – 1200 adventure bike priced like a Suzuki.
This Yamaha’s gauges are digital, but the tachometer display is analog (just because it isn’t round doesn’t mean it’s not analog).
Wouldnt the Honda Crosstour be included in this group that they could import?
Yes and no. Although it is on the outskirts of the category, those of us who ride bigger adventure bikes would probably put it last on the list. Almost 100% street oriented and a bit on the porky side. I’d like them to come up with an updated Africa twin (and import it) in the 1000cc or more range. With all the others to choose from, it’s probably not needed, however.
I think many of these are sold not to ride on anything but maybe a fireroad, so a more powerful, heavier, but reliable model would suit many I would think. Plus a ton of people just trust Honda. If it came down to a Honda and a BMW too expensive, a pick one KTM, Triumph, Ducati and Aprilia (not enough dealers and questionable reliability)…. Even if it weren’t as good high tech as the others, many would choose the Honda …I would.
Ins’t the Honda Crosstour is a car?
Sorry..Crosstourer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Crosstourer
Ken, the old Tenere had an analog tach. this one is digital.
Honda had the XL1000 Veradero in Canada for a couple of years, and couldn’t sell many. A buddy had one and I thought it was one of the best bikes I’ve ever ridden. Now you go to a Honda dealer asking about them, and they’ve all sold and nobody is trading them in. Been a popular bike in Europe for a decade. Uses an altered Super Hawk motor, so it was like a pre-beak V-Strom only with a better motor and better fit and finish.
All the big trailies weigh too much for my taste; this one is not going to be an exception. Yamaha should develop a mid-300 pound single cylinder bike with a full line of custom travel accessories. Once released, people could complain that for “only x-dollars more” they could buy the heavy one that does the quarter mile faster. After all, complaining is a big part of motorcycling. 😉
They did, it’s called the Tenere. Just not the Super Tenere. It’s a 660. nice machine
I wish I had one…
They reduced the fugly factor. Looks good in gray. Bien hecho, Yamaha.
Looks almost identical to last year’s US gray model. The only thing I see different is the more FB6 styled passenger seat which I agree does look better than the old one. I’m sure one could fit it to the older model if concerned enough about it.
But no effing beak! HUZZAH!
I used to own a V-Strom 1000, and I liked it a lot, but I’d take this over that in a heartbeat. The bazooka muffler notwithstanding, this is one of the least obnoxious pseudo-ADV bikes to come down the pike. It also appears to be a supremely comfortable ride.
I was thinking the same thing… Love my OLD Strom 1000, but if I go big, this might be it.. If I go lighter, not sure on that one yet..
I may as well start things off! Man, that’s one BIG A** can of a muffler!
Would like to throw a leg over one and give it a spin.
I thought it was a saddlebag!
You can thank the EPA/CARB for the huge mufflers now to meet their specs. for clean air.
Wondering how MV Agusta and BMW are able to get their small, tasteful exhausts (pretty much all MV’s, and just look at the BMW S1000R) to meet EPA/CARB requirements, while the Japanese manufacturers all seem to resort to these enormous monstrosities.
The MV & BMW have at least 1/2 the muffler under the motor/swingarm. Not a good location on a supposed dirt bike.
exactly, next time we get back ’round to discussing the unsightly belly box under the Ninja 1000, i’ll point and say…
and there it is.
That still doesn’t explain why so many Japanese sportbikes have large, hideous exhausts, the Ninja 1000 being a perfect example. If the S1000R can sport a nice-looking, small, simple exhaust, why must the Kawi’s be so enormous and overdone? And even for this large ADV class the exhaust on this Yamaha is just comically massive.
The S1000R only has a good looking exhaust pipe because you can’t see the rest of the ugly lump under the fairing.
gotta catalyse sumptin’.
Put the saddle bags on to cover the muffler and ride in peace, stealth is the new loud!