A short bit for now as I've got to go out, and I've had a few beers.
Phone call yesterday from the dealer, they've got a rep coming on a S10, did I want to come down? Very much so.
This morning the g/f and I head down on the Ten I sig the paper work and disappear for 2 hours on the Press Fleet S10.
What can I say?
Having ridden all the BMW GS's, and the KTM Adventure 990, its better than them all for road work. The KTM would have the edge on the serious off road stuff, but the S10 held it's own, even 2up.
Road wise, it cruised happily at 95 snails per hour 2 up with no need to drop down from top to over take. Very comfy riding position, both for me and pillion. Seriously good brakes, Traction control makes itself known on road when you're hustling from a launch, you can turn it off. ABS off road wasn't intrusive, or maybe I was just planning my braking, don't know.

Some pics then, and more later-









In short though, a very good bike, and smaller than the GS feels.

More please!

Lucky dog! Thanx for sharing and indeed: more please!
Greetz, Hans.

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XT rules! Make the world beautiful, get a tattoo. Nick Curran R.I.P. '77-'12

XT660Z Tenere '08 http://dallastx.smugmug.com

visit: www.hank3.com

SRV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0MF8pwktg

Hello,
I had a chance to ride S10 today for about one hour.



I own an FJR and XT660Z and my first impression was that with XT1200Z I might go with one bike instead of two.
I am a newbie to off road riding and with S10 I was allowing myself for much more that I thought I would that day. Traction control, suspension and the brakes made me feel very comfortable on the sandy road and on poor quality gravel road too. I had a great fun in corners too, bike feels very light.
can’t wait to get it for a longer ride

I've never seen such a contrast of one colour looking good (blue) and the other not (silver)

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It looks much better in the flesh.

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>-------<

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

I'm liking the Blue S10.

Will keep an eye out locally for a test..

Yours is the first comment I have seen about a pillion. Great to see you are impressed as virtually all of my riding will be 2 up.

Oh, and I collect it TODAY, all farkled up and horribly expensive. i.e, screen, wind deflectors, crash bars, tank bag, heated grips and Halfords style spot lights.

The cost is a real issue but unfortunately the price is pretty well out of Yamahas control. Had the Yen not lost 30 odd % of its value in the last 2 years the bike would have been a bit over �9000. It still costs them the same to make the thing in Japan. This also explains why it is cheaper than the GS/GSA (sorry for swearing) in countries that do not use the Euro or Pound.

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We are now retired....so....... lots of this and this and no more of this or this

Ray, my pillion was VERY impressed with it. For comparison she has ridden on the back of my old Caponord and didn't like that at all. Her favourite pillion perch was the Hayabusa. She said the S10 had a soft, but firm seat and the relation of pegs to seat was very comfy

I had one of the press bikes out for an hour this afternoon and on the whole thought it was pretty good. It's been a couple of years since I last rode a 1200GS but from what I can remember it felt pretty similar but with more feel through the front end. Jumping from the 660 to the 1200 the bodywork seems to be far out in front of you but you soon get used to it.



When I first got on and pulled away it felt a but gutless. The ECU was switched into the "Touring" mode. Switching to "Sport" mode gave it better throttle response. I'm not really sure when you would want to use the Touring mode as even in Sport mode the engine was slow revving enough to offer good control. It has a real time MPG indication on the instruments and I was getting better economy in sport mode than touring! Driving out of roundabouts you can occasionally feel the traction control sorting out the rear tyre but it was unobtrusive.



From the spec sheet I was expecting the bike to be heavy but it actually felt fairly light with the weight carried low down like the GS. A & B roads are handled with ease. I would have hoped for a lot more drive from the engine compared to the 660, however it seems to be one of those bikes that masks its speed because of how smooth it is.

The brakes are excellent and do a great job of slowing the bike down quickly. Just using the front brake the bike felt super stable. I tried a couple of emergency stops and you could just feel the ABS taking over. Unlike some systems there is only a very slight feel of pulsing from the ABS but I probably noticed that due to me wearing thin summer gloves.

After riding my 660 for a couple of years I felt that the seat was too low. I stopped and took the seat off but couldn't figure how to raise it. Although not uncomfortable I felt my knees were in an odd position. Standing up on the pegs while traversing a farm track actually felt more comfortable than the 660.The rear brake lever and gear lever would need adjusted for me but no big deal. After changing up gear and getting the balls of left foot back on the peg I kept putting my foot on top of the hinge of the gear lever which was a bit annoying.



Overall, was impressed with the Super Tenere. For two up work and carrying luggage it will be a much more realistic proposition than the 660. However, it is twice the price of the 660 but don't it isn't twice the bike.

Yamaha have tried hard to build an alternative to the BMW but with the current economic climate and the Yen/Pound exchange rate they are going to be struggling to get the share of the market that they deserve. It reminds me of when the first 1000cc Fazer came out - excellent bike but sales suffered due to the list price.

I still think that the 800GS is the bike they should have been aiming to beat which is what the original SuperTenere could evolved into if Yamaha hadn't dropped it all those years ago.

Al.