My Yamaha Super Tenere has very good running lights with a nice spread on the road in front and excellent high beams projecting far on the road ahead. I also like that the headlights consists of two side by side bulbs offering redundancy if one bulb goes out. Some motorcycles use one light as running light and the second as a high beam. I'm happy and confident I will be seen during the day with this setup and if ever caught riding at night I have enough light to turn the night into day ahead of me.
As it came from the factory
The problem with motorcycles for cage drivers is that most see right through the one headlight at cars coming further down the road and often cut in front of motorcycles. The usual response after an accident is that they never saw the motorcycle coming. The best way to enhance the front of the motorcycle is to create a triangle of light. There are various ways to mount lights, some riders mount them up high almost next to the headlight, others mount them at the bottom by the front wheel hub but both options do not create a good triangle. I decided to mount mine on the crash bars but in a way that if I drop the bike it won't damage them. They are set up through a relay to be ON all the time when the engine is running but I wired them through a switch on the console so I can turn them off if needed.
Under the headlights I also mounted a set of Rigid Industries quad LED lights connected to the high beams through a relay and fuse just to be on the safe side. The Rigid are extremely bright and project a spot far down the road. I can't use the Rigid when following other cars but since they are connected with the high beam they are usually off. The four extra sets of lights are all LED and even when all are switched ON they draw a negligible amount of power. The two running lights are very bright and I have had to switch them off at night when in slow traffic and following another car closely.
Last year Yamaha teased us with the T7 Ténéré concept and the media went crazy. Every website and magazine article talked about the possibilities a smaller Ténéré could bring to the "adventure" crowd. The competition already had smaller adventure motorcycles in the 700/800 class but Yamaha was still pushing the very old 660cc Ténéré. Another year has gone by and while everyone expected Yamaha to announce a production model for 2018, a new concept was announced instead. What a disappointment at least on my part. This time we get the Ténéré 700 World Raid.
Courtesy of Yamaha
Don't get me wrong, the World Raid is a beautiful concept and I think Yamaha is going in the right direction but, come one Yamaha, by the time you finally release this model the competition will have taken over the market in this range. Maybe Yamaha is just waiting to sell all the Super Ténéré before they announce the new model but I believe there's a market for both models and the wait will do more harm than good to Yamaha.
Using the rugged rally-inspired character of the original T7 concept bike and using the information gained from intensive testing of the T7 during 2017, Yamaha developed this prototype model which is being used to develop the final specification of the production model.
The 700 World Raid prototype uses the same highly acclaimed 689cc 2-cylinder crossplane concept engine that has been used in the popular MT-07.
Test riders will be riding the Ténéré 700 World Raid around the world throughout 2018 as part of a “World Raid Tour but there's still no word on a production bike in sight.
As everyone that follows my blog knows, I'm a big fan of Yamaha motorcycles. I started my riding life with a Yamaha XT250 in the early 80's and since then Yamaha has been in my heart. My second choice would be Suzuki and then Kawasaki. I have never been a fan of any other motorcycles. Yes, there are lots of motorcycles out there that are beautiful and powerful that I wouldn't mind having but I tend to gravitate to equivalent Japanese motorcycles. Before I bought the Yamaha Super Tenere, my motorcycle of choice to ride to Alaska was the 650cc Suzuki V-Strom which would have been ideal for my size. Yamaha had made the Super Tenere available in other countries almost a year before they announced it for the USA and I had been reading about it. The Tenere looked really good and had a great sounding unique 270° crank 1200cc engine but I also knew it was going to be a big motorcycle at 575lbs. Yamaha was following the success of the BMW GS with the big engine and the Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman adventure series success. Had Yamaha brought the smaller 660cc Tenere to the USA I would have bought it instead.
When they announced the Super Tenere for the USA I ran to the dealer and put a deposit down. I'm extremely happy with my Super Tenere but I like to adventure off-road and a lighter version of the Tenere would have been better for me.
Last year at the EICMA show Yamaha previewed the Yamaha T7 Tenere Concept and the media went crazy. It looked like Yamaha had finally woken up to the smaller and lighter middleweight adventure concept and was getting ready to announce a smaller Tenere to replace the very old and outdated 660 but now with a slightly bigger parallel-twin engine most likely taken from the very popular FZ-07. The concept was developed in conjunction with its official rayy team in France and European headquarters and featured an 18-inch rear and 21-inch front tire. The T7 concept is a beauty.
Like most people, I have been hoping for a 660 Tenere replacement for some time so you can imagine my excitement when a few weeks ago Yamaha alerted us to expect a big announcement on September 6th. There had been talk in the media about the announcement being about the smaller Tenere and the excitement had been growing among fans. The 6th came and I was ready, refreshed the webpage at exactly 10.30am EDT and to my surprise the announcement was for the new "Star Eluder". What does it even mean?
"Eludes" evade or escape from (a danger, enemy, or pursuer), typically in a skillful or cunning way
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. The new "Eluder" is a bagger to complement the previously announced "Star Venture". I guess Yamaha needed a motorcycle to compete with the Harley-Davidson Street Glide, Indian Chieftain, BMW K 1600 B and the Honda F6B Goldwing.
The "Star Eluder" is a beautiful bagger and has a modern air-cooled 113 cubic inch (1854cc) V-twin fuel-injected engine. The Venture and the Eluder are mechanically identical and feature “Drive Mode” settings that adjust throttle response, traction control, a heated seat for the rider and passenger and a fully-featured infotainment system. They are belt-driven touring bikes but unlike the much lighter T7, the Venture weighs 957lbs and the Eluder 875lbs. To keep up with the 7-inch infotainment system with Bluetooth and all the other electronic gizmos like navigation, SiriusXM, CB radio, security alarm, heated seats as well as all the lighting, they have paired alternators mounted low and forward in the engine cases providing a total of 750 watts, enough for the bike and rider's accessories like heated apparel.
The Venture is shown below.
Now I await the next announcement which I hope will be for the smaller Tenere. The talk is that the new bike won't release before late next year in any case, which will be too late even if I wanted to entertain thoughts of buying one for my next trip. Maybe one day when I'm done adventuring off-road and decide to cruise down the highways and paved twisties I will consider a motorcycle like the Eluder, specially if I can convince my wife to ride pillion, but for now my beloved Super Tenere will continue to ride on for the foreseeable future.
Below is the video announcing the Star Eluder for your enjoyment.
I'm way behind on my blog, just haven't had the time to complete the story of my trip to the 1sr Yamaha Super Tenere Gathering and to Alaska. I will complete it but the rest is going to be mostly posting of all the pictures I took.
I now have two jobs, I'm back in IT working for a bank and taking care of my photography business whenever I find time. After starting my business I was too preoccupied trying to make money and survive and then I got the IT job. I haven't stopped riding, I still ride whenever I find time.
The 2nd Super Tenere Gathering is less than two weeks away and this time it's a little closer to me. It's still going to be over 4K miles round trip but the weather should be warmer and with much less mud.
This year the event is being held in Ouray, Colorado. I spent a night in Ouray about 7 years ago during my cross country trip by car and loved the area. Ouray bills itself as the "Switzerland of America" because of its setting at the narrow head of a valley, enclosed on three and a half sides by steep mountains.
Check out their site here: Ouray
I will first ride to Las Vegas, New Mexico to pick up my brother and then we will ride through Durango, Silverton and then the famous "Million Dollar Highway" into Ouray from the south.
Here's my itinerary:
I expect to ride from New Jersey to Las Vegas in 2.5 days and cover about 1900 miles. During the days I'm in Ouray we will be taking side trips around the area and I expect to go over a few passes.
The excitement is building.
This is the video from my previous post. Five of us decided to ride the Takhini road and follow the Takhini river for a little fun. There will be another video from this day. We all had a lot of fun.
One of the main concerns for anyone riding a motorcycle in remote areas is running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. If you ride a BMW R1200GS Adventure like my brother then you pretty much can go anywhere since it's got a range like a cruise ship. My Super Ténéré with a 6.1 gallon tank has a range from 230 to 275 until dry depending on how you ride it. I have done averages from 38mpg to 45mpg depending on the speed. On the trip to Daytona I saw a worst average of 38mpg but we were doing speeds that I can't mention here. On my usual rides I average 43mpg, not bad for a 1200cc engine.
On my trip to Alaska the bike will be loaded and heavy, the fuel average will probably be on the low side but I won't have any gas problems until I reach Coldfoot, Alaska, the last place with fuel until Deadhorse, aka Prudhoe Bay. Google maps says the distance is 241 miles from Coldfoot to Deadhorse. It would be risky for me to attempt to ride that distance, it's never good to run the bike until it's almost dry anyway.
To take care of the problem I bought a RotopaX 1 Gallon fuel container, the extra fuel will make me much more comfortable during this stretch of the trip.
Bill from Tampa, Florida is also attending the Yukon Tenere gathering in Whitehorse at the beginning of July. He is a fellow blogger and he has created a neat map with all the riders forum name's on the map showing the distance everyone is traveling to get to Whitehorse. Bill, "Twitch" is his name on the Yamaha Tenere forum, is the one traveling the longest distance at 4028 miles. "Pocreva" in Lillian, Alabama is second with 3725 miles and I'm the third with 3672 miles. My forum name is "SuperTen"
Interactive map, click to zoom and see the names or click on the link below for a larger map
Two weeks to go, the bike is ready and since this will be the cleanest the bike will ever be I decided to take a few pictures. The roads in the Yukon and Alaska are going to make a mess out of the bike and the salt used in Alaska during winter is very corrosive to aluminum.
Heidenau K60 Scout tires have been ordered and will be mounted in Cameron,Wisconsin. Why Cameron? Because that was the only place I found a dealer that sells the Heidenau's and it's on my route. There is a dealer in Milwaukee and Cedarburg, Wisconsin but they would be out of the way. There's a BMW dealer in Omaha but that would be too far west.
I am planning on skirting Chicago and head north towards Cameron. After I have the new tires I will head west passing Fargo and then in Jamestown start heading north crossing the border in Portal, North Dakota.
I bought a MadStad (link) adjustable windshield mount with a Crossbar to mount the GPS and radar detector. I painted a portion of my windshield so I can mount and hide the EZPass toll tag used in most of the eastern states. The vertical sides match perfectly with the adjustable windshield bracket. I don't like to see the damn tag behind the windshield where most riders mount it. Once it's mounted no one will even know I have one. Now the ADV sticker stands out even more.
Hanging out back is Darth Vader. My daughter gave me the little Vader as a present last Christmas, she knows I love everything Star Wars, since my bike is all black and I wear a black jacket and helmet, she says he complements the bike perfectly, I agree.
This coming week I will be working on what I will need to take with me and where to pack everything for my long trip. I will be camping and cooking my own meals as much as possible. There are lots of electronic devices to carry, laptop, cameras, chargers, compressor, things that take up lots of valuable space, it's always a trade-off when deciding what to take.
My friend Roger and fellow blogger from Auckland, New Zealand, recently posted a challenge on his blog “All Things Rogey!” for us to post the 5 favorites pictures of 2011.
The rules are:
Post your five favourite photos of 2011. Tell us why you like them. It could just be you like the pic or it could be more personal or of great meaning to you. The only rule is that you have to have been the one who took them, and there must be at least one of you
I take a lot of pictures but I decided to post pictures that have a special meaning to me in 2011, not necessarily good pictures, just special. It was difficult to select the 5 photos but here are mine and why they are special to me.
In order of occurrence.
This one is special because in 2011 I celebrated my 50th birthday. It was super special because I was able to celebrate with high school friends I hadn't seen in 26 years. My friend Mario on the left also celebrated his birthday, 49th, 9 days before me. We left NY on a cruise to the Caribbean on his birthday and had my party 9 days later as we left the Caribbean on the return trip. My wife surprised me with this special dinner in one of the gourmet restaurants on the ship, she even managed to get authorization to decorate the corner table in the restaurant.
This one is special because my son turned 21 and we were able to have our first beer together. He is attending college and I'm sure it was not the first beer he had but at least it was the first beer I paid for and he was legally allowed to have it.
My beautiful daughter graduated middle school and is now in high school, I'm getting old...
She's an adorable young lady but still dad's girl. To see her in the red gown accepting the diploma was very special.
My first adventure off-road on my new Yamaha Super Ténéré. As you all know I waited a long time for this bike and I bought it exactly for these kind of roads. It was only a short ride off-road to test the capabilities of the traction control and ABS but it was nevertheless special to me. I just love this photo. I plan on going to Alaska with this bike and have lots of plans for the future.
Technically I took this picture since I was alone and put the camera on top of a wooden pole I saw on the side of the road. Timer counts, doesn't it? I just love this photo because it represents what I love most, the spirit of adventure, not knowing what's around the corner. I'm always prepared to discover new things and places and I hope the future will allow me to do lots of adventures. Now if I could convince my wife to get an adventure bike too, life would be perfect.
