Adventure More Super For The Super Tenere
Decking out Yamaha’s adventure pioneer
We equipped our Super Tenere with a number of accessories aimed at bringing the Yamaha back into the spotlight.
The first Japanese adventure bike with the emphasis on adventure was the 2011 Yamaha Super Tenere. At the time, it amazed us with real off-road capability, and it fired up everyone else—including KTM and BMW—to try harder. Now, it’s easy to forget about the big Yamaha because so many newer bikes have stolen the spotlight. We decided to take another look at the Super Tenere, or the XT1200 in alphanumeric speak, and to spark it up with some of Yamaha’s in-house accessories. All of the things we like and don’t like about the Super T came back to us very quickly. Here’s a shortened hit list.
POWER: The Yamaha remains Japan’s largest, torquiest real adventure bike. The Kawasaki Versys 1000 and the Suzuki V-Strom 1000 might have more peak horsepower, but both are designed primarily as street bikes with off-road capability as a second priority. The Yamaha was targeted from scratch as a bike for touring dirt roads, and the power was designed accordingly. The torque is amazing, and there’s something about the irregular pulse of the 270-degree crank that produces a sense of satisfaction. The bike is no revver, though. On the street, you run out of rpm early. It has a six-speed gearbox, so there’s always another gear, but if you’re used to the revs typical of modern street bikes, the Yamaha will seem like a tractor.
SUSPENSION: Times have changed since the introduction of the Super T. Back then, we were amazed at how well the bike’s suspension worked off-road. That was eight years ago, and now KTM, Honda and even BMW have upped their game. The Yamaha seems short-legged and harsh by comparison. Two years ago, Yamaha responded by offering the ES model for about $1100 more. This model offers push-button electronic rear-suspension tuning. The shock has four preload positions, three damping settings and seven fine adjustments. Even with the ES option, the Super Tenere isn’t as strong as KTM or Honda in the suspension department. Many riders go for the standard model and leave budget for an aftermarket shock. Race Tech, Touratech and Ohlins are the leading alternatives.
Yamaha’s hard panniers cost around $1000 a set, which is comparable to the price for SW Motech, Touratech and other quality hard saddlebags. They’re tough, aluminum toploaders. Our only complaint is that the flexy plastic latches and attachment mechanism seem out of place.
Every adventure bike needs protection. The Yamaha engine guards are $500.
The accessory skid plate is a work of art. Yamaha priced it at $226, which makes it mandatory.
COMFORT: The Yamaha still scores well here because the layout is very dirt-oriented. It feels natural to stand up. The bike has good footpegs and a halfdecent seat. Even street guys are drawn to the bike because it’s so spread out. The stock windscreen and handguards offer good protection.
ELECTRONICS: The Super Tenere was one of the first adventure bikes with traction control. It was never really designed with dirt riding in mind, although the three levels can be useful for bad weather on pavement. Most dirt adventures are still better with the system turned off. ABS is another technology that is better for the street than in the dirt. It actually works quite well in the front, but the rear is quirky and somewhat intrusive when you go off-road.
The Nelson Rigg soft-tail bag sells for $130 and is much less intrusive than a hard-top box.
The best part about the Yamaha tank bag is that it’s a dedicated to the XT1200 and fits perfectly. The shape of the bike’s fuel tank makes it a difficult application for universal tank bags. The price is $190.
ACCESSORIES: We equipped our 2018 Super T with over $2500 of accessories from Yamaha’s parts and accessories department. In general, the equipment Yamaha sells for its own bike is par with the best stuff in the world. With the $15,099 MSRP, that pushes the bike up into the range of a completely stripped BMW R1200GS. Here’s the catch: there’s no such thing as a completely stripped R1200GS. BMW North America only imports the bike with premium packages added. Expect to pay $20,000 and more for high-end adventure hardware from Europe. So even though the Super T is a top-shelf machine itself, it remains a bargain among other bikes of its capabilities.