Super Tenere gets tweaked
Can it hope to steal some GS sales this time?
YAMAHA’S Super Tenere twin deserves better. With a spec designed to meet BMW’s market-leading R1200GS head-on it should have been a success from day one, but it was launched into the teeth of a declining western-world bike market and the financial crisis, so you don’t see many around.
For 2014 Yamaha’s having another stab, uprating the Super Tenere to once again try to take a slice of a market that BMW has come to own. The tweaks include engine changes, with bigger ports and a new camshaft adding 2bhp and a smoother character, plus a alterations to make the transmission shift better.
On the electronics front, there are changes to the D-MODE mapping system, adjusting its settings in both town and sports modes, as well as a new instrument cluster with a gear indicator and LCD display.
A new, adjustable screen is standard, as are new aluminium bars that transmit fewer vibrations to the rider, while cruise control has also been standardised.
Externally, the indicators are now LEDs – said to take knocks better than normal bulbs – and there’s a new tail cover and seat, redesigned silencer and an aluminium side stand. The centre stand, top box holder and passenger grab rail have been deleted from the standard equipment list.
As well as the stock Super Tenere, Yamaha has launched the XT1200ZE version that includes electronically adjustable suspension, allowing the rider to choose from four preload settings and three damper settings from a switch on the bars, giving a total of 12 base set-ups. On top of that, there are seven further levels of adjustment for a total of 84 possible combinations – which should keep you busy (or confused).
Other ZE model changes include heated grips and handguards as standard, and it retains the top box fittings, passenger rail and centre stand that the base version loses for 2014.
