Enn
Well-known member
Hi guys. I was a regular follower of this fine forum for 10 years until I swapped my FJR last year to Super Tenere. I promised to post information about my impression about ST.
So I did a tour to Germany a couple of weeks ago, see my write-up in ST forum here https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/trip-to-mosel-valley-and-black-forest-in-germany.26466/#post-371015
Now I have some 8500 km on the clock and what do I think about the bike and do I long for FJR?
As with any bike, ST is not perfect right from the factory. For me the biggest trouble was the stock saddle, which after a hour of riding became absolutely unbearable, I obviously do not have an iron, wood or any other tougher material butt, just flesh and bones and I am afraid too little fat to cushion. So I needed to buy a Touratech saddle and this made a great difference. Now I could be about 2 hr on the bike without major problems. The rest of the bike is more or less stock, though I bought the maximum equipped Raid version.
Coming from the FJR, the bike feels very light, especially once you get moving. It is super easy to ride in parking lots, tight small towns, alpine twistes and so on, more or less up to a speed of 120 km/h. The power is more than you need, you do not really feel the luggage, the wind protection is not much worse than on FJR and your riding position is fantastic. Now when it comes to motorway speeds, the story is very different indeed. Let say speed of 140 km/h is still bearable, but over that the rattle and vibes of the bike become really uncomfortable and the air resistance will make it a heavy job to stay on bike. I mean with FJR it was virtually so that the faster you rode, the more stable it felt...
I am personally pretty sensitive to the vibes on the handlebar and I have to say that, despite they are recognizably higher amplitude that the FJR's, they are much smoother in feel. The FJR vibrations became pretty sharp at speeds of 100 km/h on my bike and after 4-5 full days of riding I got some pain in my palms because of that. ST is much smoother in this respect, the vibes on the same speed are smooth and soft and my hands did not get painful. But as I wrote, it all changed on speeds over 140 km/h and after I did couple of hours of riding like that on German motorways, I had quite sore palms in the evening and even the next morning.
I also miss the automatic clutch I had on FJR, although the clutch on ST is light and simple in operation.
Do I miss FJR? Not yet, as for today the ST is much more versatile for me and the legal speeds in my country are far lower than the ST treshold for comfy riding. It took me years of hesitation of swapping the bikes and I am happy today that I did it. However, this no critic to FJR, I enjoyed it very much when I had it, but at least for me it was a heavy job to get it lean in curves, especially if the tires had worn flat in the center.
By the way, I bought a new Held Atacama Goretex Pro riding suit in Germany. It is a new model which came out just last year and if you are interested about my experience with it, let me know, I will be happy to share. All the best to everyone and enjoy the FJR-s
So I did a tour to Germany a couple of weeks ago, see my write-up in ST forum here https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/trip-to-mosel-valley-and-black-forest-in-germany.26466/#post-371015
Now I have some 8500 km on the clock and what do I think about the bike and do I long for FJR?
As with any bike, ST is not perfect right from the factory. For me the biggest trouble was the stock saddle, which after a hour of riding became absolutely unbearable, I obviously do not have an iron, wood or any other tougher material butt, just flesh and bones and I am afraid too little fat to cushion. So I needed to buy a Touratech saddle and this made a great difference. Now I could be about 2 hr on the bike without major problems. The rest of the bike is more or less stock, though I bought the maximum equipped Raid version.
Coming from the FJR, the bike feels very light, especially once you get moving. It is super easy to ride in parking lots, tight small towns, alpine twistes and so on, more or less up to a speed of 120 km/h. The power is more than you need, you do not really feel the luggage, the wind protection is not much worse than on FJR and your riding position is fantastic. Now when it comes to motorway speeds, the story is very different indeed. Let say speed of 140 km/h is still bearable, but over that the rattle and vibes of the bike become really uncomfortable and the air resistance will make it a heavy job to stay on bike. I mean with FJR it was virtually so that the faster you rode, the more stable it felt...
I am personally pretty sensitive to the vibes on the handlebar and I have to say that, despite they are recognizably higher amplitude that the FJR's, they are much smoother in feel. The FJR vibrations became pretty sharp at speeds of 100 km/h on my bike and after 4-5 full days of riding I got some pain in my palms because of that. ST is much smoother in this respect, the vibes on the same speed are smooth and soft and my hands did not get painful. But as I wrote, it all changed on speeds over 140 km/h and after I did couple of hours of riding like that on German motorways, I had quite sore palms in the evening and even the next morning.
I also miss the automatic clutch I had on FJR, although the clutch on ST is light and simple in operation.
Do I miss FJR? Not yet, as for today the ST is much more versatile for me and the legal speeds in my country are far lower than the ST treshold for comfy riding. It took me years of hesitation of swapping the bikes and I am happy today that I did it. However, this no critic to FJR, I enjoyed it very much when I had it, but at least for me it was a heavy job to get it lean in curves, especially if the tires had worn flat in the center.
By the way, I bought a new Held Atacama Goretex Pro riding suit in Germany. It is a new model which came out just last year and if you are interested about my experience with it, let me know, I will be happy to share. All the best to everyone and enjoy the FJR-s
