Then I called SkooterG (The Fecker), only to be called a crazy Bastard and now Smitty of Hooterville has a call in to me.
As usual, you got it all wrong. <_<
SILLY FUCKER! I called you a SILLY FUCKER!
I don't get it. I'm not feeling the love. On paper, besides an awesome price point, I see a heavy dual sport with no outstanding features and some VERY disappointing engineering when it comes to luggage and bash plates. Of course a ride tells all. There have been bikes I thought I would love - and didn't. And bikes I didn't think I would like - and loved. But that all-telling ride won't be happening anytime soon, will it? Best of luck to you all. I hope it's as good as the hype.
SILLY FUCKER RESPONDING HERE! The only thing that bugs me is the stock inability to disarm and disable the ABS, I related to Smitty on the phone the close call I had down in Mexico with Brian last April, where I almost took a 1K foot plunge because my pulsing BMW ABS was not stopping me in time before a very sharp curve. EXTREMELY FECKING DANGEROUS!
But, HIGHLANDER consistently has the right information on motorcycles and he has a reference resource on how you can wire in a dash switch to disarm/disable the ABS for dirt work!
After owning a 2006 FJR1300, I'd wait until they iron some bugs out. No more first year/New GEN bikes for me. But that's just me and I wish all the new owners well.
I just hate the idea of ABS on a bike in dirt. I might be wrong, but I know I'd forget to turn it off and go down hard some day -- and I don't like the idea of a supposedly dirt-ready bike that has ABS all the time. It's a deal-breaker for this dumb ass. There are many better riders than me. I personally saw a guy two weeks ago on an RT1150 with street tires go down a nasty two track that put two other riders in the dirt (and my tank bag flying into the air and me almost down). The downed riders road true dual-sports. He then returned back up from the cliff on the RT without a scratch. My point is, there are riders that could take this new bike and run circles around me, but for me (an average rider off-road at best) this bike looks too hard to ride on other than relatively well groomed non-paved roads.
I'm not nuts about aluminum bags, but adding the cost of them to the bike, as well as all the little things you have to buy, makes the Super T more than a small expense for me. I don't like the idea of selling either the FJR I finally have pretty well sorted out, or a lighter dual-sport to buy this heavy lump. I never quite got the GS12 concept either though, but they sell well.
An aside to anybody looking for aluminum cases: I saw many different styles on the lost coast at a Horizons Unlimited Meet a couple weeks ago. Several of those cases had been around the world and I got to speak to the owners. The types with angled edges to the tops of the side cases with aluminum loops welded to THE ANGLED EDGES, and not the tops are the schitz. Great tie-down spots and you can sit down on them, or use the flat tops for a table, seat or work area on the road. The types without loops have no great way to tie things down, and the ones with loops on the flat top areas don't allow you the ability of double duty uses for the bags as easily. Thought I'd pass that on.
I've been lurking and reading about this bike, just hadn't posted much. But now that it is a reality, I just don't see it in my future.
Skooter echoed my thoughts. Besides, I still have a lot of farkles to buy for the bikes I own and future money to spend on trips to ride. I'm not sure what the Super Tenere brings to the table that I HAVE to have. But I wish those in love with it all the best.
I'll be reading people's experiences with interest over time. Like Skooter, sometimes a bike grows on me.
