The time has come. I’ve admitted to myself that my current motorcycle, technically now my previous motorcycle, was my mid-life crisis bike. I’ve admitted to myself it’s uncomfortable after an hour, and down right painful after 2. Lastly, I’ve come to terms with it just not being a great 2-up touring bike.
I’m talking about my 2018 Yamaha Tracer 900. I love the engine. I love the clutch for being a slipper assist, making downshifts effortless. I hate the clutch for having a friction zone about 1mm wide on the clutch lever. I love the engine. This bike has been the most fun I’ve had on 2 wheels up to this point. As fun as it is, the fact that it hurts me after making a tonne of mods to it that should have fixed that, is really bumming me out. The fact that my wife also finds it uncomfortable, not a great point either. Oh right, I got remarried this summer, and while that’s new, it’s not the new I’m talking about here.
The Yamaha Tracer 900, my specific one, has had all sorts of work done to it. New suspension, check. Corbin saddle, check. New windscreen, check. Bar risers, check. Lower the pegs, check. Crash bars, check. Rear rack and Givi monolock plate, check. In total, probably $3k in upgrades. Ouch. End result, after putting 10,000km on her, not comfortable for long hauls. Lots of fun over a short hop, but just torture over time. I want to point out, it is more comfortable than when I purchased it. The root cause of this is most likely the peg mount location. It places my feet more rearward than I like, creating an angle at my hips and knees, that I just cannot change or fix.
Back in 2019, in those lovely pre-COVID days, I attended numerous demo days for Suzuki and Yamaha. I specifically was checking out the Yamaha Super Tenere, and the Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom. I also rode the Yamaha XSR900, the Yamaha Niken, the Suzuki DL650, and the Suzuki SV650. I rode more than that, but honestly I can’t remember everything I rode back then. If I haven’t said it before, I will here; go to as many demo days as you can. It’s free, and you can actually see how a bike feels when riding, as opposed to sitting on it in the show room. In 2019 I rode the DL1000 three times, and the Super Tenere four times, across a couple of demo days each. I liked the ride on the V-Strom, but the dash and tech were seriously dated back then; this was before the V-Strom 1050 was introduced last year. I liked the Super Tenere as well, which featured a dash the same as my Tracer, and all the tech I’d expect on a motorcycle costing $4k more than the V-Strom. Even in 2019, I was thinking Super Tenere, but I couldn’t justify it.
Now, in 2021, with the above revelations made, I decided to pull the trigger on a new bike. The 2 contenders were the Suzuki 1050XA and the Yamaha Super Tenere. Both have similar features. Both are aimed squarely at the adventure touring segment. The Suzuki finally received an update to the engine, and more importantly, the electronics suite. New TFT dash. Ride by wire throttle. Cruise control. Variable power modes. Traction control. All the goodies. The Yamaha on the other hand, has all of that, a bigger engine, hydraulic clutch, dry sump oil system, electronic suspension, heated hand grips, side cases, and the list sort of keeps going. There is a reason the Yamaha is $2k more than the Suzuki, at least at MSRP. The main caveat to the Yamaha is that it is mostly unchanged since 2014.
Off to the local Yamaha dealer I went, my lovely new wife with me, to sit on a Super Tenere. On the show room floor were two shiny new 2020 models. We sat on one, and my wife hated it. The side cases are big and boxy and they bothered her a lot getting on the bike. On this particular trip we had with us 2 of our daughters, and my wife was stressing about them being in the dealership. The end result, she was not relaxed, and was not focused on the task at hand. The Super Tenere’s were MSRP, $18.5k, with a special that waived PDI and delivery fees; so MSRP plus taxes to get out the door. They also offered me $7.5k on trade for my Tracer with 10,000km on it.
I started trying to find a dealership with a 1050XA on the floor; which turned out to be hard to do. Both of the Suzuki dealerships I have used in the past did not have any stock. They didn’t have any V-Strom’s at all. A little hunting, and I found a dealership outside my area, but close enough for a day trip. Off we went to sit on a 1050XA, and see what sort of deal we could get. Upon arrival I locate the 2020 1050XA sitting dead center in a mass of new motorcycles, on the verge of being too close together to even stand the bike up off it’s side stand. It was also covered in a thick layer of dust. Despite that, we got on to test the waters. First issue, the seat is in the low position. Second issue, my wife is half sitting on the rack, because the pillion seat is pretty short. It’s nice and wide, which she likes, but it’s about 3 inches shorter than it needs to be. Quick chat with the sales person, which was hard to get started, and I talked them into putting the seat into the tall position. Turns out you need tools and about 10 minutes to do this. The sales person was not happy about this, but he complied. In the tall position, if it was possible, my wife had even less room. On the plus side, she loved the look of it. I asked about a trade on my Tracer, to which they replied “not interested”. The Suzuki was also on special, no PDI or delivery fees, and a price below MSRP at $15.8k. I was pretty excited about the Suzuki, but left disappointed for a couple of reasons. Mainly how much smaller it was in person, and how small the pillion seat is.
On our way home from the Suzuki dealer, I swung us by a different Yamaha dealer, the same ones that sold me my Tracer. They had a pair of 2020 Super Tenere’s on the floor as well. My wife wanted to try it after sitting on the Suzuki, so we did. This time we had left the kids at home, and the bikes were in a large 30’ × 30’ room with only 4 or 5 other motorcycles; the Super Tenere was sitting in the middle of the floor with nothing around it. We hopped on, and suddenly it was all good. All the reasons she had for not liking the Yamaha previously were gone. She fit on the pillion seat well. The pegs put her legs in a better position than the Tracer or the 1050XA. We got off, talked about it, got back on, and the same; she liked the feel and the fit. Apparently the kids had really caused some anxiety previously, and without them around, she was able to relax and try the bike for real. At this point I was getting excited again, because I already like the Yamaha better than the Suzuki. Maybe it was the time I spent on the Tracer. Maybe the Super Tenere is really that much nicer. I’m not sure, but I have really become a Yamaha man in the last 3 years. I grabbed the same salesman that sold me my Tracer, and had a chat. Price was the same, with the same special of no PDI or delivery. Talking trades, thinking they would want to keep my business, they offered me $5k for my Tracer. I was a little perplexed, given that was $2.5k less than a Yamaha dealer closer to my house. We chatted some more, but I soon realized they didn’t want my business. I suppose that is their loss.
That night I did some research. I wanted to understand the real world value my Tracer was worth, I wanted to see if I could find a better deal on the Super Tenere. As it turns out, my Tracer is worth about $10k on the used market. Not bad, but I know what a pain it is to sell a bike privately. I also found a 2019 Super Tenere for $1.5k less than the 2020 at the dealer. Even more interesting, that 2019 model was at another location of the same dealership. The following day I was back at my local Yamaha dealer, and we had a chat about the 2019 model sitting at another location. I mentioned it before, but the Super Tenere is largely unchanged from 2014 to 2021. In fact, aside from paint colours, they are the same bike. The biggest change was that they dropped the base model, and only sell the ES model since 2019. So, same bike, but $1.5k cheaper. They offered to bring the 2019 over to their dealership, which I countered by asking them if they’d rather move one of their 2020’s instead. After some talk, they dropped $1k off the price tag. $17.5k, which I was pretty happy with. I put the deposit down, delivered my Tracer for trade in, and spent a week cashing in some investments to pay the balance.
I picked up the Super Tenere just 4 days ago, and have already put 400km on it, going through the break in process. I’ve also started the mods to make it fit me better. I’m going to write an article on this process when I’ve completed it, which will compliment my previous article on fitment, and making a bike work for you, the taller rider.