Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere

The bike is a 2010 first edition model

Cost new would be £13,500 (this model is no longer available and the 2011 model costs £1300 but with no panniers, or ally sump guard).

Cost me £10,000 as it was an ex demo bike

So after owning the XT for a couple of months I would like to offer my initial thoughts on the bike in order to put some real world data out there amongst some of the varied and at times downright biased views of the British motorcycle press. Just to put some detail into that last statement I cant believe how skewed some of the UK reviews have been, especially when compared to other European, Australian and American reviews (and I have checked the bike is the same for all markets!).

In terms of comparison, I have ridden the Tiger 955i, both models of the Tiger 800 and an 08 GS1200, I cant reach the floor on the KTM 990 so sorry no comparison with that!

The bad

Price – Yes this is an expensive bike when new, but this is more due to the current Pound/Yen relationship than Yamaha marketing. That said, when compared to a similar spec bike its £3k more than the Tiger 800 XC with the extras I wanted, about the same as a GS with the extras I wanted and some £3k less than a Multistrada. I didn’t buy mine at the list price as its an ex demo, so to compare with the same showroom I paid £1500 more for my new XT than an 08 model GS that didn’t have traction control, engine bars, spot lights or topbox fitted.

ABS – The ABS cant be switched off, apparently this is a bad thing when off road! I don’t know but hopefully I will find out more when I get my day with the Yamaha off road school .

Throttle Cable Routing – Apparently this can obscure the view of the dash – although I have only experienced this when on full left lock so not really an issue as far as I am concerned.

Exhaust – I personally don’t mind the look of the very very big exhaust, however it is soooooo quiet, my mates GS800 is louder with its standard exhaust, let alone the new twin cam GS1200.

The good

The engine – The UK press have described the engine as flat or uninspiring, I cant really agree with this, I love the engine even more than I loved the tiger’s triple. In sport mode there is loads of punch from 2k all the way up to 6k with a redline around 7500 rpm. In touring mode the torque is flattened off making the engine silky smooth, in fact in touring mode it feels like you are constantly one gear to high. Don’t get me wrong the bike still accelerates well just not as harshly as it does in sport mode, which increases MPG and increases pillion comfort. The engine is eager and smooth making overtakes and accelerating out of corners effortless with bags of available torque. It’s a much better engine than the tiger, and I would say on a par with the GS, it is one of the defining areas of the bike and puts a grin on my face every time I open the throttle.

The Handling – At 260 odd KG this is no light bike, but once it starts moving, even at low speed all the weight just seems to disappear. Both at slow speed and once making progress this bike hammers both the tiger and the GS into the ground, at speed the handling is stable yet agile when needed taking tight corners, roundabouts and fast flowing bends with no fuss or alarm, the dive under hard braking is limited and far less than the tiger. At slow speed the bike feels light and nimble and very easy to manoeuvre through traffic or at slow speed. Rear shock pre-load is probably the easiest manual adjustment I have seen with an easily accessible hydraulic adjuster. Front adjustment is the stand upside down fork type and again easy to use.

TCS – This is another little gem that has not really got the attention it deserves IMHO, the traction control is superb, in fact when it kicks in the only sign you have is the warning light coming on. With 3 settings you can have it set so it comes in nice and early with no wheel spin at all, coming in a little later, allowing some wheel spin or switched off completely so there should be something for everyone. I have managed to get the TCS to kick in, and when it did there was nothing alarming going on, it just stopped me doing something stupid (I thought I was in second gear so gave it a bit more throttle than I should have on damp roads as I was actually in 1st gear!!!).

Brakes – ABS is standard on the XT (extra on the GS and Tiger), and works well, although I have only managed to get it to kick in on the rear brake. The brakes are linked on the XT but you can disengage the linked effect by tapping the rear brake first, although the linked system is so good you cant really tell. The brakes are also only linked from front to back, not the other way around.

Lights – Having ridden 6 hours through the night, I can confirm that the standard lights on this bike are superb, in fact you probably don’t need the additional fog lamps, but once they are fitted to mine I will report on any improvement they do make. Both low and high beam these lights give plenty of vision, in fact they were not far off the power of a mates HID light on his ZZR1100 on low beam.

Comfort – Again this is a real plus for the XT, 2 hour stints were easily achieved with no fidgeting or adjustment required, and overall an 8 hour plus trip with no aches, pains or numb bum to speak of……… this truly is an all day comfortable bike.

Fuel Consumption – The UK press don’t seem to get the touring mode, well 56 MPG while marshalling a ride along fast A roads, overtaking 30 odd bikers all ‘making progress’ should make the point pretty well. On Mways and fast A roads getting from A to B this makes sense, I will say that again 56 MPG. 200 miles to a tank is doable giving enough range to keep pace with the tiger, GS 800 and GS1200 (but not the 36l tank of the adventure model). In sport mode this MPG does drop, but I haven’t run the bike in sport mode for long periods at a time yet but I would suspect 45-48 MPG dropping further if you are really playing in lower gears.

The unkown

Build Quality – As this is a new model from Yamaha the build quality is a bit unknown, but so far there have been no recalls and no issues are being reported on the Super Tenere forums that I can find. I would suspect this should not be an issue from Yamaha, but we will know more over the next few years.

Off road ability – While there are a number of reviews about how good the XT is off road, I don’t have any experience with the bike to verify them. Hopefully I will get to play with an XT at the Yamaha off road school and will report how I get on if I do.

Well that’s it really, all I can say is this bike has made a massive impression on me, even more so than my tiger did 41/2 years ago – which is really saying something. That said I have tried to be as open and honest as I can be, looking at the down sides of the bike as well as the good bits. If anyone wants to know more or thinks I have missed something please let me know and I will do my best to include it.

Very good review

I really like the look of the bike, and the fact that it's a shaft driven parallel twin. Your review made me like it even more. I'm jealous

I would only reccomend that you take a test ride if can afford one lol it was one hell of an expensive weekend for me thats for sure

if can afford one

I'm a poor student at the moment

Good review - lots of info

I saw George Whites have a really good discount deal on them at the moment - went in and had a look just out of interest. Looked like it was suddenly a lot of bike for the money (compared to the previous £13k with no options) Mind you - yours came fully loaded so I still think you're quids in

(The one they had in GWs was silver though, and I really think the Teneres look miles better in red/white or blue)

LOL mines Silver !!!!!!!

Mind you I didnt get a choice and the silver one does grow on you after a while, but would have loved one in blue

Nice review, cheers, enjoyed reading it.

I'd argue the £:Yen thing, Yamaha made a conscious marketing decision to go up market through price and although the sterling rate does impact it is nothing compared to what they loaded onto the price of machines. Consequently, as much as I like the look of this bike, it is a good five grand over-priced and for that reason, fellow Dragons, I'm out.

Nice review, cheers, enjoyed reading it.

I'd argue the £:Yen thing, Yamaha made a conscious marketing decision to go up market through price and although the sterling rate does impact it is nothing compared to what they loaded onto the price of machines. Consequently, as much as I like the look of this bike, it is a good five grand over-priced and for that reason, fellow Dragons, I'm out.

The list price in the US and Aus is equivilent to £10k, which puts it wayyyyyyy under the price of the BMW in both countries (about £14k in AUS), and apparently the £10k starting price is what Yamaha were aiming for before the currancy issues.

LOL mines Silver !!!!!!!

But seriously - you might well not have bought one if you'd had to pay full price for one with no extras, even if it was blue.

Had mine for two weeks now and love it. I had two test rides before making my decision as could could not see what the UK press had against it, was I missing something? Couldn't see anything, great engine, brakes and handling, comfortable all day long both for me and passenger. Looking forward to northern Norway and the Italian Alps this year.