When you look back to the history of Dakar racing, Yamaha’s Super Ténéré was at the forefront of the sport for a few years, then all of a sudden it went off the radar. The Europeans lapped the bike up but it was never that popular in Australia. Adventure bikes just hadn’t imprinted themselves on our psyche at that stage…
In 2010 Yamaha re-released the XT1200ZE Super Ténéré to the public, and while the new ST had certain design cues from the original, like the parallel-twin cylinder engine, it’s nothing like the Dakar racers of today, not like the original was 25 years ago. Named after the Ténéré desert region in the Sahara, these days the ST is more gentleman’s adventure tourer than Simpson Desert assault weapon.
Off the boil…
Sitting on its sidestand you are well aware the bike is designed for fun adventure riding and touring, not for single trail work. It’s a big bike, with a big tank, a big engine and everything that goes with it.
Even though the engine is 1199cc it’s still been designed to be as compact as possible. In Yamaha fashion the gearbox is positioned in a way to allow a shorter set of crankcases, and the six speeds are widely spaced, perfect for the intended use of the bike. In keeping with this on and off-road philosophy is the shaft drive and 19- and 17-inch laced wheels with road-biased adventure tyres.
Right of the bat, I liked how the Super Ténéré has a bullet style of cowl instead of the bird’s beak style of fairing that is commonly seen on this style of adventure bike and in my opinion: Yamaha’s 60th anniversary colours that it comes in looks plain horn.
It has a riding position made for long distance, with a great seat, massive tank, and good protection thanks to the screen. Manually adjustable, the screen works well but cannot be adjusted on the move. You can switch from sitting down to standing up easily, and even though the bike isn’t small it never feels ‘too big for the job’. The Super Ténéré is off-road capable as far as adventure bikes go, though this machine isn’t meant for hard-core off-roading, aimed more towards those dirt roads which take you to the secret little hideouts you think only you know about.
In standard trim the ST has a number of off-road style features such as a skid plate, Barkbuster-style handguards and of course that lovely long-travel electronic suspension to wave away the bumps. You can select a myriad of different settings via the multi-function handlebar switch. There’s four pre-load, and three damping settings, so if you can’t find something to suit the conditions you will be hard to please.
The standard seat gives you an inch of adjustment to play with, but for the extra shorties or the long riders among us there is a lot of options available from the accessories catalogue. An optional low-seat is available which is narrower and lowers the seat height around 40mm over the standard seat and a windscreen is available that is almost 50mm taller that standard. There is also a range of various sized travel bags suited for those long hauls into the wilderness.
Rounding out some of the notable features which come standard on the ST is cruise control and dual cat-eye projector headlights. Honestly I was a bit sceptical about the cruise control but since using it I don’t know why most bikes don’t come with it standard. It’s widely accepted that adventure frames should be steel as they provide more give in rough terrain. It’s always easier to find a bloke with a stick welder in the Outback than one with a TIG welder… Yamaha has continued the steel set-up with the latest ST, but it does have an alloy subframe, which is more likely to be damaged in the event of a spill. If the ST’s steel frame is damaged enough to need welding, chances are you’re in a painkiller-induced alternate reality and don’t give a stuff about the bike anyway. Yamaha says the frame design is part of the whole mantra of trying to get the weight as low as possible to help with manoeuvrability, and fair enough: it feels lighter than it looks.
On the boil…
As with most big-bore bikes these days this thing comes loaded with shed-loads of electronics and although some people may think they’re daunting: it’s far from it. The Ténéré has three levels of traction control (aggressive, mellow and off) and two drive modes (S for Sport and T for touring). When I took it off-road I used the traction control as follows: Level 1 (most aggressive) was just for the street so I wouldn’t even bother using it on the dirt unless you’re a real novice. Level 2 (mellow) was good for really fast gravel roads where the back end wanted to get away from me, usually under provocation from my throttle hand. Off is preferred for normal off-road riding and any kind of sand.
There is a huge difference between the two drive modes, which is good because so many bikes have different maps that seem to feel quite similar. The T mode has a much mellower hit and overall smoother throttle response while the S mode is punchier and has a quicker response. While I preferred S mode in most situations because of its quick response, the T mode made some sketchy descents easier since the throttle was less responsive. As you could imagine the 1199cc, parallel twin made mince meat of whatever you chuck at it and having these electronic aids made life a lot easier when I got into sticky situations.
As much as the ST is promoted as being for off-road riding, if you’re thinking about getting one to use on off-camber, sloppy single track through tight bush then think again… But to be fair no adventure-style bike can do that with ease no matter how dirt-orientated they are. The ST is happiest and fun on not-too-rocky trails, mellow two-track and fire trails. We stepped outside the bike’s comfort zone a few times, trying sand and rocky fire trails. On a trail or enduro bike, the proper way to get over the rocks is to keep momentum up and sort of ‘float’ over the rocks but with a bike weighing around 250kg and softish style suspension there is no float… You can always take the slower, technical approach but don’t get caught on a shitty uphill trail is all I can say.
So what’s it like on the road? ‘Bloody good’ is the answer… Just by looking at it you know the bike will excel at long distance touring. It is well equipped for the job, it’s what it is designed to do. But despite the adventure tyres, the size of the thing, and the less than sporty steering, you can ride the ST quite quick on the road. Tight twisting roads won’t bother it, nor do the lumps and bumps of our back-roads. It has ‘only’ 112 horsepower but it has plenty of torque and revels in lower revs rather than revving the crap out of it. It has a 270-degree crankshaft so it’s supposed to sound and feel like a V-twin. It does to a degree but not overtly so…
The brakes impressed me too, with dual, four-piston calipers grabbing decent sized discs on the front. The rear single caliper is great in the bush, while not needed so much on the tar. ABS is standard, as is the Unified Brake System (UBS) that balances the braking effort yet gives you the option of separating the brakes for traditional function on the fly.
Who wants one?
Every time I rode this bike it had me wondering… Who would buy one? It is made to cover massive distances on both highways and dirt which is basically my definition of adventure riding. Load it with camping gear, forget the map, and just see where those dirt roads you’ve always wanted to explore take you.
Once you get over the mindset of having a 1200cc motor between your legs and that you’re not going to be popping over tree stumps or rocks with ease, you can appreciate that with some patience and the proper speed, the Super Ténéré can get you through those short sections of sketchiness so you can enjoy those long sections of comfort.
I wouldn’t be in a rush to ride it in the Finke Desert Race but I’d love to ride it there and back, and at around 22K it’s a lot cheaper than most of the Euro options.