It's coronavirus lockdown, so we have to spend more time in the garage, less time on the street. In this time of solitude, there are lots of ideas coming through my mind, and I want to try some of them. This is the "Love and Hate episode", in which I'm discussing the things I love and hate about the bikes I've been riding.The first bike in the series the Yamaha Tenere.
For those of you into video content, watch the episode below or directly on our YouTube channel.
If you're into the written stuff, here's the written "love and hate". Let's start with the good parts.
- The engine feels amanzing. It's refined, it pulls like insane, and it can keep up with more powerful rivals. It's one of the best engines on the market. The gearing helps a lot, because it's very short.
- The looks. This bike comes with a Dakar-derived, agressive design, with a slim sillouethe. It looks ready to hit the dirt. Just jump on it and you'll start to get the Dakar rider feeling.
- I love that it's simple bike. It sticks to the basics, and it's the only new bike in the market do do so. So, it's a very good bike to start building on it, and putting a lot of things, and transform it to a… whatever you want.
- It's very stable at high speed. I tried it without any luggage and it felt like a train.
And now, let's go to the other side. Here are some things that I hate about the Tenere.
- It's not as affordable as Yamaha makes you want to think it is. Lower price means lower quality of the components. If buying this bike, you must add-up some new things: new brake and clutch lever, because these ones are not built to brake at half in case of falling. Auxiliary lights, because the headlight is useless. The dash is vibrating as hell at more than 120 km/h. You can see the cost cutting, so there's a reason why the Yamaha comes with this price.
- The suspension – As much as we tried setting it up, we didn't like how it performs in off-road and on the bumpy roads. Especially the rear.
- The throttle response is snatchy, and I hate snatchy throttle. You cannot come with this kind of throttle in 2020. It feels so 20 years ago.
That's it for now. Think positive, stay home and stay healty in these tough times, and tell me which bike would you like to discuss about in the next episode. Don't forget to watch our full yamaha tenere vs ktm 790 adventure vs bmw f850gs adventure review.