elizilla
Guest
I now have a bit over 3000 miles on it, including a couple 500 mile days, so here it is.
Short version:
Love it!
Detailed version:
The ergonomics are excellent. I put the seat in the higher of the two positions, lowered the shift lever, rolled the bars back towards me a little bit and the brake/clutch levers away, and it's perfect. The seat is comfortable on a 500 mile day, though I am not crazy about the gripper material it is upholstered in. That's a dirt bike thing, apparently. That's the only thing I would change. The rest is perfect as it is. The tank feels super narrow between my knees and there is gobs of legroom. (Note that I am very long legged and can flat foot every street bike; I found the NT seat was too low and I had a custom seat made that was higher. So if you find the NT too tall, the Super T?n?r? is not a bike for you.
)
The passenger seat comes off separately from the driver seat, and under the passenger seat is a rack. You can lash things here. I have made a topcase rack that spans the passenger seat rack and the regular rear rack. I removed the passenger grab rails as well as the passenger seat, and this allows me to set the topcase lower and more forward. If I decide to carry a passenger I can put their stuff back on pretty quickly.
The wind management is a lot better than you would expect, given the relatively small fairing. I don't feel any more wind blowing me around, than I felt on the NT. The stock windshield is darn good, and it was probably silly of me to get the MRA Vario to replace it - I don't think it improved anything and there's precious little improvement needed anyway. The brush guards deflect wind from my hands, and the shape of the tank and the cowling deflect wind from my body. It's excellent. I do notice a little heat from the left side, where the radiator is, but since I wear full gear it's not that noticeable - I probably wouldn't notice it at all, except that I have the right side to compare it to and therefore I notice the difference.
The traction control and the ABS work great. They are darn near seamless; I don't feel them activating, I just notice the bike is confidence inspiring in every situation I have tried it in. I haven't intentionally triggered them, but I let a friend of mine test ride the bike and said he tested them, and that they worked great, and also, the bike was very composed at a buck-twenty-five.
The center of gravity is so low, and the wide bars give such leverage, that it feels lighter than other bikes that weigh less, such as the NT or the VFR. It may be 575 lbs but it feels like a lot less, even at parking lot speeds where other heavy bikes really show their weight.
The power is very good. No matter what gear or RPM, when you roll on it pulls like a freight train. I can't feel very much difference between S mode and T mode; both are strong. The power is a generous and comfortable level on the highway; there's no feeling that you're overtaxing it. I think it likes to be north of 4000 RPMs, especially in the higher gears, but it's not bad below that, either. It's going around 75mph actual at 4000 RPMs in top gear.
The FI is well sorted. On my V-Strom, the throttle was so abrupt that I had to learn to never roll off all the way in turns, because rolling on again came with a little jerk. The T?n?r? doesn't do this. The NT didn't do it either but I always figured that with its lower power-to-weight ratio it was less high strung. The T?n?r? has lots of power and still rolls on smoothly. This was actually one of the things highest on my list, to check out during my demo ride, since the only way to find out is to ride it yourself. The T?n?r? passed this test with flying colors and I'm still happy at 3000 miles.
The speedo is about 7% optimistic, when compared to my GPS.
I am averaging 41.4 mpg so far. The tank is supposedly just over 6 gallons. The fuel gauge is a digital thingie with five segments, so, not a lot of precision there. It takes about 60 miles for the first segment to drop. The next three go by more quickly, and at a little under 200 miles it drops to the last segment, which flashes. When it reaches this point, the odometer switches to a counting mode that counts how many miles it has been flashing on the final segment. I've run this counter as high as 40 and still only put in 5.2 gallons, so the "reserve" is pretty high. The gas tank filler neck has a funny little shield in it, like the bikes I rode in Europe; I haven't seen any US-spec bikes with that before.
The high beam headlight is very good. The low beam is moderately irritating because it has that sharp cutoff that is now fashionable. I don't like that because when you're leaned over (for example, in a freeway cloverleaf) the inside side of the beam drops to nothing, and you can't see into the turn. But since this is the current fashion for all headlights, this is not a failing unique to the Super T?n?r?. The NT has this sharp cutoff too.
The bike is not as great sounding as some. The engine sounds like someone put a bunch of old nuts and bolts in a coffee can and rattled it. This rattling noise is accentuated by the cowling, I think - it doesn't sound so rattly when I'm listening as someone else rides away on the bike. And you can't feel the rattling at all - it's only a sound. There's a spot around 3500rpm where it makes a distinct whine, that instantly disappears when I run the revs up by 100 or 200. When the fan comes on, it sounds like a turbine spinning up. But bragging about a bike's sound, is for people who like to hear "potato potato potato". For me, earplugs fix any sound, and I'm more interested in ride quality. Which is stellar!
Farkling is easy. The bike came with mounting spots already in place, for aux lighting. There are multiple accessory plugs already in the wiring harness. The bodywork comes off easily; there are no hooks or latches and you don't have to pry or flex anything to get it off. The front fender can be removed without removing the front wheel. There is room for a lot of stuff inside the right sidecover, and under the driver seat. There are dozens of bike-specific accessories already available for it, and more on the way.
I think maintenance will be easy as well. No chain - shaft drive! Valve adjust interval is 24,000 miles. The bodywork comes off easily. The wheels look like they'll be easy to remove. Plenty of room around the triple tree to get to the headlight bulbs. The engine is a dry sump and the oil is checked using a sight glass. The oil filter is a spin-on and it's super easy to reach, but some folks have expressed concern that it's not well protected. It might be worth installing a bash plate that protects it,
The oil is probably the most difficult thing about the maintenance. The oil level checking instructions in the manual, describe a procedure where you have to run the bike at idle until the oil gets to a particular temperature, to check it. The oil level in the sight glass changes radically with the temperature. Since it's a dry sump, I have decided not to sweat about whether it's at the full line in the sight glass - if it's visible in the sight glass I'm going to call that good, even if it's higher or lower.
The biggest annoyance of this bike, is putting the sidestand down. It is hard to reach with my toe. I installed a kickstand plate from Hepco-Becker and this not only helps keep the stand from sinking, it also makes it easier to reach the stand with my toe. I am getting used to it and it is getting less awkward, although when I have my rainsuit on it's worse - I had to make about a dozen attempts to put the side stand down after one rainy morning ride, because I kept catching my boot covers on the footpeg. But if this is my biggest gripe, it's a damn good bike.
Of course I'll probably be all sad when the Crosstourer is unveiled and sent to the USA market, and I learn that if I'd just been more patient I could have had everything on my tarmac trallie wishlist and a Honda V4 too. But for now I am very very pleased!
Short version:
Love it!
Detailed version:
The ergonomics are excellent. I put the seat in the higher of the two positions, lowered the shift lever, rolled the bars back towards me a little bit and the brake/clutch levers away, and it's perfect. The seat is comfortable on a 500 mile day, though I am not crazy about the gripper material it is upholstered in. That's a dirt bike thing, apparently. That's the only thing I would change. The rest is perfect as it is. The tank feels super narrow between my knees and there is gobs of legroom. (Note that I am very long legged and can flat foot every street bike; I found the NT seat was too low and I had a custom seat made that was higher. So if you find the NT too tall, the Super T?n?r? is not a bike for you.
)The passenger seat comes off separately from the driver seat, and under the passenger seat is a rack. You can lash things here. I have made a topcase rack that spans the passenger seat rack and the regular rear rack. I removed the passenger grab rails as well as the passenger seat, and this allows me to set the topcase lower and more forward. If I decide to carry a passenger I can put their stuff back on pretty quickly.
The wind management is a lot better than you would expect, given the relatively small fairing. I don't feel any more wind blowing me around, than I felt on the NT. The stock windshield is darn good, and it was probably silly of me to get the MRA Vario to replace it - I don't think it improved anything and there's precious little improvement needed anyway. The brush guards deflect wind from my hands, and the shape of the tank and the cowling deflect wind from my body. It's excellent. I do notice a little heat from the left side, where the radiator is, but since I wear full gear it's not that noticeable - I probably wouldn't notice it at all, except that I have the right side to compare it to and therefore I notice the difference.
The traction control and the ABS work great. They are darn near seamless; I don't feel them activating, I just notice the bike is confidence inspiring in every situation I have tried it in. I haven't intentionally triggered them, but I let a friend of mine test ride the bike and said he tested them, and that they worked great, and also, the bike was very composed at a buck-twenty-five.
The center of gravity is so low, and the wide bars give such leverage, that it feels lighter than other bikes that weigh less, such as the NT or the VFR. It may be 575 lbs but it feels like a lot less, even at parking lot speeds where other heavy bikes really show their weight.
The power is very good. No matter what gear or RPM, when you roll on it pulls like a freight train. I can't feel very much difference between S mode and T mode; both are strong. The power is a generous and comfortable level on the highway; there's no feeling that you're overtaxing it. I think it likes to be north of 4000 RPMs, especially in the higher gears, but it's not bad below that, either. It's going around 75mph actual at 4000 RPMs in top gear.
The FI is well sorted. On my V-Strom, the throttle was so abrupt that I had to learn to never roll off all the way in turns, because rolling on again came with a little jerk. The T?n?r? doesn't do this. The NT didn't do it either but I always figured that with its lower power-to-weight ratio it was less high strung. The T?n?r? has lots of power and still rolls on smoothly. This was actually one of the things highest on my list, to check out during my demo ride, since the only way to find out is to ride it yourself. The T?n?r? passed this test with flying colors and I'm still happy at 3000 miles.
The speedo is about 7% optimistic, when compared to my GPS.
I am averaging 41.4 mpg so far. The tank is supposedly just over 6 gallons. The fuel gauge is a digital thingie with five segments, so, not a lot of precision there. It takes about 60 miles for the first segment to drop. The next three go by more quickly, and at a little under 200 miles it drops to the last segment, which flashes. When it reaches this point, the odometer switches to a counting mode that counts how many miles it has been flashing on the final segment. I've run this counter as high as 40 and still only put in 5.2 gallons, so the "reserve" is pretty high. The gas tank filler neck has a funny little shield in it, like the bikes I rode in Europe; I haven't seen any US-spec bikes with that before.
The high beam headlight is very good. The low beam is moderately irritating because it has that sharp cutoff that is now fashionable. I don't like that because when you're leaned over (for example, in a freeway cloverleaf) the inside side of the beam drops to nothing, and you can't see into the turn. But since this is the current fashion for all headlights, this is not a failing unique to the Super T?n?r?. The NT has this sharp cutoff too.
The bike is not as great sounding as some. The engine sounds like someone put a bunch of old nuts and bolts in a coffee can and rattled it. This rattling noise is accentuated by the cowling, I think - it doesn't sound so rattly when I'm listening as someone else rides away on the bike. And you can't feel the rattling at all - it's only a sound. There's a spot around 3500rpm where it makes a distinct whine, that instantly disappears when I run the revs up by 100 or 200. When the fan comes on, it sounds like a turbine spinning up. But bragging about a bike's sound, is for people who like to hear "potato potato potato".
For me, earplugs fix any sound, and I'm more interested in ride quality. Which is stellar!Farkling is easy. The bike came with mounting spots already in place, for aux lighting. There are multiple accessory plugs already in the wiring harness. The bodywork comes off easily; there are no hooks or latches and you don't have to pry or flex anything to get it off. The front fender can be removed without removing the front wheel. There is room for a lot of stuff inside the right sidecover, and under the driver seat. There are dozens of bike-specific accessories already available for it, and more on the way.
I think maintenance will be easy as well. No chain - shaft drive! Valve adjust interval is 24,000 miles. The bodywork comes off easily. The wheels look like they'll be easy to remove. Plenty of room around the triple tree to get to the headlight bulbs. The engine is a dry sump and the oil is checked using a sight glass. The oil filter is a spin-on and it's super easy to reach, but some folks have expressed concern that it's not well protected. It might be worth installing a bash plate that protects it,
The oil is probably the most difficult thing about the maintenance. The oil level checking instructions in the manual, describe a procedure where you have to run the bike at idle until the oil gets to a particular temperature, to check it. The oil level in the sight glass changes radically with the temperature. Since it's a dry sump, I have decided not to sweat about whether it's at the full line in the sight glass - if it's visible in the sight glass I'm going to call that good, even if it's higher or lower.
The biggest annoyance of this bike, is putting the sidestand down. It is hard to reach with my toe. I installed a kickstand plate from Hepco-Becker and this not only helps keep the stand from sinking, it also makes it easier to reach the stand with my toe. I am getting used to it and it is getting less awkward, although when I have my rainsuit on it's worse - I had to make about a dozen attempts to put the side stand down after one rainy morning ride, because I kept catching my boot covers on the footpeg. But if this is my biggest gripe, it's a damn good bike.
Of course I'll probably be all sad when the Crosstourer is unveiled and sent to the USA market, and I learn that if I'd just been more patient I could have had everything on my tarmac trallie wishlist and a Honda V4 too.
But for now I am very very pleased!
