I‘d been thinking about this trip for a long time, and by the time I was ready to do it my 2002 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 was a bit long in the tooth – 80,000 is a bit much to be starting a trip of… maybe another 80,000 miles. I loved it but it hadn’t always been the most reliable – mechanically yes, but it had suffered some electronics issues from time to time. Not something I want to deal with in Patagonia or somewhere like that.
Ok, no V-Strom, so what’s next? The Kawasaki KLR is a popular round-the-world choice, and mates that had them loved them. Let’s try one of those. I found a low-mileage 2008 model for a good price, kitted it out a little bit and took off on a 16-day, 6000 mile round trip, DC to Colorado. That’s a pretty good shakedown ride eh? Yeah, but it played to the KLR’s weaknesses… there was a fair amount of high-speed (65-70 mph) riding and it’s not ergonomically or mechanically comfortable at those speeds. It sucked oil too. In the mountains it just plain sucked, it’s meagre power reserves declining rapidly at altitude. I’m the kinda guy who likes a bit of power in reserve, actually my riding style requires it, so it was obvious even before I’d completed the trip that the KLR was not going to be the bike for me.
What’s next? I really liked my 1000 V-Strom, the 650 version was supposed to be good, just as comfortable, a bit lighter and a bit less power, but still sufficient and a lot more than the KLR. Importantly, they had a good reputation for reliability. And they were cheap. The only real downside to them was poor suspension (fixable with some $$$) and low ground clearance (oh well we just have to throw a big-arse skid plate on there). I found one in Nashville so flew down there and rode back to DC via Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virgina. A beautiful ride and I arrived in DC convinced that this was going to be the right bike for me.
Meanwhile Yamaha had launched the 1200 Super Ténéré in Europe. I followed the launch and tests. Having become disillusioned with BMW many years ago, the Yamaha looked to me like the ideal RTW bike. It was like a BMW GS, but with Japanese reliability and price. And without the marketing and lifestyle BS that surrounds the BMW brand.
The problem was, it was entirely uncertain that it would be imported to the US. With no announcement forthcoming, I stuck with the V-Strom plan. Meanwhile, I happened to be in Paris on the day the first bikes were delivered to the shops. I was lucky enough to score a ride on one from the Patrick Pons dealership in the heart of the city. Twenty minutes pootling around in Paris traffic is not a great test of an adventure bike, but it was enough to convince me that I needed to get one of these things if at all possible.
Pretty soon after that word came that Yamaha USA was taking pre-orders on the Super Tenere, for delivery in March 2011. Ok, change of plans, change of bike. The 650 V-Strom went to a good home, I decided I needed to put off departure for a year, stay at work for another year to pay for the bike and give me time to get to know it and get the right gear for it… Then the tsunami hit Japan just about the time our bikes were being built, resulting in a 6 month delay. Delivery finally came on August 2, 20011, and I left DC just over a year later.
