Super Tenere advice

[al_baylis]

A super tenere has popped up for sale.

1989 48 000ks and for AU$4 000. I need a bike to ride from Aussie to europe. Would this be the bike to ride to europe - I am reading some pretty average reviews on the hubb...crap frame, people talking of trying to swap engines for the TDM 900, gearbox's at 50K and shit parts availability. Any warm, happy stories?

How many ks would you expect to get out of one of these 750s before engine work?

thanks in advance.

regards

P.S It actually looks very tidy for a 17 yr old bike.

[darren_m]

Ive recently aquired on of these myself (94 model) I was origionaly put of buying one due to like you say the "reviews id read on the net" and the fact im only 5'7 " but one came up at a decent price so i pounced on it.

apart from it beeing 240 kilos and pretty tall i think the seat heights around the 33 " mark without rider.The bike (so far) has been a joy to ride. Ive only done some light of roading with it ( 2/3 hours over a few sunday afternoons in really crappy wet weather) Through muddy trails round about were i live but this definatly doesnt amount to any seriouse of roading im sure you will agree. There's a few sites with good info on them for strenthning the frame etc. I beleive there's a guy on here from finland who has a write up on his site on a rebuild frame weak points etc.

For a big heavy lump it handles great on tarmac and is actually pretty nippy to,I had origionaly bought my one for commuting,But am considering throwing some money at it and using it on my trip next year. There's still alot of aftermarket parts avaiable for them through some German sites as i beleive they sold rather well over there. I picked up a set of crash bars and pannier racks from jf motorsport for around 230 Euros. I cant comment on the engine work as ive only done 1500 miles or so, But the service intervals for shims etc dont seem to bad.

Every 28000 miles if i remember correctly from the manual.I found some info on there oil consumption that when i was looking into buying one. Some people are saying there's drinks about a litre every 1 thousand miles or so.My one was actually leaking about a teaspoon worth after a sunday blast for the 1st few days of me owning it (But thats stoped and after watching the level closely it doesnt seem to have droped any)

Most of the yamaha's ive owned over my short time on road bikes, Have had rather weak reg/rec's (£55)the s-10 from what i have read holds true to this but I beleive yamaha put the better vented one's on the newer bikes, The emulsion tubes (again a problem ive had with prev yam's) dont seem to last long. I think my ones will need renewing soon as it's a bit grumpy at lower revs.(£46) The gearbox i couldnt comment to much on. The one i have has 37.000 miles on and the gear box is pretty sweet.

So far ive found it a joy to ride for an older bike and over here they can be had very cheap, in terms of it's touring ability there's a few people out there
who have had some very decent mileage out of them (One guy on the uk s-10 site) has one that's covered a round the world trip and it's mileage is 198.000 (He'd be the person to speak to in terms of what it's like living with one on a daily basis when on the road)

Hagon still make aftermarket shocks for them(£250) and springs are available for them from the same people too(£70). Im definatley no expert in prepping a bike for an overland trip of your magnitude but id say look at what extra's the bike needs along with the any frame work etc you might find that puts your mind at ease and availability of parts through the countrys your traveling in etc add it all up and see if it's worth it v's a more readily available bike like the xt 600.

Just my 2p worth and all that beeing said i love my s-10 and will most likley throw way to much money at it as most do with there "older bikes" and use it on my trip..

Regards. Darren

[Martynbiker]

Mine had 43.000 Miles on her and ran great, had 60,000 on her when i wrote her off..

Have her Dynojetted and throw that ruddy great lump of a crap exhaust away and fit something lighter and more free flowing!

Fit a centre stand! well worth it

Use your head not your heart when looking round it. OK it looks ok on the web here, may look OK from 10 feet, but get in close, ask questions, take someone with you WHO KNOWS ABOUT THIS MODEL ( maybe a few dollars and a few s to a mechanic from a bike shop to accompany you)

best of luck with it! thay are a great bike if a little heavy in the mud!

Martyn

[RizzoTheRat]

There's a UK based owners forum that can probably give you a fair bit of information. I believe the TDM900 engine conversion is a difficult job (it's a different angle), but the Mk1 TDM 850 (and possible the Mk2 TDM and TRX engines) is a straight swap, with higher gearing than the 750 so better for road use.

The TDM owners can give you plenty of info on the 850 engines, but yes, they do all use a bit of oil.

Go for Factory Pro emulsion tubes not Yam ones as they're a lot harder, the Yam ones tend to wear oval after a while and knacker your fuel economy.