Hello from Michigan

[monster_owl]

Hi everyone. I don't have a Tenere yet, but it's the bike that checks all the boxes for me. I am a new rider, never had a motorcycle before, but I do have my endorsement and took the safety course. Tips and tricks are always appreciated.

[TimmyTheHog]

Congrats on the endorsement & have fun hunting the Tenere.

 

long story short, without harping at the gear side of things (I am AGATT person), I would say practice SLOW riding and LOTS of U-turns...

 

beside that, just get used to the bike once you have it and allow your body to be fluid, that way you will be able to ride the bike, and not have the bike takes you to places.

As Bruce Lee once said: 

Be Water, My friend.
 

[monster_owl]

Yeah, they're hard to find where I'm at. Probably have to special order it or put a deposit down and wait to see what inventory shows up. Guessing that's what most people here had to do. And yes, I plan on AGATT, I have a helmet and gloves already, found boots I like and in my size. I'm kinda a giant, so gear is gonna be trial and error I think. Thanks for your input.

[TimmyTheHog]

Being a "giant" helps on this bike as it is on the taller side.

 

I am short~ish, so my dabs are always seem to be "exciting" to say the least LOL...

But learning to how to maneuver the bike as much as on the pegs and not put the foot down will be the ultimate goal, especially when you go off pavement.

Google a few guru on Youtube such as Chris Birch, Brett Tkacs, moto jitsu and MCriders are my go to for safety, training & tips.

Of course actually doing them in front of a trained person would be for the best.

Good luck and have fun

Edited October 12, 2022 by TimmyTheHog

[monster_owl]

oh sweet, haven't heard of them before I'll definitely check them out.

[TheoremX]

Definitely the best way to get one is to call every place that Yamaha stocks them and ask about inventory deposit lists. The odds of you finding one on the floor that no one has claimed is probably impossible.  I live in Idaho and called just shy of 20 dealerships in Cali, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, and then finally I found a decent waitlist in Montana.  Ended up putting 500 down on it and waited about 4 months to finally get one. I called a few shops with double digit waiting lists lol.  Don’t get fooled into paying 13k for one either, there are dealerships who don’t rob you blind out there.  Mine was like 10,600 out the door. 

[monster_owl]

Thanks man, I appreciate the info. I'll definitely give that a go.

[goose75]

Wecome! Im also 6'6 and I really love this bike. I've been riding it since late july. Not sure where you are at in Xichigan but I put 500 down july 2 at state 8 motorcycles in cuyahoga falls, Ohio and had a bike 3 weeks later. Good luck finding one. They are a fantastic machine.

[winddown]

23 hours ago, monster_owl said:

Hi everyone. I don't have a Tenere yet, but it's the bike that checks all the boxes for me. I am a new rider, never had a motorcycle before, but I do have my endorsement and took the safety course. Tips and tricks are always appreciated.

 

First bike?  Ballzee mate, it's a big bike,  really top heavy, just be super careful stopping and turning slow as it can get away from you very easily being so top heavy.  A set of upper crash bars would be a good addition.  Have fun, and remember, the danger time is after the first few weeks in the saddle, when you start to 'think' you have it all sorted out

[monster_owl]

Sweet dude! I'll look them up

[TheoremX]

The bike isn’t super violent with the throttle response, and isn’t really a hard bike to ride.  It’s the first street bike I’ve ever owned, crossed over from riding 450s in the dirt.  I will say this @winddown has the weight thing right.  The bike feels soooo light when you ride it around, especially in the dirt, but man if you make a turn slow and mess it up, you’ll learn real fast how much weight is sitting up top.  It carries it well, but it still carries it, if that makes sense. I’ve had a few moments in the dirt and once in the garage where I leaned it over just a bit too much and it’ll surprise you how hard it is to not dump the bike lol  

[monster_owl]

Yeah, I'm wondering about the bike weight, but I'm fairly fit and from what I've seen I need at least a 650cc for my own weight. I'd rather buy what I want now then something okish now and then later buy what I wanted in the first place. Plus, I have some quiet dirt roads to start on and learn a bit before I stretch my wings.

[TheoremX]

1 hour ago, monster_owl said:

Yeah, I'm wondering about the bike weight, but I'm fairly fit and from what I've seen I need at least a 650cc for my own weight. I'd rather buy what I want now then something okish now and then later buy what I wanted in the first place. Plus, I have some quiet dirt roads to start on and learn a bit before I stretch my wings.

100%.  I’m of the same mindset.  This bike is a blast, keep looking you won’t regret it.  Plenty of power in 1st-3rd, 4-6 are geared pretty high for the road and don’t really have all that much torque.  Coming off of a 2020 YZ450F, I was still very happy with how peppy this bike was in those first few gears.  But that’s what makes this bike tick, it can do it all. I can’t really speak too much to its capability on road, as I haven’t been on many street bikes, but it corners like a dream, and off-road the chassis is amazing.  More than likely if you weigh more than 180 like I do, you’ll want some stiffer springs in the future if you end up on more trails, the stock springs can be a little harsh on the hard stuff, by no means bad though, I know you’ll read a lot about how bad the T7 suspension is, but you can definitely haul ass on it and put it through the ropes, it’s just not as capable as it could be.

 

be easy on that clutch when you first ride, nice light pulls.  It takes close to nothing from the throttle for the bike to move 

[monster_owl]

33 minutes ago, TheoremX said:

weigh more than 180 like

Yeah, I weight 275lbs and I'm 6'6". So a change in suspension is something I'm gonna look into.

[TheoremX]

44 minutes ago, monster_owl said:

Yeah, I weight 275lbs and I'm 6'6". So a change in suspension is something I'm gonna look into.

Yeah I’m probably gonna start with some springs front and rear, maybe go up from there.  Springs really aren’t that expensive and they don’t look that hard to put in from what I’ve seen.

[fgarsombke]

3 hours ago, monster_owl said:

Yeah, I weight 275lbs and I'm 6'6". So a change in suspension is something I'm gonna look into.

 

Welcome to the club! Loaded with gear (full camping/body protection) I'm about the same weight as you (165lb me +100lb gear). 

 

I upgraded the rear spring to a 90N RallyRaid and the front springs to a 6.9N K-Tech and now I can easily get my sag to 30%. Without the springs I used all the preload and still couldn't get the right sag. 

 

Have a blast when you get the bike! 

[winddown]

22 hours ago, monster_owl said:

but I'm fairly fit and from what I've seen I need at least a 650cc for my own weight. I'd rather buy what I want now then something okish now and then later buy what I wanted in the first place. Plus, I have some quiet dirt roads to start on and learn a bit before I stretch my wings.

 

Sounds like me a year ago, except I have about 40 years experience riding bikes on-road.  "This'll be easy" I said, "I'll just keep my speeds down and practice the dirt-road specific techniques and in 6 months I'll be out there roosting through corners and all that".  Well after 3 months I decided to buy a Yamaha 250XT.  The call it the wife's bike, it's got no real power, has a low cog and seat height, and it's absolutely confidence inspiring in the dirt.  My game has gone up a lot by riding that and now on the T7 I feel a heap more confident in the dirt.

 

But we're all different, that was just my experience.  Most of the guys here have been riding in the dirt since they were kids and there are no surprises.  After 40 years riding the bitumen I found very little of that experience applied to riding the dirt.  I was a noob all over again.

[Ray Ride4life]

I went a different path.
As a kid i had a dirtbike but after destroying that one and couldn't afford to fix it i went to the street once i was allowed to get a drivers-license.
31 of December 2016 i bought a Honda Crosstourer and about one and a halve year later i decided to try some offroad with that bike, i know Honda didn't made it to be an allroad other than the looks but don't make it look like that...
Literally a couple of 100 meters i went down and my excuse where the street tyres (Dunlop Roadsmart 3).
My logic was to fit some Anakee Wilds and do the TET in the south of the Netherlands. There was a section i saw video's from experienced riders with suitable bikes failing so the perfect ride to take a 275KG wannabee allroad to learn offroading.
The difficult parts went all fine and i even did an offroad course with it but loose sand made me want a lighter bike so i bought a XTZ660.
That was almost what i wanted as a second bike and that's why i have the T7 and the T7 being what it is completed with my upgrades made my Crosstourer my second bike. Good for grocery shopping and long distance A to B rides.
I guess if you come from a heavy bike the T7 is just great offroad but i can imagine that if you come from a lighter of even similar weighted roadbike the T7 might be a bit much in technical offroad. 

[winddown]

On 10/15/2022 at 6:19 AM, Ray Ride4life said:

I guess if you come from a heavy bike the T7 is just great offroad but i can imagine that if you come from a lighter of even similar weighted roadbike the T7 might be a bit much in technical offroad. 

 

Yeah well it's been said before, the T7 is a great bike for touring Australian dirt roads, single track, not so much.  As an insight, a few months after taking delivery I decided I really needed something lighter to learn on so I bought a cheap XT250 and proceeded to bat around the local roads on that.  It's a hell of a lot of fun, but when I take those same roads on the T7 , boy is that a smooth ride!   All the niggly bumps are gone, the loose stuff, that has the 250 dancing around I just plow over and the bike stays true to line.   The lighter bike has it's place but no way would I want to do a 200+ km ride on it, dirt or hard-top.   

 

Anyone wanting to use it on truly technical stuff is just pushing the boundaries of their own skill I would imagine.  Nothing wrong with that of course, but for me, my 100kg, and my experience level and intended usage, I can't think of a better bike.