Super Tenere Launch Report Droomers Yamaha Feature

New Rides
The Route: Swaziland
To be fair to a motorcycle of this stature, a
route was created to put the big girl through
her paces without being too difficult for the
group of 20 plus media journalists.
Starting in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, NE South
Africa, we headed East along gravel service
roads adjacent to the railway line running out
of town. The road was laden with loose quarry
stone, thick powdery dust and deep concrete
storm water culverts, which, if you weren’t
paying attention had a tendency to drop you
in and then rocket you skyward out the other
side!
Into Swaziland, the gravel roads were in good
condition in some places, but descending
down the valley to our overnight stop, we encountered
steep and very loose gravel, tight
corners and cattle - the Super Ténéré got it a
chance to show us how well the Unified Braking
System and Traction Control really work.
On the second day we made our way North
out of Swaziland and into the lush forests of
Mpumalanga in the Barberton region. A well
placed water truck wetting the dusty roads
gave me the opportunity to push the traction
control to the max in the slippery wet clay.
Along the various tarred sections of the
680km, we were able to open up the 1199cc
V-Twin motor and experience the delight of
18 Adventure Magazine
rapid acceleration in “Sport Mode” and the
smooth top end of around 219km per hour.
A special thanks to Adrian Bac (Red Cherry
Advertising) and Jan Du Toit (Country Trax)
for creating this fantastic route.
Traction Control
The REVOLUTION has begun..... the days of
having to switch off the traction control and
ABS systems when you hit the dirt are officially
over. The XT1200Z Super Ténéré has
the most advanced technology available on
a commercial Dualsport motorcycle today.
The True Test: Imagine freshly wet hard
packed clay roads - as slippery as it gets.
We passed a water truck along the way,
wetting the forest roads - needless to say I
have never ridden in such slippery conditions.
The traction control has two settings - Default
Mode 1 (Most traction) Mode 2 (Moderate
traction but a little bit of wheel spin) and
OFF Mode.
With the Traction Control set on Default
Mode 1 (Most Traction), it was nearly impossible
to get the rear wheel to spin even in
the wet clay. The acceleration is smooth and
there is no engine spluttering. It feels like
the clutch is slipping as the bike accelerates
smoothly forward.
With the Traction Control set on Mode 2
(Moderate Traction) the back-end was a
little loose, but the bike behaved incredibly