While I was practicing riding with my Salem, BMW 310 gs, in the USA, I have noticed that especially when it is loaded with one person like me, 94 kg and 40-45 kg additional luggage does slow down the bike. At one time, we were going for a camp and caving single rope practice, Salem was fully loaded and couldn’t climb on asphalt road with 42 horsepower, I had to lower gear to gain speed. This gave me the impression that horsepower is not enough for a big guy like me.
So I start looking for a medium-sized adventure motorcycle. Yamaha was introducing Tenere 700 into the USA market. I kind of like the bike: Good horsepower, not too heavy, good looking, and simple, no electronics. I was especially skeptical about the last one, electronics. I was also against too much electronics because out in the Mongolian desert, if it breaks down due to electronics there is no way I can or the local mechanic can fix that problem. On the other hand, apart from ABS, no electronics are also seemed to be giving away from comfort, to be honest. Even for adventure (traveling the world) riding most of the roads we take are asphalt and very little gravel or dirt. But, before going to Turkey, I have made up my mind after my Salem, BMW 310 gs, I was going to buy Yamaha Tenere.
Honda Africa Twin 2019 Adventure Sports
While I was on the expedition to Taseli Plateau, there was no telephone connection. We had to climb to the top of the mountain just to get a signal from one of the communication towers. One day, I climbed to talk with my family and organize the logistics for coming cavers. Canan, my wife, told me that our neighbor accidentally pushes on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal and rammed into the garage and also to my Salem. Thank god nothing happened to my neighbor but my bike was totally scrapped. After deliberations with the insurance company, I have got paid back. In the end, I wasn’t worried too much and started to look for a new bike as soon as I returned to Boston.
Yamaha Tenere 700s price was 10 K USD and no discounts due to new introduction to US market. I noticed in one of the motorcycle shopping apps, 2019 brand new Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports. They were trying to get rid of the old models and clear the stock. The price was 10.8 K USD. Granted it was a heavy bike but the same weight as Benelli so I have already got used to riding one. The gasoline tank was bigger, bigger pegs, more or less I was going to spend almost the same amount of money for crash bars and other accessories, 1000 cc vs 700 cc, 20-25 more horse-power and not too much electronics like BMW 1250 gs but enough for me to be more comfortable on the long rides. I switched to Honda also I believe Honda has more worldwide services.
MY WIFE NAMED THE BIKE AS LEELOO!, AS I REALLY LIKE MILLA JOVOVICH, THE FILM “5TH ELEMENT”
Crash bars, and low gravity luggage system is a must..