New Old Bull in Sydney – on the hunt for a Tenere

Hi all – TG here. New member from Sydney. Old bull by nature… but new to ADV riding. I’ve been on a KTM SM950 for the last 6 years – fantastic bike, and we’ve had a lot of adventures, but have been doing a lot of mixed tar/dirt rides, and no matter how you farkle a SM, it will never be capable on the dirt. Had a fabulous Adventure Riding day-course with Stay Upright last year and loved it – amazing what the SM actually CAN do (single track!) – but I did 150kms of dirt rd and fire trail one weekend last month, and I was constantly on the edge of disaster, very tiring.

So I’m in the market for a new (or good low km used) bike – something a lot more dirt capable, but still good on the road. Can only have one bike unfortunately – so it needs to commute happily to work, cruise tar comfortably and well for hundreds of KMs, and then every couple of months get out for a weekend of back roads / dirt roads / fire roads and even a bit of single track. One-up riding only, but want to be able to throw in camping gear regularly, and sometimes even my rock climbing gear for a weekend away. Struggling a bit with the compromises necessary for this, as I’ve had such a perfect match of needs/bike for a long time. Can’t do the old school thumpers (DR/KLR etc.) as just too agricultural, just can’t buy a bike I won’t fall in love with. Terra looks good too, but won’t buy an orphan bike. Bigger twins/triples (GS800 Adv, 800 Tiger etc.) very appealing, but very expensive, HEAVIER than my current ride, and unless you have great dirt skills (I don’t) I think I’d find them much too much hard work on the gnarlier stuff. So – a “lightweight” adventure bike, then, and have landed up with Sertao / Tenere / 690 toss-up.

Took the Sertao out for a spin on a recent GSA Experience day, great fun, spent an hour on tar & dirt, got a good feel for the bike. For a BMW, very good price at $10,999 new, but definitely built to a price – spindly little forks, cheap plastic everywhere. I’m 6’4”, bike was cramped, could be improved with a bit of work. Motor very nice actually, more zip than I’d thought, very smooth on the road, fun winding it out, ABS was a revelation (pretty decent on the dirt too). Fits the bill in terms of road capability for sure, think it would be pretty limited off-road without a LOT of work. Not much character, could be personalised into a fun bike, but not sure I’d be happy with it long term.

Then took a used KTM 690 Enduro R for a test ride on tar only. No doubting its off-road cred, far more capable than me, I’d never bump into its limits. Would have to be careful off-road, could get into trouble fast on it. Wouldn’t buy this particular bike, as it had probably been raced, at the very least used hard and put away dirty – bashed about, lots of lock-wiring and event stickers. MUCH more exciting ride – awesome sound, responsiveness, so LIGHT, amazing machine. Really quite limited as an ADV bike without spending up big on aftermarket mods and parts, and is never going to be much chop for visiting Mom in Canberra on a weekend (unless I go via Abercrombie…  ) Very nice bike, very expensive and focussed, would make a great second bike, but not right for me. Pity, I want one 

Looks like the Tenere might be the Goldilocks bike for me then – seems to be pretty good at most things, even if it is a bit heavy. Sat on a new one (local dealers have no demo so couldn’t ride) last week, out of the box it fits well, and with bar risers and a high / flat seat it should work well. Looks great, very strong personal appeal, and I’ve been browsing farkles & mods like it was my own bike already! So I’ll see if I can find a good low km (approx. 10k kms) one to try / buy over the next month or so, and then see if you guys have some NSW rides suitable for slow/scared ADV riders coming up, or if anyone wants to do some easy day/weekend trips out of Sydney or surrounds. I’ll post up when I have my bike, meanwhile if anyone knows of a decent Ten for sale, drop me a line.

Meanwhile, enjoying the site, esp Trail Boss’s commentary and photo-essays on his bikes, awesome resource – thanks!