Well between PeteNZ, Pleiades and myself seems that they might have three potential sales already
I went back and had another look at this in the cold hard light of day and I think these guys are definitely on the RIGHT track. In fact this machine looks what the Tenere should have been from the very start
While 155Kgs is kinda getting up there it's still around 40Kgs lighter than my XTR. Interestingly my riding buddy rides a XTZ and he says he definitely notices the lighter weight of the R when he's thrown the leg over the "other" 660 Yamaha !!! So the 40Kg is significant ... and that lump of an engine is certainly worth the additional reliability factor.
But just a few random thoughts ... fuel, fueling, fuel management and hanging stuff on it ...
This model has the Adventure tag associated with it so I would want to see a reasonable fuel endurance ... maybe not the 30+litres we see on a BMW but certainly not restricted to a "piss pot" sized tank either.
[Edit] Found a few more specs on their FaceBook page ... very nice spec but tank is only 17 litres ... damn ... 21" 90-90 on the front and 18" 140-80 on the back ... potential UK price mentioned was around �7,500 (gee that's say AUS $13,800 ... so it's gonna be an expensive proposition locally making that KTM 690 "sorry about the reliability" Enduro seem affordable !!!)
When that fuel makes it down the fuel line to the injectors the last thing "we" want to be worrying about is fueling ... so guys get the fuel maps right. While recent XTZ's have been reasonable in this department the problems with the XTR almost have legend status.
Maybe it's just me, but when riding Adventure distances you do want to know what the hell is going on down there in the fuel department ... this is especially true in the Oz outback where running out of juice isn't one of the best riding experiences you want to enjoy ... but I imagine this issue has a general world wide applicability ... while the XTZ is definitely better than the R in this area it's still woefully short of what information feedback I expect ... surely this isn't an unreasonable expectation with modern displays and electronics
Lastly where we go we want to actually take stuff ... now whether this stuff is carried in nice shiny alloy panniers or is simply stuffed into suitable soft luggage (personally I use Andy Strapz Expedition Pannierz) it doesn't matter but what is need is suitable (strong) frame attachment points to hang said stuff off.
Oh and while ABS, TC and active suspension would all be nice they aren't required and neither is that nice Dakar inspired box thingy either ... unless of course it's part of the electronics package that does the stuff above I want. Hmmm a heated grip option would be nice as well ... I'm getting old
Not rants ... but just a few constructive items that if included would make it even harder for me to say NO ....
