1993 Yamaha XTZ 750 Super Ténéré
1993 Yamaha XTZ 750 Super Ténéré
1993 Yamaha XTZ 750 Super Ténéré
Motoforza Open
Year 1993
Bore x Stroke 87 x 63 mm
Starting Electric
Transmission 5 Speed
Length 2285 mm / 90 in
Dimensions
Width 815 mm / 32.1 in
Road Test
BANANA REPUBLIC HAS MADE A TIDY SUM SELLING
CLOTHING designed to make the wearer look like a Beirut
combat photographer, to people who've never been any closer
to that war-torn city than the Moroccan restaurant up the
street. And Yamaha is doing much the same thing with its
XTZ750A Super Ténéré. Not that there's any attempt to
deceive on either firm's part. Both are selling an image, one as
romantic and about as tangible—as the scent of a dry desert
wind, and one that can be safely purchased with none of the
risks associated with the real thing. In Yamaha's case, it's the
look of a Paris-Dakar Rally bike, a haute couture item in
Europe for the past decade and a half, and the ultimate
expression of European Mitty motorcyclist fantasies. It's also a
shrewd move, given Yamaha's research that shows a trend
toward high-powered dual-purpose machines among Euro-
consumers. The bike you see here is a Canadian model, lent
to us by Yamaha Motor Canada Ltd. Think of the bike's
appearance in these pages as a trial balloon for the American
market, and as a service to our many Canadian readers.
Whatever you do, though, don't think of the Ténéré as a dirt
bike, because Yamaha doesn't. You might get the wrong idea,
from the Ténéré's glandular, P-D-look fairing and 6.8-gallon
tank, long-travel suspension, and skywalker, 34.3-inch seat
height. But the bike's Brobdingnagian bulk, and 518-pound wet
weight should discourage any such notions. As incongruous
as it might seem, beneath the Ténéré's Bedouin garb lies the
soul of a tourer. But a no-shucks, rough-and-ready dirt bike?
Get real.
Notes from the off-road tester's log: Trying to ride this thing
hard off-road is a mistake. It feels the same as when you've
accidently run off the road on a street bike. Compared to real
dirt bikes, the controls are terrible—stiff clutch-pull; clunky,
long-reach levers; and no front-brake feel. The bike's big,
clumsy and awkWard as it is, and a rider needs all the feel at
his fingertips he can get. On sand, the front end washes out
instantly. Novices shouldn't get anywhere near single-track
stuff; you have to be real damn good to ride on anything other
than fireroads. It can get you places off-road you couldn't get
to on a street bike—but just barely.
We could go on, but you get the picture. Experts leavened
their criticism with praise for the trustworthiness of the front
end and the bike's predictability in slides—under power, on
fireroads, it's better than BMW's B100GS Paris-Dakar, or
Kawasaki's KLR650 or Tengai. The heavier and taller the rider
—with more weight to load the front end, and longer legs to
make a flat-footed dab before the bike gets too far over-center
— the greater the praise. The point, though, is that experts can
compensate for almost anything short of loss of a wheel. Our
5-foot-10, 160-pound dirt donk found himself on the ground
before he could say, "O positive."
Every tester, though, regardless of size, experience, or hat
size enthused about the Ténéré's powerplant. Each time a
rider climbed off the bike, the test log entry started with, "Great
engine," and each discussion of the Yamaha always
mentioned the motor. An all-new design, it's the highest-tech
parallel-twin in motorcycling, with deep thought given to
compact packaging. In the bottom end, the crank and
transmission shafts are staggered, allowing for shorter overall
engine length than if the shafts were in line; the design also
places the crank low in the cases, for a low center of gravity.
Dry-sump lubrication keeps engine height down, and further
lowers the eg. To help quell vibration from the 360-degree-
crank twin, Yamaha tucked in two gear-driven
counterbalancers.
Equally creative thinking guided Yamaha's engineers in
configuring the Ténéré engine's top end. Cam drive is chain off
the crank's end, which yield narrower, more compact cylinder
bk and head than a center cam-drive syste The liquid-cooled
cylinder and head an the mold of Yamaha's Genesis five-va
design, first seen on the firm's groin breaking FZ750 in 1985,
with the sa attendant benefits here. The 45-degr inclined top
end allows nearly straij intake ports for good cylinder-filling fn
the 38mm Mikuni flat-slide downdr carbs; the design also
permits the gas ta to extend into the space over the ca where
the carbs and airbox would be oi vertical twin, again to lower
the i Viewed separately, none of the engin features are unique
or even terribly ori nal; what is, though, is their application one
engine.
Xem trên
Smoothness is the key. The Ténéré works best when you ride
it like a softly sprung shaft-drive machine: Do your braking
early and gently, then guide the bike through the turn under
power to keep it stable on its suspension, and accelerate out.
Using such techniques, you can get a surprising turn of speed
out of the Ténéré, although it's most at home at a less frenetic
pace—as will be the rider.
Which is a fair enough description of sport-touring, an area
where the Yamaha excels with talents that seem wholly out of
keeping with its dirt-going garb. Of course, one could expect
the supple suspension to suck up bumps over choppy
pavement. And given the engine's Sahara-wide powerband,
it's no real surprise the rider can maintain a rapid, no-sweat
pace through open, sweeping turns using only a single gear.
Fourth gives a usable speed range from 40 mph to 105 at red-
line; for tighter roads, third is good for 30 to 86 mph. Engine
smoothness contributes to full use of the broad powerband.
Early in our testing, objectionable vibration seeped up past the
dual counterbal-ancers, and through the handgrips at about
5000 rpm, or 72 mph. But after we'd put 1200 miles on the
bike, the buzzing diminished almost to nothing.
But you'd hardly expect the Ténéré's levels of wind protection
and comfort from a bike whose appearance suggests it would
be most at home wheelieing past the Sphinx. Hands stay
warm behind en-duro-issue plastic hand guards, and the
bulbous fairing shelters the rider from chest to knees, with no
nagging turbulence from behind. There's enough wind roar
coming off the screen to warrant wearing earplugs, though,
and some testers wished for a slightly wider screen to deflect
more air from their arms. But overall, the Yamaha offers the
best weather protection of any of its breed.
Those same qualities help make the Ténéré a good ship of
state—interstate, that is—aided by outstanding range. The
6.8-gallon tank lets the bike wander almost 200 miles before it
goes on reserve, and the seat staves off numb-butt and
saddle-burn long enough to let you use it. Almost every
motorcycle could benefit from such a seat: broad, flat, soft,
and deep.
Sheer size pays dividends for the Ténéré's rider on the open
road, with spacious ergonomics. The pairing of roominess with
the well-shaped and amply padded saddle gives the rider
plenty of options to change position and relieve pressure
points on a long ride, more so than on some pure touring
machines. Add in compliant suspension and decent wind
protection, and the Ténéré makes a relatively tranquil oasis on