Good news finally in the U.S. (old, tired cruiser land). We are getting the Yamaha Super Tenere! This is the 1200 cc dual sport in a similar category as the BMW GS 1200 (Adventure), Ducati Multistrada, and KTM 990. The price? Well, I don't want to jinx it by talking about it too much, but it seems quite a bit fairer than the UK price.

For those of you who have ridden this bike in Europe, where it's been available since some time earlier this year, what have you to say about it? I like the way it looks. I like the specs. I can even live with the price. (As I said, fairer than the UK--but still dear...)

The way they're selling it is odd, kind of like the order it on the Internet sight unseen deal that they did in Europe. In this case, they make us traipse down to the dealer's and put down a $500 deposit. With their 2012 Super Tenere Priority Delivery Program, they claim that he who orders first receives first, but it looks like that could be anytime from now until March 31st, 2011.

As far as a Thailand angle to this post, I have read of some Super Tenere 750 (XTZ750) cycles operating in Thailand. (Perhaps 1992-1993 models?) I would guess the only way we'd see a big big like this 2012 model in The Kingdom is through the usual big bike channels.

Here's a link to a photo of the beauty.

I had the XTZ 750 back in the UK. A very torquey twin that gave me lots of fun. An ideal bike for Thailand's back roads. I would imagine the new one is mush better but getting it here may be a real headache