![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/69490610_2395068594114499_6102145558263103488_n.jpg\")
This is not the hill I will die on.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n So this new Super T\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 with the electronic bouncers is like a familiar friend who has been taking drugs and squatting large-style at the gym, ie. It\u2019s all kinda the same big, friendly, hefty beast\u2026and then you hit some ruts and you think: \u201cOh\u2026um, that kinda works a bit better.\u201d And then you think: \u201cWhat kind of brutish psychopath pressed the suspension button all the way to \u2018HARD\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Probably someone who rides dirt better than me. Like Chad Reed.<\/p>\n I pressed buttons on the switchblocks. I turned my heated handgrips on to Level Three. I turned them back off again. It was 28 degrees, but it will be cold again so it\u2019s nice to know they are there. I pressed more buttons (the menu is quite simple, actually. It\u2019s just that I\u2019m horse-dumb sometimes), and finally managed to set the suspension to NORMAL. I felt SOFT was a bridge too soft at this stage.<\/p>\n And then off I went \u2013 vaguely north.<\/p>\n I’m hanging to hang some dead animals off those crash-bars.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n The bitumen soon turned to dirt, which I expected, and because I was on my own, I agreed with myself that when it turned into terrifying rubbish I would turn back.<\/p>\n But it was good for ages. And maybe about 20km along I came to an open gate.<\/p>\n Thus far, the Super Ten ES was lovely. You can glom along in fourth at just off idle, and it will still pull sweetly when you turn it up. Yamaha has the fuelling spot-on, in that regard.<\/p>\n The seat is broad and firm, but I ride dirt standing up as much as I can. Firstly, it\u2019s easier to shit yourself when you\u2019re standing up. It comes out smoother. And secondly, everyone should ride dirt standing up, because it\u2019s just better and smarter and the right thing to do.<\/p>\n So on bitumen the seat is fine for big miles, and when it gets dusty, the stand-up ergos are perfect. You can even change gears easily, which is a big bonus. Not all Adventure bikes put the gear and brake levers where they should be for stand-up riding. Yamaha does.<\/p>\n Anyway, through the open gate I go, and the dirt gets a bit rougher and it starts to wind and climb.<\/p>\n I\u2019m good. Nothing is challenging my limited skill-set just yet.<\/p>\n Cows are running free, and I\u2019m thinking I\u2019m no longer on a public road. I\u2019m switched-on as hell like that. You only need to get shot at once to learn things.<\/p>\n Sure enough, about 10 klicks in I come across a farmer\u2019s ute parked on the track. The farmer is at the wheel.<\/p>\n This screen is adjustable. And it doesn’t vibrate like a shitting dog on rough roads. That is really a good thing.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n I pull up, his window goes down.<\/p>\n \u201cG\u2019day,\u201d I say. \u201cProbably leaving. I\u2019m sorry. The gate was open and the road just went right on ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not a noisy thing is it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n I gave Gorilla Guts a rev and he went \u201cwhirrrgh\u201d very politely. He looks like he kills things, but he is quite well-mannered underneath the black paint and monkey-bar piping.<\/p>\n The farmer nodded in approval. \u201cCan\u2019t have you scaring the stock.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll leave my helmet on then.\u201d<\/p>\n He laughed. He would probably not shoot me.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s the road go?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNowhere. It\u2019s a dead-end.\u201d<\/p>\n I shrugged. \u201cIt sure is pretty out here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe a lot prettier if we had some rain,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n We\u2019d had a day of rain two days prior, but it disappeared without a trace. The place was a dustbowl.<\/p>\n I thanked him for not shooting me and rode back the way I\u2019d come.<\/p>\n The Super Ten ES and its paddle-wheel Pirellis skated and gripped and skated and gripped, and I considered what Dakar might be like. And how quickly I would die.<\/p>\n I pushed a little harder and its weight became noticeable. It picks up speed quite eagerly, and then inertia comes into it and if you\u2019re looking at cows, Gorilla Guts and you are going to go off-off-road deluxe.<\/p>\n I stopped looking at cows.<\/p>\n But I\u2019m going to go back and look at them again.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/70181093_2395068547447837_8662404507193311232_n.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/69484621_2395068560781169_571779572958232576_n.jpg\")
\n\u201cG\u2019day,\u201d he replies. \u201cWhat you doing on my land?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nI reckon there\u2019s a back way into the Barringtons from my joint. I reckon I might go look for it soon.<\/p>\n