Tenere Tragics

TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING:

WILL THE WOLFMAN SEE HIS XT1200Z IN TIME FOR TRAGICS?

Of course, Lance 'Russ' Turnley is not the only Ténéré Tragic under the pump to get his bike organsied for our fast-approaching Run to the Rocks.

Spare a thought for one of our event sponsors, Steve 'Wolfman' Smith from AdventureMoto.com.au -- his bike isn't even in the country right now!

You see, for as long as we've known him, the Wolfman has been a card-carrying member of the BMW brigade: X-Challenge, F 800 GS and R 1200 GS Adventure -- the Wolfman has long had Germany's finest adventure machinery parked beneath his backside.

But then when the XT1200Z Super Ténéré arrived this year, he took one look at it, and was caught within the same mystical spell that has hooked all we long-suffering Ténéré Tragics.

Before long he started dreaming dreams of the fabled Ténéré Desert in the arid heartland of Africa and decreed: "That's it, the Big Pig is going, I've gotta get a Super Ténéré!"

And he did, with a shiny new XT1200Z parked in the AdventureMoto.com.au workshop a matter of weeks later.

But then guess what happened?

Wolfy took a call from his suppliers at Giant Loop and Altrider in the USA, who enquired, "You know, Wolfman, mate, if we could have your Super Tenere, we could get a head-start on sizing up accessories for the new bike ... could you box it up and air-freight it over to us?"

But why couldn't the Yanks get their own XT1200Z right there on their home-turf?

Because the Super Ténéré doesn't hit the showroom floor in the USA until May next year!

Anyway, long story short, Wolfy agreed to fly his zero-mile shiny new XT1200Z to America, where it has since touched down and the boys at Giant Loop and Altrider have been giving it a right royal caning (see pic) all in the name of 'new product development'.

You can see more of the product development here:

http://www.altrider.com/blog

And here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8c8cg8IzMU

Of course seeing his bike being hammered like that brings a tear to the Wolfman's eye.

And now the tight-fisted Yanks are only offering to send Wolfy's XT1200Z back via sea-freight when they're finished with it. If it's not a smoking wreck by then ...

So Wolfman is quite rightly peaking and sweating bullets that he has his bike back in time for the Ténéré Tragics Run to the Rocks.

If not, well, the Wolfman can always ride pillion with Russ on the ORE Super Clunker ...

-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1

PS: Okay all you Ténéré Tragics, how is your bike preparation for the Run to the Rocks shaping up? Send us your stories and photos to teneretragics@trailzone.com.au and we'll post 'em up!