Yep, definite hint of yellow around the rear shock. Wheels look like they have a different profile too. And don't underestimate the power of stickers!! lol

Yes, I imagine the Ohlins sticker on the screen relates to the shock (hope he didn't pay Touratech's price though - gulp!)...

Steel sprockets are better on a rally bike (or at least the supersprox/twin ring type with steel teeth) as sand destroys a regular alloy sprocket very quickly - not such a cost consideration for the works teams perhaps, but for privateers certainly...

I think you're right about the rear rim being 18 inch, not seen those tyres in a 17 size...

Are you sure about the exhaust - could it not be a de-cat version anyway?

I wouldn't say a radiator guard is imperative, the low fender will keep the worst off it...

xxx

The exhaust can looks quiet a large diameter and extends out a little more than normal.

I would guess its a single can conversion.



Nick.

Yes, but who's?! - these are the answers we need to know!

You don't reckon it's the Off-the-road one then?

xxx

Everyday's a school day, my background is in road bikes, not rallye bikes so thanks for schooling me on the sprockets :)
From memory (I wait to be proved wrong) the cat on the Tenere is in the nasty pressed y-piece collector, not the silencer. If I am wrong then that makes me happy as I wont have to make a new y-piece for my bike!
My thoughts behind the rad guard were more for debris flung up by vehicles in front. On road rides I've had several friends with holed rads from stones flung up by the bikes in front. Not on Teneres. I have no friends with Teneres :(
Just so you know JMo, I'm hoping to get some time to put together a single silencer kit for my Ten, I've got a selection of silencers to chose from, pipework and a tig welder. Dangerous things. I know you've expressed an interest in having a single silencer but with a dummy storage one on the other side. That is my thinking too.

Ah, I always thought the cat was in the exhaust box (silencer) section - I know there is a probe in the Y piece, but presumed that was just the O2 sensor or some gubbins? The Y piece doesn't look big enough to hold a cat, and I presumed from what OTR said about their single can (that is so big because it contains a cat), that it is only in the silencer section?


Hee hee - yes, it is a fair point (I think we'd be expecting a bit too much to say the Tenere would always be out in front so it wouldn't matter x)... some kind of mesh guard might be a good idea in that respect, I just think the TT and MM CNC'd ones would more likely restrict airflow?


Ah, I've had a couple of ideas along that line certainly - will you be going to the Lakeland meet? Perhaps we need a beer or two there?

xxx

Ahh, not giving away your secrets. Still without giving out what you are going to change to, I am curious to know why the stock forks are no good at least for rallye and why aftermarket (or your secret) would make them better? Also I was checking out some rallye type fork brace, again I would be interested to know if they are worth it? About steering damper, I saw one at OTR over a year ago and asked what it was. When he explained to me, I couldn't help but think that cannot be good for street use. What's your opinion on that? All in all, I think the stock is plenty good enough for road use, but lets say when time comes boys need toys and want to do some mods, are the above items worthy of some first wave of serious mods?

Not meaning to answer for JMo, but the stock forks are only adjustable for preload. Ideally you want to be able to adjust rebound and compression as well to fine tune the suspension. Whilst you could probably get someone to make cartridges or cartridge emulators made to suit the stock forks, it may work out easier to swap the entire front end for something that already has adjustment and a range of different rate springs available. I'm thinking White Power kit here from a KTM.

Looks like a home made jobbie to me.


I'm also in the process of knocking up a single can and storage on the other side. Having trouble finding some 'off cut' stainless tube with a thin wall thinkness for the link pipe.

Nick.

Hi Josephau - as you say, the stock forks are more than good enough for road and trail use - I was surprised how well set up they are from the factory for the sort of riding this bike was designed for...

However, that's the point - they are not designed to support a 180+Kg bike hitting whoops, rocks and corrugations at 60+mph... the damping soon gets overwhelmed, and together with the heavy stock wheels, starts to whole thing starts to feel a bit over worked - although thankfully the very stable geometry keeps everything pointing in the right direction. Also, 8 inches of travel is not really enough for big hits (believe me, I've bottomed that bad boy out a few times in the desert x)

To compare, my 650R has 12 inches for travel front and rear.

If I were looking to build a rallye bike out of a Tenere (ahem), then I'd want similar stroke length on the forks, plus at least two inches more rear travel over stock - ideally 12 inches both ends - that way you can set the bike up with quite a bit of sag to help it 'float' the weight of the machine in the suspension, if you see what I mean?

A fork brace would stop (or limit) flex between the legs (both side to side and fore/aft) especially on the stock Tenere conventional forks which are 'modest' in diameter - if you were using USD forks on the bike, it wouldn't be so important...

As for a steering damper, until you use one, most people have a similar opinion... I agree on road they have little real benefit (especially on the Tenere that has very lazy/stable geometry anyway) - but they make a huge difference off road. I fitted the GPR system to my XR650R and it was unbelieveably solid at high speed in the desert - no defection from rocks or sand ruts etc. You just point it where you want to and go, no bar wagging either. of course this can give your front rim a harder time (my XR has one that looks like a hexagon now!), but that's the price you pay for not crashing, and not getting exhausted trying to keep the bike straight and not tank slapping...

But I am talking about race speeds here - you don't need a steering damper for trail riding, or even spirited overlanding - I've been very impressed with the standard machine in that respect...

Which is why I'm considering it as a basis for something a bit more special...

xxx