XT660Z Tenere swingarm upgrade / weight reduction
 

The 09 Tenere rear unsprung assembly is massively heavy, and when compared with XR650 or DR650 is way over the top.

Has anyone attempted to change the swingarm for something stock off another model in order to save unnecessary kilos (say WR, xt660R, earlier XT600 models or anything else)?

I'm aware of wheel improvements to save weight, but the swingarm needs attention too.

Thanks in advance.

G'day Tuscan
"over the top"...... is for strength!! for loaded up touring!!
But if you un-bolted the spring to feel this weight you mention... did you also remove the rear wheel to then compare the "true swingarm assembly" weight to something else?
I can't imagine how the hollow swingarm assembly on the tenere would be "so much" heavier than something similar that would be noticeable while riding anyway.
So far haven't seen anyone do a swingarm swap yet. but i'd imagine a WR swingarm would look a bit dodgy on the tenere IMO. (if it fits)

Tuscan i most certainly don't want to sound like im raining on your parade so please forgive me if it sounds so, but why is weight an issue? I see there are a few fella's on here that are looking at spending considerable cash on fairly major mods to shed minimal weight, that are probably never going to race anyway (each to their own i know....but!). If its to make the tenere more "enduro" worhty as this maybe your main form of riding then maybe an enduro bike may have been a better choice. This is why i kept my WR when i bought my tenere, because i knew that i would never be able to push the tenere to the limits that my WR can go no matter how many mods.

Anyway mate if you go through with the swing arm swap be sure to post pics as it would be interesting to see

Cheers
Reg.

Most of the XT's weight is in the motor.

I started to try to get some weight off my bike but it got to hard, I changed most of my 6mm & 8mm Bolts to Titanium Bolts.

Go on a diet and lose 10kg. Best power /weight ratio improvement anyone can do...and it only cost some determination,
GB

I agree with Kev - the engine is heavy, so is the full frame (no separate alloy seat-subframe), and so is the tank assembly on the Ten'... none of which you can do anything about really, without fundamentally changing the bike?

In fact the one thing I really like about the Tenere chassis is the cast swing-arm, as Regie suggests (and I have certainly found myself), it is massively strong and rigid, and a few grammes or even a kilo or two saved there won't make any difference to the bike - fit an Ohlins if you are worried about rear suspension performance x

In comparison, changing the wheels will make far more of a difference to the unsprung weight/suspension performance - there is some ratio (3:1 or something) that rotational mass has vs. static unsprung weight... the wheels you[might] feel, the swingarm, you almost certainly won't...

J xx

The 10kg personal weight loss I know about - thanks very much!!! I couldn't agree more.

I hate bikes being over built - hell the XR650 is just as robust and is 122kg dry (cf Tenere at 186kg ish). Looking at the exhaust, wheels, tail light etc. there is unnecessary weight all over the place. The lighter the bike the easier it is to ride further without gettingtired and the more likely the rider will be able to save a moment from becoming a full spill.

Now I haven't separated the shock / swingarm / wheel yet to see which is the main culprit, but the XT660R does just as well with a "standard" swingarm, and I wouldn't mind betting that it ain't as heavy as the Tenere unit. Happy to be proved wrong though. The wheels and shock are the obvious areas for improvement and I suspect that JMo you are right about the noticibality of any changes - Every gram helps though.

Sounds like the singarm hasn't come in for much attention yet by owners - so I'll have to do some more research.

What I'm after is a comfortable, light, long distance capable machine, and the Tenere has the alot of the boxes ticked already - just a few mods required that the factory should have done to make it a really stunning machine.

Cheers for the feedback.

Hey Tuscan - I'm all for modifying bikes as you know (you should see all the others I have, especially the latest one x) - but there comes a point when you are, as they say, p!ssing in the wind!

As Regie points out above, the Tenere has been build as an overland bike, not a desert racer - it is designed to carry a passenger and a lot more luggage than an XR650 could ever hope to... It is designed to ride day in and day out with little or no maintenance, and long service intervals... it has a full fairing and huge fuel tank as standard. A large battery, a huge comfy seat, cat equipped exhausts, twin front disc brakes, large headlight... oh and electric start of course!... hell I'm boring myself here... but you get the picture.

An XR650 with all that lot on would be far closer to the Tenere's all-up weight. (I know this as I had an XR650R which I built up to a similar specification, including an electric start kit) - sure it was a good 20Kg lighter than the Ten' but you get what I'm saying?

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/DSCF0205.jpg

Seriously, changing the swingarm - unless you really don't like the look of it, or just want an engineering challenge - is just a waste of time and money.

The point of the Tenere is it is a very comfortable and capable off-road touring bike - it will never be an edgy 'hard enduro' with a few concessionary comforts... if that is what you want, go for a DR/XR and mod it, or perhaps a KTM690 or BMX X-Challenge (although with a large front tank and fairing kit, those will weigh about the same as the Ten' does anyway), spend a lot of money, and you still won't have a bike that is as comfortable on the highway as it is in the dirt...

Seriously, when you have ridden your Tenere over the same sort of of terrain as I have (apologies for the trumpet-blowing, but do have a look at a few of the photo threads) and you are telling me that the stock bike is not capable 'enough' to ride that sort of terrain... well...

J xx

ps. the XR certainly isn't as robust as the Ten - twice I had to have the rack assembly/subframe repaired when I was traveling in Morocco with all the sh!t in the photo above (I eventually ebay'd that bloody top-box!), and there is no way you could carry a passenger any distance on the XR...? I also had to change the oil every 1500 miles or less, otherwise it turned to water...

If you can get hold of an XT660R swingarm, it would be interesting to see if it is a direct swap (It may well be as I imagine the XTX and XTR share the same frame dimensions around the swingarm pivot area?).

However, remember the XTR swinger is steel, so the weight saving is going to be minimal I would think... I'm sure there was a good reason they fitted a similar [to the Tenere] cast alloy arm to the XTX, even if it was only rigidity - which is only going to be of benefit for a heavy and loaded 'travel' bike like the Tenere...

(Hell I'm sure I've written that exact same phrase before - probably on ADVrider x)

Jen xx

Hi Tuscan,
may I ask you why did you buy a Tenere? Obviously what you need is some sort of racing machine (like Husaberg, KTM etc) and not a long distance travel motobike.

Regards
Marcus

To be fair to Tuscan - I can see where he's coming from... sure the Tenere could have been built a bit lighter from the factory perhaps, but then it would have cost a lot more, and ultimately, would not be as 'bomb-proof' as the over engineering has proven to be?

I think I've shown [with my Rally bike project] where improvements to to overall ability of the machine can be made, if you wish to spend a significant amount of money... but none of which significantly reduced the weight, other than replacing the stock exhaust with a single Ti can... (5Kg saving btw.)

Ultimately, and for the same reason I left the stock side stand and headlight assembly, there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to modding parts just to save a few grammes, when, as Kev pointed out initially, a large proportion of the weight comes from the engine assemble itself, followed by the frame and tank/bodywork...

You could machine the hell out of various components, replace everything with alloy or titanium, and still be left with a pretty heavy bike (for info, Thorsten at OTR reckons with all his mods and a fibreglass tank, his Rally XT660R still weighs 165Kg) - but on the other hand, the weight [or rather substantial nature] of the Tenere moreoften works in it's favour...

I'd say get on it and ride the arse off it!

J xx