Extreme Touring Gearing
 

I have had a look on the forums and everyone seems to have experimented mainly with gearing for added acceleration. I find my XT660R far too vibey at 80mph (128kph) cruising speed. I test road an XT660Z yesterday and found is smoother down low but still too vibey at 80mph.

Can anyone recommend a better cruising gearing? I am looking at 3 teeth less on the rear, and even an extra on the front too. From gearing commander.com 3 less on the rear will lower the revs from 5103 at 80mph to 4762 (341 less). Adding a tooth on the front as well will reduce the revs at 80mph to 4465 (638 less revs).

I'm wondering if this will kill the acceleration. I'm looking to change to a Tenere asap but as i'd probably change the gearing on that too but the loss of acceleration on that really would kill it as I found it a little sluggish compared to the XTR. I am open though to spend some � on more poke from the engine to compensate as I do prefer the Tenere over the Tiger 800xc and BMW 800GS which are it's real competition.

If anyone has any experience with this i'd very much appreciate it.

I use to have an XTR and for ages ran the standard 15:45, but started doing alot more long range riding and found the speedo to be quiet out with my GPS.

I changed to 15:42 and found that yes it did require the engine to be revved a bit longer to make a smoother gear change or not bog the motor down when you changed down a gear but wasnt really a problem really. But this was with a stg1 filter and cans.

I then put on a Stg2 filter and kev fuel mod and the acceleration was back to if not above standard 15:45 setup acceleration. I found the standard XTR hard to sit at an indicated 70mph with standard gearing but after the gear change and the stg 2 filter+kev mod found that i could now sit at a proper 80mph for a good hour before mainly wind blast got annoying.

But why not drop the speed and enjoy a different route?

I've just bought the Kev encyclopedia. I'll have a look at some power mods in a bit. I enjoy the twisties already (I live on the welsh border) and ride a lot on a local MX track. I want to be able to do some 500mile+ expeditions to Scotland/Ireland this year so want to get the touring setup nailed so I can get to those places to enjoy the twisties/offroad there!

IF you want to ride those sorts of (illegal) speeds, then the Tenere is not for you.

The Tenere is a go anywhere bike to enjoy the journey. Yes it will haul ass on the motorway if you want it to, but the side effects are a few vibrations - It's like that and that's how it is, as they say.

Like life, riding a motorcycle is about the journey, not getting to the end in the fastest time.

X2 :gsmile: