Long Distance 2-up Touring?
 

Hello All,

I'm looking for a long distance tourer for 2 up riding.

Would you say the XT660Z Tenere is an ideal bike? When I say long distance I mean from the UK to Australia :)

Any advice and tips welcome!! Thank you!!

DazzerRTW is currently in Russia (?) or thereabouts, 2 up on a Tenere, heading for the Americas.

Personal, I'm not sure, but Dazzer is a good rider with lots of experience so he'll be fine.

It depends on the types of roads you want to ride, how much stuff you are taking, how heavy you and your pillion is, riding experience, attitude etc etc.

There is no doubt the Tenere is a very capable bike, much more capable that 90% of the riders out there. But it will need some tweaking to make it fit your requirements, that's one of the great things about this bike, with a little tweak here and there it will become what you want it to, within reason.

Thanks for the reply! What sort of tweaking do you mean? I guess things like the rear shock?

I think I have enough riding experience for such a trip (I may be very wrong lol!) Been riding little bikes since I was 16 and now 21 on a big bike :), before 16 I rode motorcross bikes every now and then with my friends. So have plenty road and off road riding.

Yup, also;

Bars (hight, rake etc, to be comfortable)
Luggage (type,location, distribution, amount!)
Suspension (getting it right for you on a loaded bike, so it will last)
Tyres,,, (tricky one, you need to consider where you would ride)
Footpegs
Levers (you may or may not want to go for more substantial levers)
Hand protection
Seat (some people find the seat uncomfortable - not me though, and the same is true on any bike if your bum doesn't match the seat!)
Waterproofing
Known weak points to deal with (rectifier connection for instance)

My bike, which I would take anywhere as it is has been slowly tweaked over the last 4 years (today is it's second MOT), you need to ride them in different situations and see how you and the bike get on, making small adjustments here and there. Others like JMo, Stoic Bloke and Uberthumper have made very drastic changes, but these are more aimed at long distance rallys or racing.

For RTW you need simple reliability, and the 660 motor has that, the oil filter is the same as the xt600/tt600 motors and the brakes are the same too so basic parts are easy sourced. Knowing the weak points is a big advantage, as you can sort these before you go.

Thanks for the info! Probably the most informative forum I've found so far! Makes getting a XT seem a better choice! I just had a quick read up on the rectifier issue, has this been resolved in the newer bikes? I will more than likely be buying new.

Not according to my wife.

The seat is not comfy and the bike vibrates too much.

She prefers our 1200 GS if we are riding for more than an hour or so!

My only issue is insurance on the bigger 1200's. I'm a young gun at 21 and can't justify the expensive insurance on a bigger bike.

I don't think it was a problem with the parts so much as the assembly, my bike was one of the first bikes on the road in the UK and I've never suffered, but I have a lot of faith in the muchanic who looks after it, and so the PDI was meticulous. Others have suffered, but we've not seen the issue on a newer bike. The part number for the wiring loom has changed so it's possible they are using a modified connector and this would explain the reduction in issues.

Hiya Munsey and welcome and as you correctly mention the help available on here makes this the BEST place for anything XT related. I have had 3 XT660X s and I had always assumed that the standard bike was fine as it was ie standard. Only recently I discovered this site and it changed my life er well it changed my bike anyway!!! My blue XT660X is now REALLY great fun with the various mods I have made and it really knocks the standard bike into a cocked hat!!!! Have fun and good luck, Simon

Cool! i've just been reading this thread and these 2 had a fully loaded XT660Z and was 2-up and did some impressive miles on there bike. Link - http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=17371&page=1

So it definately looks like the bike is up to the challenge!

No matter what bike you pick it will have a weak spot ,the thing is to know what can go wrong and have something in place to get you to a garage etc . You need to look at the roads you"ll be travelling ,tarmac or trails and availablility of fuel so tank range will come into it availability of dealers in case you need repairs .the Tenere would be fine one up with luggage but i don"t think i would want to be two up on it for that trip,although i have friends who have toured on Honda C90"s. the seat is not particularly comfy as the dip in it pushes you forward and your balls end up on your lap .If i was going i think i would go for a bike with low mileage rather than a new one ,new bikes have not been tested on the road and can still have faults, a good low mileage bike will have most problems sorted then with the money you have saved Mod the bike to suit your trip.:toot:

if you look at his pillion she is quite small ( no offence ) if your taking a heffer on the back you"ll have no room :mbounce:

HAHA! Na my girlfriend is also small! Insurance with my current insurer is ridiculous!

I have been considoring getting a 2-3 year old bike as the saving is good. Insurance seems over priced on the 660Z for me right now. I will have to wait another 11 months lol.

Remember, once you get to Turkey, then UK insurance is not an issue. But using a 2/3 yr old bike has it's benefits in other ways too, any carnets will be reduced as the value comes down, and older bike are less, erm,, attractive shall we say, to someone who may think they have more right to owning it than you do!

Thats another question I had, where does the UK insurance cover me to? I will just get 3rd party if its hardly any of the trip lol!!

you don"t need a 660 to go touring !! my mate is just back from a trip down to Dakar from Belfast at Dakar he flew the bike to Argentina he then rode up through south America on the west coast and across to New York and flew home 6 months !! 25000 miles he didn"t take a tenere he used a second hand DR650 Suzuki and kitted it out himself in the shed .he previously rode a BMW 650 across Europe to China .don"t think you need to spend �6 k on a bike to go touring :icon_lol:

It's true!! I will look to spend �2-�4k on the bike, also any info regarding insurance crossing the contintents? thx

I do know that Darren, who is currently on a 'long distance' holiday on his Ten two up, took his bike, loaded up to a suspension specialist who took weight into consideration and prepped him a custom made rear shocker.
This involved re-valving the standard shock and putting a stronger spring on, none of this silly money special shock stuff.
I also know that his bike prep is meticulous and he knows this bike well.
He had an R for a while so he knows the engine well and he and his G/F have travelled on the bike for practice and setting up.
He is on a long holiday and is in no rush so the Ten will suit him well.