No more XT660Z?
 

I was at a meet of the ABR down in deepest Devon the other weekend and was talking to a chap who has the opportunity to get hold of two Tens (black) that have been used on some race circuit and have about 800 miles on them! He has a bike shop and has also got some very good contacts, one of whom is the importer for Yamaha's. He told me of a conversation where he was advised that the Ten was to be made no more! ............and should he want one then get one of the ones he knows of. He did have a ride on my bike and was (obviously) impressed.
My question is ............is this information about the demise of the Ten true?

Steve.

PS I do have his contact details and if anyone knows of someone that wants a Ten then I can get in touch with him.

PS Only me and Scottnet were there form this forum, where was everyone else? (It was pretty hardcore, raining and windy!)

No imports for South Africa as well, Rand vs Dollar makes them too expensive
Are they still coming from Italy?

Here's your answer.....

I'm sure there are some good guys over there (I know there are), but they have a higher than average allocation of,,, well,,, people I'd rather not converse with - so I never visit the site anymore. To be honest, most of the forums are unpleasant places, with the exception of here and the Crosstourer forum. I don't even visit HU for the same reasons.

Back on subject, I've said for a while that I feel we'll see a MT-07/09 'Tenere' edition. Something with a nod to the 660Z, but like the Tiger 800, a watered down, tech'd up road going sheep in wolfs clothing.

I was disappointed with the new AT, but not surprised. It feels like the Ten to sit on, but very much a soft-roader. Once the dealers demo bike is on the road in January, I'll have a better idea

So it's KTM and CCM in the ~600 class of singles - neither of which I'd trust over the Z. Faster, lighter and better looking maybe, but not a Ten, although I think the 690 Enduro is my best alternative, and NickW's hasn't let him down in South America ... yet.

Of course it is possible that the 450 class might just take off, Dakar replicas would probably sell to those seeking the image, and Yamaha have a good enough story to tell.

Manufacturers are chasing the money, and the money comes in the form of middle aged, cash rich types who pay as much (if not more) attention to image, over capability. This years NEC Motorcycle Live was pretty uninspiring as far as the mainstream manufacturers are concerned, and Yamaha's looked the best line up.

I think forums and bike meets are what you make them.. for every 10 over opinionated twerps there is someone nice and interesting to talk too, and in amongst the Touratech pavement warriors there are some real riders with stories to tell. I know what you mean though...I always try and go to the Adventure travel Film Festival, but as I wandered around this year I felt it was being hijacked a bit by 'money'....insanely priced accessories. .bespoke round the world Landy's for sale. But, as we all know the 'mine is better / more expensive than yours' creeps into every walk of life. Anyone who has parked there Ten next to a fully loaded GS will have had some of that!!. ....BUT....it always comes back to each to there own and we are all motorcyclists at the end of the day. Jeez...I'm boring myself now! , sorry guys.

Yep, can't disagree with that at all.

The older I get, the less tolerances I'm having for those people, I'd rather just get out and ride. My own company is perfectly acceptable, but with someone like minded is better.

All that is definite so far is that the XT660 engine will NOT pass Euro 4 emissions regulations. So we can safely assume (as your contact probably has) that it's highly likely that that the sole remaining XT660 on the books, the Tenere, will end production within the next year as Euro 4 will be rolled out from 1st January 2017. As a result of Euro 4, bike emissions will be tested for the MOT from from 1st January 2018 (although all pre 2017 bikes will just require a "visual" emissions check as is currently the case.)

Euro 4 must be tough. As we all know, the xt motors run as lean as ******y stock, with air injected exhausts and cat converters.

I don't know what one could do to clean up any engine more than that. Maybe multis can run higher compression, even leaner settings with direct injection and hotter exhausts than singles can.

Euro 4 is tough. You just can't get an engine to pass these new stringent emissions tests by simply making the fuelling leaner because older engine designs are at their limits of coping with overly lean A/F ratios as they are at the moment. To meet the new standards combustion chamber design, compression ratios etc. and ever more complex engine management systems are required, which is all very expensive. We've gone past the point where an old engine can be made to be clean, new engine designs from the ground up are needed to achieve the desired results ...or cheat like VAG does! ;)

As an aside, I have a new car with a Euro 6 engine.... they meet these standards by injecting Urea into the exhaust before the Cat !!

Stand by for the jokes......

That'll be ...................Bee Pee.................... I suppose!:laughing3::laughing3::laughing3::laughing 3::laughing3::laughing3::laughing3:

I knew someone would take the p...s !

PSA Group diesel engines (Peugeot, Citroen, Ford, Jaguar and Land Rover) have relied on urea to regenerate their catalysts for nearly ten years.

Are you sure?

I've had 4 Landrovers over the past 10 years, and never had to fill a Urea tank.


Whereas the Quattro actually has a little filler point next to the filler er, point..

The older PSA engined cars usually had a sealed canister hung under the car which is disposable and dosed the catalyst at preset intervals. Once empty it needs replacing (a light comes on the dash). They are however a regular service item and are changed as a matter of course at major services so most folk who get their car dealer serviced never see the light or have anything to do with the system. You don't have to fill them up as such.

The latest Euro 6 engines need much more urea injected than previous versions to regenerate the catalyst(s) more often to maintain lower emissions so the move has been towards refillable tanks in the last couple of years.

European trucks have been using adblue for a while now to clean up diesel emmisions and are starting to become more common in Oz. They have a separate smaller tank along side the diesel tank.
As opposed to the truck I'm in, which has a DPF filter as needs to perform a 'burn off' to clear it out by sitting stationary high idling at around 1800 rev's the system then squirts a bit of fuel in the red hot exhaust for 20 to 45 mins. However the filter now needs replacing at a cost of $3500. Some trucks filters are around $10000.

Speaking to my sister in Yorkshire her diesel Honda CRV has a similar filter which now needs replacing. The cost of which takes the shine off the benefit of lower fuel bills.
Something to bear in mind of what needs replacicing down the track when tempted by 'cheaper running costs'

Maybe cars will soon be running adblue to as there is a network already in place for it?

We just have to be careful to not mix up DPF (diesel particulate filter) with the SCR (selected Catalytic reduction/urea injection) and yes we are running both in Aust and will do for some time until we find a better way to target NOx.
The DPF is about removing the unburnt hydrocarbon from the exhaust and this is where regeneration cycles are used. If the catalyst in the exhaust doesnt get hot enough to incinerate the captured hydrocarbon under normal driving conditions, then a form of regen will occur. This is where exhaust gas temps need to be artificially increased to enable the burn to occur. This is with either dosing injections from the CR injectors or when CR isn't used dedicated dosing injectors in the manifold.
SCR is for targetting the nitros oxide emissions by adding the ammonia (from the Urea) into the catalyst. The ammonia catalytically reduces the NOx into water and nitrogen both harmless components.
We can and do use both systems in our euro 5 trucks in Aust and this isnt going to change for euro 6 as I think from memory, the increase to E6 has been more about the emissions defeat mechanisms rather than changes to the actual gas levels from E5.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p6pb13049582/p5pb13049582.jpg

Looks like fun

Another mock-up, but there may be something on the way...

I found out today from a friend in the motorcycle press that Yamaha quietly transferred the production of the XSR700 to the Saint-Quentin factory (where the XT is made) back in October, to be followed by two more models later in 2016.

http://www.courrier-picard.fr/region/saint-quentin-une-moto-nouvelle-generation-chez-mbk-ia0b0n609969

Read into that what you will? It's most likely that the "two more models" are the MT-07 and the yet to be revealed MT-07 Tracer, but one of them might well turn out to be an XT-07/XT700/XT690...

I did not see the ten at the bike show at the NEC last year ???

NO, there were no XT's

But there was a huge stand dedicated to the MT's, this, to me, suggests that we are going to see some form of XT clothed MT in the future. I suspect it's going to look and feel like the Tiger, 800GS or the NT750x (in adventure clothing).

I don't think we are going to see another single.

Main Yamaha dealer told me...
 

...only last week that the XT660z will longer be available here in the UK, but will be in mainland Europe, meaning, that if you still want one you can get one for the UK but only as a grey import. Make of that what you will...😕

...and they'll be gone from all EU countries by the end of the year (while stock remains) as no new bikes can be sold or registered that don't comply with EURO IV emissions after 31/12/2016. They haven't actually assembled any new ones since last autumn - the production line in France is now churning out the XSR700 and MT-07

https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5766/3...cbc2b4e920.jpg

Loks like a KTM something, not pillion friendly and the light looks awful, I like my Tenere

I like it. Pity they predict it will only be available 2018

http://www.mcnews.com.au/yamaha-mt-0...dventure-bike/

A softer version looks spot on. Finally we see a real motorcycle in the flesh. This pretty much guarantees the new Tenere. Makes sense to show the race ready version first. It's what sets the Yamaha apart from all the posers.

I would love to know what KTM and Honda thinks of this. I suspect Yamaha will be fielding a monster team to win the Dakar next year

looks amazing, I hope they make the seat low enough for us shorter riders.

The T7 is a great lookin� bike, but what I don�t understand is the fact there won�t be any XT660�s as of 2017 and the new XT700Z Tenere(what it will probably called?) won't be available earlier then 2018? That doesn't make sense, because there will be no adventure bikes besides the XT1200Z from Yamaha for a year(or more)? Customers will go shopping with the competition, like BMW, Triumph, Honda or KTM, I think, nobody wants to wait another year for a new adventure bike. I really think Yamaha's playin' us and will unexpectedly come with the new Tenere mid 2017 as a surprise(that's what I do hope anyway!)? Time will tell, but I really don't understand this marketing strategy, if they are this far, why would it take another year or even more, to develop and produce the new Tenere?

Production Tooling,
Homologation,
Production orders full for other bikes....


Many years ago I worked in the Automotive sector, and just getting new seat-belt designs from mock up to full production was a multi-year task.

Going on what I've heard from those I am acquainted with in the motorcycle media, the release date for the 'basic' model "could be as early as May 2017 in Europe and December 2017 down under". Yamaha are apparently trying really hard to push it through type approval and get it in the showrooms as a 2017 model. Yamaha are more than aware aware that buyers are chomping at the bit for this new model (and its derivatives) and will pull out all the stops for a late spring launch.

Hope your acquaintances are correct, Pleiades!
Everyone has been waiting in anticipation for too long now.
Obviously the bike won't look like the race version T7 - we need some space/frame for luggage at the back, and obviously road legal lighting, etc.
Looking forward to see the adventure version.

We'll have to wait and see. Don't be surprised either if the XT1200Z is discontinued when the 700 arrives. They simply aren't selling (50 in the UK in 2016, considerably less than half of what they shifted in 2015) and nobody is going to want one at all when presented with the alternative option: a funky new lightweight 700 costing �3000-�4000 less.

The other interesting tit-bit of information I gleaned is that Honda are working on a reintroduction of the Transalp in a new 700/750cc parallel twin form, possibly in 2018. There are several patents (chassis, frame and suspension) they have applied for which would also seem to confirm such a model.

All this would tend to suggest that smaller and lighter 70-80hp adventure bikes are being perceived as the next 'big thing' by the Japanese manufacturers. Maybe the days of the uber-adventure bikes are numbered... and people are finally beginning to realise that 'biggest isn't always necessarily best'?