You guys got to be joking! Worn bearings in the suspension after a p**spot full of of miles? Tenere used to stand for something ones, endurance and toughness. It would not let you down. Whatever happened to grease nipples on linkages? The old Teneres got them and with an annual squirt of grease they last more than 22 years and over 100k miles!
I was going to change my XTR for a 660 Tenere next Jan but your issues have just made me think twice about that.

Rob

1 or 2 incidents doesn't make it into a common problem. =)

Yep grease nipples would be nice.

I think you should think twice.

There are a number of quality issues which appear common to date.

Cush drive shortlived
Engine bar lugs cracking
Poor quality bolts and fittings in exposed areas
Loose bolts from the factory, my sprocket nut was scarily easy to undo nowhere near the 120Nm recommended, ditto the shock linkage nuts- which may explain the failures Big Si and George mention above.

I'd recommend a torquing and greasing session to Tenere owners.

They did that to my bike both at the 1000km and 10000km service, maybe the reason why I've never had a single problem. I thought that was part of the routine?

I hadn't intended for this to get major, while the engineer "deamed" it dangerous, to be frank, the bearings were probably shot for some considerable time before the engineer noticed it. I had probably been riding it for months with the duff bearings. Looking back, the time it might have caused me problems was a hump backed bridge on a sharp left bend near me, and the couple of times I took it a bit quick with the bike hard over, as the suspension relaxed, the bike stepped out, so I learned not to take that particular bridge at speed. It might have been the bearings, it might have been the surface, it might have been the tyres, either way, I was pushing my luck and the design envelope of the road / bike.

Most new models have teething problems, some worse than others, you only have to look to the car industry for some classic lemons.

I must say I miss grease nipples, my Triumph had them in the rear suspension, and once a year I pumped grease in until clean grease oozed out the sides. Good checking / maintenance practices are a necessity on any bike.

Si

The main reason to check my rear suspension in Tenere was an experience with the same problem on Germany XT660Z forum ( www.xt-660.de), so I�m afraid, that this is not only one or two cases... If I compare my old XT600E from�96 and XT660R from�04, I have to say that the quality is continually going down :-( At this time a have DRZ400S from�05 too and I must say, that there is a really big difference in quality. I spent 10000km on DRZ and the bike is like new (if I wash it...) - no play in suspension, no rusty places.. On XT660R i found some rusty places after 1 - 2 years with 6000km on the clock...I bought the Tenere, because I like it and I want to go for a trips with my wife too. And, frankly speaking, I love Yamaha....

all feedback is good plus it gives the rest of us ammo for when the dealer starts trying to charge us.

grease must be in short supply in italy, ive had my bike to bits today to lube up all bolts, wheel spindles and rear shock bushes, their was little or no grease on them , THEIR IS NOW , shockin