Thoughts on the new Tenere
 

Thoughts on the new Tenere

• Small screen is far more effective than I would have thought and the riding position is good for extended mileage.
• Road manners are excellent - great for a dual sport bike.
• Saddle seems pretty comfortable but would help if it was flatter � the cat (converter) is under the seat so I don�t think it would be easy to cut it down.
• Michelin Sirac tyres which came as standard on my bike are really good on the road � no problem crossing white lines or manhole covers on bends � even in the wet. I haven�t tried them on anything more than fire roads at the moment. I don�t think they would compare to something like Conti TKC�s but seem OK. I may fit TKC�s when the originals are worn as they work well on and off road but do feel a little strange after road tyres � they seem to fall into corners but nothing too scary once you get used to it. The TKC 140/80 � 17 on the rear would not only look good but would improve off road ability of the Tenere with a 90/90 front. It wouldn�t do much to help correct the already optimistic speedometer though.
• Gearing is great for road use (4000rpm is about 64MPH) but too high for any serious off-road play. First gear gives you 7-8 MPH on tick over � much too quick for the more gnarly bits without lots of clutch slip.
• MPG is good even from new � over 60MPG keeping to the 4500-RPM limit while running in. I�ll keep monitoring it as the miles clock up but I�m sure it won�t change too much.
• Feels lighter than the dry weight quoted (183kgs) and is OK to manhandle about. Not sure how I would cope when I had covered 200 miles or so of trails but first impression is good � all the weight is fairly low down and not intimidating.
• Good immobiliser fitted as standard (Cat 2 � Thatcham I was told)
• Suzuki DR400 hand protectors fit with less modifying than the Yamaha ones and �30 cheaper. Come on Yamaha � keep up!
• I think vibration is minimal for a big single and the fuelling problems that plagued the XT660R/X have been cured. None of the low speed lumpiness now. The motor pulls like a train without feeling too hairy like some orange dual sport bikes, which are OK for ex-enduro riders but not for normal mortals.
• I like the digital dashboard � very clear to read and not too busy with info I would hardly ever need.
• If you are a sports bike rider you may find the Tenere a little on the slow side but don�t let that stop you � book a test ride. It is a really tall bike but can be adjusted to be more usable for shorter riders. You may come to love the Tenere as I do myself.

Well, I wouldn't have put it better myself after my first 594km on mine !!!!

- Screen: Brilliant, and I'm 1.86m / 6ft2
- road manners: won't scrape the pegs, but cornering is brilliant
- Saddle: no pb after 7h ride, well, no more than the custom gel seat on my VFR.
- Tyres: approved
- Gearing: I didn't really pay attention to it, although rev limit during break-in period forces lots of gear change
- MPG: did 320km before flashing icon on dash. Added 19l at 370km. So I like it.
- Weight: what weight ? It's a bicycle compared to my VFR
- handguards: I wish I had mine....the bars are backordered and will be posted to me.
So I had frozen fingers.....
- dashboard: very good, although I would have prefer digital rev counter / analog speedo maybe.
- Speed/power: overtaking needs planning, but I think that's mainly because I had a pillion and couldn't rev it too much due to the break-in period. It'll be fine once the 1000km done.

Mine came with the Sirac, but a new black one in the shop had the Tourance.
So it seems to be random.

I've done 30 000km last year and the year before on my VFR.
I think the Tenere will do as much without annoying me.
And now I won't stop when the tarmac does :D

Good comments zOU most of which bear out my thoughts - enjoy!

John

Yep !
you did most of the writing though :p

I thought mine was making a strange noise yesterday (i'm not used to singles) but i went down in the garage to lube the chain and the engine sounds good..
I think I was just tired.

You can get quite a bit of noise from the chain tensioner - sounds a bit worrying at times but... I am using chain wax on mine (chain) and it seems to keep it quieter.

The engines are a bit noisy and can sound alarming sometimes but its normal apparently

That's it with a well silenced single - you hear everything!!!!!

You can say that again.

Great bike though.:wow:

I'm thinking of changing my XTR soon but I do use it on trails. The XTZ is a bit heavier. 181kg for the R and 189kg for the Z. Seat height on the Z is 10mm more and the fuel tank is the same. Is there just a personal preference or real advantage between models. I must admit I have never looked at the XTZ too close before but will obviously look at all possibilites before making a decision.

XTZ Tenere Test Ride
 

Just test rode the Yamaha XTZ660 Tenere in my lunch hour and thought I'd share my thoughts.

Impressive wee (massive) beastie. But sadly not a goer for me. :|

Its Very Tall, I could just do tippy toes or the ball of one foot (I'm 5'9 / 177cm, 30" inside leg). I got used to the height surprisingly quickly and it didn't bother me after an hour. The hardest bit was either getting off (high back seat!) or trying to push myself backwards when fiddling about when stopped. There was no chance of that happening on even a mild slope with just toe-power.

Riding was very civilised. Similar to the KTM 990 Adventure but much less aggressive in town. Definitely happier at low speeds than the speed freaky adventure, except for when stopping due to it being so statuesque. On B roads it was less positive than the KTM, but it did have shiny new tyres and 1 mile on the clock, so that probably accounted for the front washing out a bit. The KTM made me ride faster than I ever do on my 600 sports bike, the Tenere didn't have the power on tap like that, so it felt more like it was pushing it, which I find more rewarding than being on a bike with seemingly limitless potential to go and go. It also made a lot of nice pops as I closed the throttle. Definite plus points there!! With some aftermarket cans it would probably sound rather nice.

It cruised fine at 70ish (I didn't want to rev it over 4.5k on 0 miles, even though it wasn't mine), somehow the little screen directs just about all of the wind around you. That really got my hopes up for its long-distance potential. But the real pain, probably the clincher for me, was that my head got an annoying vibrating buffet at between 60 and 70mph and it was enough to make me feel a bit ill after a minute or two. That meant I got the effect on the motorway and on A/B roads. I found it quite weird because otherwise I didn't seem to get any obvious wind-blast at all and it was very gusty while I was riding it, so that was a good test environment.

Its a bargain of a bike which a heap of good character and supposed to return superb fuel economy, but I don't think I could spend a day on it with that buzzing helmet effect. Big shame for me there.

The seat was a bit of a banana shape which I found bearable but not especially comfy. Definitely better than the BMW 800GS which I found murderous on the family jewels due to the back end being higher than the front. It wasn't nearly as nice to sit on as the KTM adventure though.

Looks like I'll carry on looking, unless someone here knows of some kind of solution for my vibra-head issue!

here you go:
http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?...ght=turbulence

I do not suffer from the turbulence, I'm 6'2/186cm ;-)

Ive not ridden a tenere my self so im only guessing and saying what ive read but you can slove the hieght problem easily by getting some lowering links ans dropping the forks throught the front yokes a bit.

As for the turbulence that more of a personal thing, some people are very sensative to a slight bit of wind noise others not. There are a good few screens out on the market, but again some people get on with 1 screen others not.

It might also be down to the lid your wearing.

i had the same thing which i cured with a MetalMule tall screen and 2 extra turns on the front preload. job done. Some folks have found that shortening the original screen has worked, as you get more 'clean' air over your lid. What helmet do you use? - The Tour-x has a very flimsy peak which wobbles and vibrates.

with regard to height - dont let that put you off, there are a few folks on here who've lowered their Ten's to get their feet on the floor. lowering links are now readily available, and the yokes can be dropped on the forks to lower the front.

Have a look around in the Tenere section, there's boatloads of info in there. everyone personalises their bike, so dont let the 'out of the box' setup put you off completely.

Pete


Edit>> Sorry, hadn't realised Maxwell had already said all this.

there's loads of differences- firstly the fuel tank on the Ten is 22L compared to the R's 15L, but thats just for starters - if you have a good look between the two you'll find that the two bikes are very similar, but worlds apart. personally i chose the Tenere to replace my XTR as i thought the Ten was everything i wanted the XTR to be, and more.

Pete.

Wind turbulence
 

Funny really - if I use my Calberg full face I get terrible buffeting - a sort of constant pulsing. If I swop to a cheapy O'Neil MX helmet - no problem at all. Luckily I prefer to ride the MX helmet anyway. Very odd though that a very clean looking full face gets up staged by what you would think is a very un-aerodynamic MX helmet with a peak!!!!

John

XTZ troubles
 

Hi, I was wondering if you have had any trouble with your bash plate and engine bars mounts on the rear? Myslef and a friend both own Teneres and have both had trouble with either the mount cracking or the bars and/or bash plate cracking, and this is on highway travelling only so far. This resulted in one bike being off the road for 9 month being re-framed by yamaha under warranty in Bristol at Fowlers. Since then he has had all the gear fitted back up and I have bought one myself. We are travelling from London to Cape Town on them and are now stuck in Spain while Yamaha decide whether its their problem or not. The accessories have only done around 2500km on road riding abd have failed. If you have had any troubles can you let me know, as yamaha dont think there is a problem with this model. The bash plate and bars seem to be under a bit of tension when they are fitted up so maybe this put tension on the weak points of the plate, bars and mounts.

There have been several problems reported with the engine bars cracking and the bash plate snapping the rear fixing.

I believe the engine bar brackets have been changed as a result, so defo Yamaha's problem, they should be replaced under warranty.


Nick.

There have been many documented problems with the older style bars, but the failure is to the front offside mount (offside for the UK that its!). The newer bars have a different front mount - only very slightly, but I think it might be enough. Yamaha have admitted it's thier problem by virture of the number they have replaced under warrenty and the design change.

As for the bash plate, I presume you have the Alloy one fitted ?? there isn't a problem (that's been raised) with the ABS ones.

Just had the bike pass the 500mile mark, Must say i am loving the bike. As said already in the thread it handles great but in crawling traffic i find it a little unsteady due to the size and find myself shuffling about in the seat. Have found that between 3.5 and 4k revs it get very vibey, but i guess thats to be expected with a single. I have a had a few people checking the bike out as so far i think its the only one around here, even had a GS owner tell me he liked the look and was thinking of changing to the Ten.

As for the Yam Panniers i am not over the moon with them I find them very cheap feeling and am always worried if i give it too much cow bell it will break.

Cheers

Jim

Glad you're liking the bike. The vibes at 4-5k will smooth out a bit as the engine beds in - but as you say, its a single so vibes are there to be enjoyed. :evil:

The Yam panniers did underwhelm me initially, but after receiving much abuse are still holding up well. They put up with being overloaded (waay more than 'allowed' 5kg each) and the bike dropped with them on (off-road).

The locks felt bit odd, but I stuck a load of grease in them and now they are a bit smoother.

They do 'punch above thier weight', I covered nearly 9000 miles with them, fully loaded (nearly 3 times the limit) over every kind of terrain the bike will take. Yes they developed a stress fracture, but 900 miles and nearly 15KG on rough roads, I'd say that was OK. In any case (no punn intended) Yamaha did replace on warrenty, although I might not have told them about the overloading, or the fall.....

I was dissapointed when I got them, but like I say they are very sturdy, all they really lack is a rear support bar.

On balance, I'd say that if you are a weekend road warrior, with the odd bit of camping then they are fine. Also if you are using them for taking your files to the office then they are good and suit the bikes looks. If Africa is your destination, then you need something a little more 'batter back into shape-able' and rugged.

Ive purchased my bike with a lowering kit already mounted. As in shorter back links and 1inch front fork dropped. I think thats why the bike feels so stiff when riding bad terrain with a 200kg load (me 90Kg, gf 75kg, luggage 30kg). Maybe if i loose the links and get the fork at original settings, things will be better? Thanks!

Stege - I took mine in stock form fully loaded over your wonderfull roads last year (nearly a year to the date) and it was very well planted and behaved perfectly (made the run from Hungary, through Arad, south for an overnight at the Serbia border and then through Craiova and into Bulgaria.

The mountain road was little more than a rocky track in most places!!

Lovely country by the way, I'll be back there before I quit riding :eusa_clap:

Two up on XT660Z
 

Hey guys, the XT660Z has finally made it to oz, has anyone had any experience with two up riding on them, how do they rate?

They're good.

I did 4500km 2 up, from Ireland to Italy and back.

It's not the most confortable bike, a modified seat or a sheepskin should arrange that, but it's good.

http://www.irishbikerforum.com/forum...&showentry=228

Hi John

would you recommend the XTZ for overland trips. Cairo to Cape Town for example?

regards

Marius

In a word....:smilies0948:

Hey dont forget that the Yamaha lowered suspension kit also means that the side stand will have been shortened, or at least that was the case with my previous XT660X. So if you put the bike back to standard suspension you will need to replace the side stand.