Sorry to hear of your woes Phil - all of them are well documented and unfortunately nothing new in the world of Tenere ownership. The only answer is strip the headstock, swingarm and linkage and re-grease the day after you buy the bike. Yamaha aren't ever going to sort it out - they've known about it for 5 years. I first thought it might be just "Italian" build quality and poor quality control/workmanship, but the Spanish built ones were just the same and clearly the French built ones are no better either.

All down to penny pinching and keeping the manufacturing costs down. I'm convinced they just fit the bearings as they come, straight out the packet, with just their light coating of protective grease. One might think it's easy to slap a bit of extra grease on the bearings on assembly, but it all adds time and money multiplied over thousands of units assembled each year. It might not seem it when you hand over the cash for a new XT, but (rightly or wrongly) it is a built-to-a-budget bike in no uncertain terms.

Take it back. Have a go at them and see what they'll do for you, but bearings are one of those warranty grey areas when it comes to what is deemed as "reasonable" wear and tear, and what's not.

At the end of the day, you're probably going to have to do it yourself in order to know it has been done properly, and to gain that all important "peace of mind".

Good luck.

To be fair, in my opinion/experience, I've come across more neglect/bodges on home-maintained bikes than those I've had with a dealer service history. For every one good conscientious home mechanic out there, there are quite probably nine who don't have a clue! Don't get me wrong; I'm not a great fan of dealers either and do my own maintenance/repairs, but I've seen some truly comical DIY maintenance over the years, things that would reduce a grown man to tears!

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