since I see a lot of comments here about poor yamaha build quality
To be honest I owned few yamaha musical instruments and build quality was top notch, is it different with bikes?

I am very concerned about the durability. Members of the forum are suggesting 100 k before an engine rebuild. Which is ridiculous. Other bikes I've had have been hammered and lasted over 4 times that. As for quality I think all manufacturers are the same.
Having said that I feel majestic every time I ride her and I have had no problems at 50 k.

The suspension and is very bad. The exhaust is terrible and the rear wheel Cush drives need replacing periodically.

thanks Marques, that not very encouraging. Wonder if all adventure bikes are like that or just yamaha? how about G650 GS for instance...

Never had an adventure bike before the tenere but have heard bad things about BMW and ktm.
Tbh if I was in the market now. I would either wait for the new African twin or even better upgrade wr250 or wr450. But as it stands I love my tenere and feel blessed every day.

If you want to find the problems and bad news, these forums are the place to look, not for the XT but for all bikes. I'm not knocking forums, I think they are great, but it is where people will come to when they have a problem so it's easy to get a distorted view. You have to remember there are many many happy customers out there who won't get on a forum to praise their bike just for not going wrong.

Typically when I get a new bike I do some research to find out what might possibly go wrong and what I might need to do to prevent it or fix it, knowing that any problems will probably only affect a minority of bikes. I make a calculated decision on the risk and remedial action and go from there.

I've been immersed in BMW GS ownership for the past couple of years. If you go by their forum you'd never buy one! It appears like a never ending tale of expensive woe. As a result I did carry a spare fuel pump controller with me on longer rides and trips. By comparison there appear to be very few issues being reported on XTs. Indeed it's one of the reasons I have just bought one, but I might still grease my head bearings, swing arm and take a look at the regulator connector, just for peace of mind. Then I'll just get on and ride it...

Agree with you completely about BMW, they are ok but wildly overpriced and totally unreliable. My mate services them for the local police and they have more problems than any other marque, spares cost an arm and a leg and of course when the coppers fall off then you usually need a new cylinder head at least.

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(Now sold on, sob) 2011 Blue XT660X with gold wheels, was 26,500 km.
Engine mods: K&N Stage 1 filter, DNA Stage 2 filter, snorkel removed, Kev fuel mod fitted.
Plus: smoked Puig screen, Yam aluminium sump guard, Yamaha / Acerbis handguards, Givi Trekker aluminium side cases, Leo Vince X3 cans plus Kev front fork mod and Fender Xtender. Just fitted Michelin Road Pilot 3 tyres.

SOLD the XTX for a Super Ten 1200. And just bought a Raptor 700 so staying on here for some tips....

Hiya, here is my penny's worth.

1. All manufacturers are the same. Not true. Yamaha and Honda are the 2 best in the world for quality, the other Japs are also very good and then Europe and the States. Asia is getting better fast.

2. Yamaha quality (and Honda) also depends on the model and where it is made. Japanese made is the top, but the Tenere is made in Europe.

3. In my experience of owning 3 XTXs the overall quality is excellent.

4. The rest really depends on you and how the bike is used, abused and looked after.

Over to you, Simon

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(Now sold on, sob) 2011 Blue XT660X with gold wheels, was 26,500 km.
Engine mods: K&N Stage 1 filter, DNA Stage 2 filter, snorkel removed, Kev fuel mod fitted.
Plus: smoked Puig screen, Yam aluminium sump guard, Yamaha / Acerbis handguards, Givi Trekker aluminium side cases, Leo Vince X3 cans plus Kev front fork mod and Fender Xtender. Just fitted Michelin Road Pilot 3 tyres.

SOLD the XTX for a Super Ten 1200. And just bought a Raptor 700 so staying on here for some tips....

I am not quiet shure which bike your are riding. My Z didn't have any issues since I bought it in June 2008. The suspension is IMHO good, the exhaust does what it's supposed to do. The cush drive rubbers are not a real problem.
The build quality decent. No significant rust at all.
And would I buy it again? Definitly yes.

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Ronald Reagan '84: "My fellow Americans, I pleased to tell you today, that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."

Wow you have the stock exhaust. Wait until you change it.
What a difference!
And if u don't change those Cush drives or do a mod, you'll need.a new wheel. Admittedly not the biggest problem but after years of production it should have been fixed. I have never experienced the problem on any other bike.

400,000km... ?

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Harley Davidson..
The easyest way to turn gasoline into noise with out the side efect of horse power...