Hi!
I finally took an XT660 out for a very quick spin.
It was a brand new ten�r�!
2011/2012 floor stock.
What I noticed: clutch was brilliant. I found the friction point in a second. Took off very well.

But I noticed very little power down low??
Very little all over.
Quite a lot of popping when coming down the revs.
Is this normal for a stock machine?

I have arranged a brand new 2011 (possibly 2010) XT660R. $9999.00 ride away. Not a bad price. $2.5K more than used. It's blue. Nice.

Comes with $660 worth of gear. But the engine power, or lack of is worrying me.
I am coming from a ZX6R, but I feel as thought my old WR250F had more bottom end grunt.

Sorry if this is old news or annoying. This is my first brand new bike and I plan on having it last me for many, MANY years.

Does adding an exhaust bring more power?
I love the dual pipes!

Power commander?

Welcome from one newbie to another

I've just got an XT660X and I test rode the Ten when I tried to decide. Some of the lack of power, comming from a road bike, may be the change in tyres, there is more rolling resistance on off-road tyres.

I found the Ten is deceptive with it's power, as are the XTX, your doing higher speeds than it feels as there is little urgency.

From reading the mods, exhaust,fueling and air filters seem to give the biggest gains and transform the bikes. I'm going to be getting my exhaust in a week, then filters after!

Enjoy the bike!

The motor will loosen up after it is run in.

90% of the Hp & Torque gains are hidden in the intake, fit some DNA filters with a fuel mod & there will be a nice gain.

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Mods that I have done to my XTX's

My 04 XTX
Stage 1 & 2 DNA filters / Kev fuel mod / snorkel mod / Drilled air box mod / Engine breather mod / Fork Spacer mod / 15w fork oil /
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My 07 XTX
Raptor 700 cylinder 102mm / Modified Crank Case to take a 105mm Raptor Cylinder / 11:1 102mm JE Raptor piston / Stage 1 Raptor Hot Cam / Ported head / Colder Spark Plug / +2mm Throttle body / DNA stage 1 & 2 filters / Modified Air Box / Snorkel removed / Worry Brothers stage 2 filter cover / 6mm & 8mm Bolts Replaced with Titanium Bolts / Recovered seat in Black / O2 Eliminator /

My 09 XTX
59HP at the rear wheel / Stage 2 Raptor Hot Cam / DNA stage 3 Air Box / Carbon Can Exhausts / Modified Exhaust Link Pipes / PCIII With Custom Fuel Map / Wideband Commander O2 Data logger / LCD100 Dyno Jet display & fuel adjuster / 2500 OHM HT lead instead of a 10K OHM XT lead / Extra Coolant Cooler / Protaper Fat Bars / Tail Tidy With LED Tail Light / OKE Protection Knobs / LED indicators / AIS blocked / Modified rear sprocket rubbers / Rear Foot Pegs removed / 09 ECU With 02 Sensor Changed To A 06 ECU / Complete wiring harnes Changed from 09 to 04 / Home made LED resistor flasher / Hole drilled in the fuel tank filler neck to allow quicker filling / Modified Bar End Weights / Progressive front fork springs, 15W fork oil, forks lowered 25mm, used XTR rear links lowering the rear 20mm, rear spring one click stiffer / Changed front & rear guards from blue to black / 47T rear sprocket / Speedo Healer V4.0 / Kev throttle cam mod / Throttle grip mod / The new 2010 O2 sensor mod is out, works a treat, The new 2012 O2 Controller is out, PM me for details

Now ride a 2018 MT09SP ABS + TCS

My KTM 990 SMR Mod book. http://www.ktmsmt.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4946

Hi and welcome to the forum

Coming from a 600cc inline 4 which has easily over 100bhp to a 660cc big single which has 47bhp under half the power and probably weights in and around the same is why you probably feel as though the bike automatically feels under powered.

However change the way you ride and the roads you use and you will soon find that the big single engine although down on top end power actually has more then enough torque on the lower end of the revs and can create a few moments.

The tenere is a good 20kg heavier than the R/X however it does has a bit more power/torque due to a redesigned/worked airbox.

Best way to get power as Kev says is to let more air into the air box, best way is either a Stg2 or Stg3 (stg3 quiet expensive)

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Plough on

Ultimately the bike has more than enough power for anything you can throw at it in the real world. The power loss you are feeling is the transition from your current bike. Modest gains can be made with filters, cans and a fuel mod in that order, higher gains demand higher cost, more severe mods like big bore to a Raptor 700cc and such things (not something i would ever entertain but others have very sucessfully).

You pay your money you take your chances. Personally after owning 4 XT's (3 X's and 1 2009 Tenere) I found myself getting them back to as original as possible. The only essential mod I found was fuelling. A Power commander being the best solution or a Kev mod if you prefer to keep it lower cost.

They are all good bikes if looked after.

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I felt the same at first with my X however it appears to have come to life recently, after 1000 miles.

The one thing you will notice with the X is that you have to work the gearbox a lot more than you did with the sports bikes. But once you get used to the engine you can ride it in a way that almost makes the surging disappear.

Thanks!
I know that the ZX6 is a different type of beast entirely.
But what got my attention was that my old 2006 WR250F had much more grunt from jump. But as was mentioned already; it is deceptive. I was hitting 70km/h after a few seconds.

Maybe it could also be me: I have zero fears when it comes to riding the WR. I could take off at 4-6000 RPM. I used to ring its neck.
Maybe this will be a beast if I give it more of a hit!

I'm not a speed rider anymore. I do need the bike to squirt and rip when needed. But I'm too old for that high speed s**t. Too many stupid things done. Time to come home alive every day!

Kev is right. I first rode my brand new Ten' (had a BMW K1200S too) and did feel it was a bit flat and needed to breath more. So I changed the air filter to a K&N, fitted Kev's fuel mod, blocked the AIS to stop the popping, removed the air box snorkel and fitted an X Racing single pipe - result is really a different bike that responds and revs as you like.

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http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=16787
I started this thread some time ago which does wonder off a bit but I think it may cover the problem you think you have - As you may read I fitted a 14th front sprocket as a fix - I'm not suggesting you do that, it made sense to me at the time (and still does) as I was doing a lot of off road work too and it certainly helped in that senario.
I now have Kevs fuel mod, the DNA filter set up and a single exhaust fitted to my Tenere plus a few more miles on the clock since then. The engine will change after a few thousand miles on it anyway but I would certainly say (as others have said above) its a different bike now that the air can get in and the gases out easier.
I would say put a few thousand miles on it then re-assess and consider the mods.

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