Hi all,
As you can probably see, I joined the forum some time ago but its taken a while to get around to my first post.

I spent many years (since its first release) as a wanna-be Tenere owner after being followed by one in 1987 over the Shropshire hills, sporting the same colour scheme as my DT125LC. When the rider obviously became bored (or perhaps fed up with the smell of spent 2-stroke) with a freindly wave, he thumped past me and plodded of out of sight. I was smitten.

After years of sport bike stupidity, in 2002, I bought the XT600E. Itwas a good place to start with thumpers but I had hoped for something that felt more confident on the trail. In 2006 I was introduced to the TTR600 Belgarda, which I immediately bought. I spent 5 years using this on road, green lane and rallies. After a string of top ten trail class finishes and numerous get-offs an injury resulting in surgery forced me to down-grade. 2 disappointing years followed with nothing better than a top 20 finish and I decided to get back to the road.

It was very exciting for me to see the re-launch of the Tenere brand and in November 2012 I acquired one very new shiny XT660Z. I love this bike! We've not shared manymiles yet for a whole hoste of reasons and regardless of what anyone says, this is a fantastic 'feel good' bike. I'm hoping to start clocking up the miles after new year and will undoubtedly tell you all about it.

In the meantime, congratulations on a great forum. I look forward to being involved with the community.

All the best for the New Year.
Mike