Greetings all, its been a looooong time since I started a thread here

Hope I don't get flamed for asking what may seem obvious an obvious question, but I'm seriously in two minds on what bike to chose. I own a 2012 S10, which has taken me & the better half on many a journey across Europe and Turkey....all on paved roads. We now want to venture on to places without as much tarmac, but I've never taken her off road and I don't really want to. My back is as it should be for an office bod (BAD!) and I have a WR250R for the silly woods stuff.

Ok, so nothings set in stone, and riding RTW isn't our actual plan...we have intend on some serious travel possibly starting this time next year heading East through to India and onwards. As we'll be giving our notice we won't have time constraints, so this could eventually lead to further global travels.

Pros & cons...S10 is heavy, lower fuel economy, not as easy to work on, more electrical stuff that can go wrong, heavy, probably more costly to ship etc, heavy
pros are obvious...power & comfort...and its the opposite for the 660Z

We've been travelling together 2 up for over 10 years and pretty strict on the travel light concept. Our first trip together was on our trusty XTX where we did 6000kms in 2 weeks with soft panniers, so I know how the engine of the Z will handle

I'm in the mind set where we should be willing to sacrifice some comfort in order to have a more reliable and manoeuvrable machine. Would love to hear some thoughts from anyone out there.

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first of all to concider is, the height of the 660.
for me,the seat height is too high for getting on and off several times a day.
(i'm 1.78m)
mine was lowedered when i bought it 3 months ago, now tested as standard height... i'm going back to lowered setup.
the S10 might have a better step over?
the 660 is also a bit more vibey sice it's a single.
i think you will have to sacrifice some comfort if you go from the S10 to the 660.
try to rent a 660 or make a nice trip with a 660 befaore you pull the plug...
i'd love to have the S10!! can only dream about it...

Hi Hannesd, thanks for the reply. I know the characteristics of the single engine as I owned a XT660X for 4-5 years and did close to 65000kms on it. We did a lot of travels together on that.

I don't think the seat height should be too much of a problem because I regularly use my WR250R which has a seat height of 930mm.

Yes the S10 is a fantastic bike, but when I see ride reports and videos like the ones below I shudder at the thought of taking my S10 fully loaded with wife into such harsh terrain. It's not the bike I doubt by the way

https://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=17371

https://youtu.be/bhDviLjvHB0

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I ride an 'R' which is mechanically the same engine as the Z..I can only manage an hour to an hour and half in the saddle before my ass goes numb and I want to get off.
I couldnt tour on a single.

My wife wants 'off' the back of my Z within an hour. She rides her own bike and has done several tours with me on separate bikes She weighs 65 Kg and is a triathlete but just won't put up with the stepped, shallow padded, pillion, seat of the Tenere. Plus.........who in their right mind would put 60+ kilos on the back of their bike to go deep-country when everyone is shaving gramms off their bike by swapping exhausts etc, (and only adding twice as much in poor luggage/load choices..LOL). Others have done 2-up on the Z for big miles but if you want some none-tarmac / off trail touring then I, personally, would cherish my wife's little round butt before riding 2 up on a razor seat.

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I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort.