Hello guys,


long time reader, first time writer.



I have recently purchased a used Tenere (2011 / 9000kms on the clock at the time of purchase). Two previous owners. While little is known about the first owner and the way he used the bike (aside from the fact that he has ridden just 7000km in 5 years), I do know that the second owner was a beginner enduro enthusiast, trying to use the Tenere on light to medium trails. He owned the bike for a year, has put another 2000km on the clock and then sold the bike since he has realized that it's a bit too heavy for a weekend enduro toy.



The bike is in good cosmetic condition, but after riding for about 5000km mostly on tarmac, with an occasional "outing" that involved dirt roads and roads that were built in the Soviet era (you are much better off riding dirt roads than these), I have uncovered a number of things.



1. Micro-cracks near the oil filling / oil dipstick opening. These were really tiny and resulted in oil sweat, the frame around the opening would always be covered in a thin film of oil. Nothing dripped, no droplets, but I got that welded anyway. The guy who did the job said this was a factory defect, not something that could be caused by poor usage habits.



2. High pitch rattling noise at 3500-4000 revs. Turned out that this was being caused by the absence of rubber/foam between the grey plastic cover and the radiator on the right hand side. You could clearly see the traces of glue where this piece of rubber used to be, but it simply wasn't there. Fixed by placing a piece of rubber where it should be.



3. A broken skid plate support. This is the strangest one, to be honest. The bike came with Hepco and Decker engine guards and an "Iron Skill" stainless steel skid plate. Judging by what I was able to find, the skidplate is made locally in Ukraine and by the looks of it, it is identical to the original Yamaha skid plate, just made of stainless steel, as opposed to aluminium ( this is what it looks like) . When I took everything off, I realized that the tip of the left skid plate support at the front (those two wing-like protrusions from the frame) was broken off (although I hardly see how that could be done, since there were no signs of heavy hits on the skid plate and even if there was, the plate has other points to transfer force to the engine and the frame, these "wings" are merely there to keep the skid plate from falling down). This part is due to be welded back on early next week, and then I'll put everything back together.


Now, the thing I am concerned about is the low rattling noise when riding on uneven ground / going over obstacles. This is particularly noticeable when riding on cobblestones or a road paved with setts, we have a few places in the city where the setts have been taken out for communication repairs and the way they have been installed back is far from perfect.


To me, it sounds like the noise comes from two places: one somewhere underneath the bike closer to the front, the other somewhere around the swingarm. I could attribute some of this noise to the chain slapping against the swingarm, but I am so far unsuccessful in uncovering what could be contributing to the noise coming from the front. Chain tension is normal, has been checked by myself and the mechanic. However, I have met a person who owns an XTR and he said there is no chain slap on his bike even when he takes it off-road.



Since an XT660Z is a relatively rare bike here in Ukraine (I am the only proud owner of the bike in a 1M+ city), I have nothing to compare my experience against, so I don't know what's normal and what's not, hence I am here, humbly looking for an opinion / advice from people who have owned and ridden the bike for a while. Do others have any unusual noises when going over rough terrain, is it normal for the bike? If it isn't, what would be a good place to start looking and how would I troubleshoot / identify the underlying issue? Does the chain hit the swingarm on your bike, when it's tensioned correctly?


Thanks for any help! Cheers!

Hi Ukinad,

I wonder if the skid plate had any gravel or stones in it causing a rattle? It could have been the broken weld? I have an X so can't relate to dirt roads but I would have thought your late model bike with very few K's it will be something simple.
I get pretty bad chain slap if I'm in the wrong gear.

Thanks for your feedback, Mike.


This is definitely not a skid plate or anything related to protective accessories as I have taken them all off and I am still getting this noise.



I am not sure if "rattling" is the right term to describe the sound, it really sounds like something is loose and is hitting something else. I guess most of it is the chain, but there seems to be a component to the sound that comes from somewhere closer to the front of the bike.

Probably not going to be helpfull...BUT I got paranoid recently thinking my bike was gonna implode..
After checking the major things for tightness,which may help rule that out for you, it turned out to be...............................
One of the bolts holding the hand guard on..it had vibrated loose..30 seconds later I was happy again..hth.

Thanks Nikros, this is actually a great advice and I did have a similar issue when I replaced Barkbusters VPS plastics for Storm - for some reason, Storm plastics are supposed to be attached to the aluminium phrame by one screw from the front and a strange little bracket from the inside, which could never be tightened enough. I have added an extra screw from the front and that did the job.



Do you happen to know of any checklist of bolts I should go over, without having to take the entire bike apart? Thanks.

TBH I just checked what ever I could see..start at the front and work your way back..

It's often difficult to locate 'a noise' as the sounds/nature of vibrations can resonate throughout the bike.

Besides its kinda theraputic to do and at the least you'l know everythings nice n tight!

Chain slap might be a cause as the tenere needs to run quite a lot of slack. Have you checked that the side stand isn't rattling flapping about? Does it have a centre stand? Mine had the rubber bung come off and rattled.

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check out www.redbikejohn.com for all the latest race reports from the CHEC and enduroland.

Hi there and thanks for the response, I was out riding for a while so didn't see this.



I do have a center stand and I have checked both the side stand and the center stand, I have even wrapped them in soft material to see if the sound comes from them - nothing.



I guess it's just the sound of the chain slapping around and there's not much that can be done about it, as I don't want to over-tighten it.

recently changed my chain and sprockets only to have a new rattling noise on rough surfaces and at 3500 ish revs on the off-throttle.

Turned out to be the c-shaped chain arrester behind the front sprocket cover. It was too loose because I hadn't properly torqued down the sprocket cover's two fasteners.

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

Not my case. I regularly take the cover off to clean the gunk that accumulates around the sprocket and that does not affect the noise.



I believe it's the chain hitting the plastic protector on the swing arm. The impression that the noise comes from two different places is given by the chain hitting the plastic from both sides - from the top and the bottom of the swing arm. I have even made a little test - tightened the chain a bit more than recommended, to take out more slack, and rode over some obstacles - the noise was virtually gone.



I have seen similar complaints on a russian-speaking forum, but that was in regards to one of the Tiger bikes. The guy has ended up gluing some softer materials on top of the plastic and that took care of the issue. Of course, the softer materials needs to be replaced once in a while, since it wears off much faster than hard plastic.