is it possible yamaha build quality is no longer good?
 

I'd love to get xt660z tenere but I've read bad thing about quality on xt660 forum and wonder if you confirm this here.

While probably not 100% perfect, most reports I've read on the Tenere' have been very good.
What repeating problems have you found on the Tenere'? The bike has some faults (too heavy?) but
seems generally very strong and reliable. I would not hesitate buying one.

See posts here and ride reports on ADV Rider Ride Reports or Thumpers on ADV Rider.

Look here:
http://horcamoto.com/

Another great ride report here:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=668901

The Tenere is probably one of the most reliable bikes that you can afford with 7000€. Good quality in all components. I have just change my XT660Z for a KTM 690 enduro R and believe me, talking just about quality, Yamaha it is on the main league...

I read about exhaust is terrible, fall apart after warranty and the rear wheel Cush drives need replacing periodically. Also Reg/Rec connection is in bad place
and fails often.

I've not heard of those problems.
When you refer to Cush Drive ... most likely you mean the fairly cheap and very easy to replace Cush Drive Rubber inserts. These rubber wedges wear out on many bikes, including my DR650. I change them out every 7K miles. (10K kms or so)

The Reg/Rec is probably getting too hot, not getting enough air flow. A common problem on BMW F650's. The simple solution is to relocate the Reg/Rec to another place with better air flow to keep it cool.

All bikes have their Gremlins and weak spots. A smart owner will learn about their bike, find solutions and fix them ... or, sell off the bike. :(

Hi,

im driving a Tenere from 2008.

Exhaust terrible? Well I replaced mine after 2 years, but only for looks and sound. The old one is lying in the garage and I would not have a problem to use it again.

The cush drive wears out sooner, compared to other bikes, but its not that big deal. A lot of people using parts of tubes to stretch the lifetime. I changed mine after 12tkm, and it was not in a really bad shape.

Reg-connection had some problems on a special batch. Just take care of the plug above the regulator and you are good.

They did not put much grease on some bearings (headset and rear swing arm and levers to the rear damper), but also manageable and is part of some service work (headset at 20tkm).

Over all an really reliable bike. With no abuse, the engine should last 100tkm or more. Looks like some wheel bearings wearing out at 40tkm-60tkm.
I had really few problems. At 25tkm now a failure of an headset bearing (rust), but if someone :rolleyes2: hat put some grease on it at 20tkm, it might have been ok now.

But I met someone with an really bad Tenere with a lot of problems. Looked like, when they moved the assembly to france, they had some quality problems. You might want to avoid those.

Bye
Martin

Its been my experience, not that it matters, that folks like to talk about problems more than positives. Especially on forums.

I thought Yamaha had an assembly plant in Italy ... No? Is there another in France as well? Can anyone verify this?

Are these plants "assembly" plants only ... or ... are they doing actual full manufacture there? (seems impossible?)

Anyone know the history of these plants and which ones are where?
Any facts? History?

Cheers! bier

The exhaust issue used to be on the XT600E.


The assembly location in my experience doesn't matter (I've been in the Automotive sector since 1993), there is no engineering gene, eugenics is utter rubbish however applied and good or bad management will always give the final result. The biggest recall I've ever been involved with centred around clueless weakly managed Germans, it was the "dodgy" Eastern Europeans who were crying out the warnings and fixed it in the end. The whole world "assembles" , no one does every process on a single site, Henry Ford has been dead for years. I really would take the "Made in...." stickers as just advertising.


Andy

I've had 2 XT660Z Teneres and did around 100.000km on them combined. The first one got stolen and I did not hesitate to get another one.
The only problem with the exhaust I have come across is that it is heavy and high up. Other than that, no issues.
The cush drive rubbers wear, but you can keep them going for a good time longer by padding them out with some inner tube. The few times I replaced them, it cost me about 16€.
The Reg/Rec does get a bit of spray from the front wheel, but that causes no real issues. The problems with the reg/rec that I've heard about on XT660.com were all related to the plug not being pushed all the way home from factory. Causing bad contact, overheating of the pins and melting of the plug.

Other than that the only downsides of the Tenere are its weight and the suspension, which could do with an upgrade.

Wel Yamahas are still way better quality then BMW so even they are not perfect they are still the best choice ;)

Testride BMW F650 and BMW R 1200 GS

See this thread and posted vid,
Super Tenere = Super Rugged. Nick Sander's teardown...

well, y0u maybe talking about older yamaha models which were made in Japan, now they're made in Italy, France God knows where else.

I have found many serious problems with engine and transmission on few years old xt660z tenere and xt660.com forum.

I won't buy any yamaha which is not made in Japan like e.g Super Tenere is still made there. But xt660 quality went straight down hill.

Reliability
 

I agree with some of the comments, people dwell on the bad and not the positive, ask anyone who does not ride a BMW, worse bike in the world, i have now covered 100k in 30months with no problems

steve

yamaha tenere quality
 

I have just got a new one, the only thing i can find is the spokes are very low grade stainless steel they dont rust but definitely pitt. The general opinion is the regulater connection problem has been eliminated and the plug is now a better quality item. But i am going to put a shroud of heat shrink tubing over mine to be sure.
The tenere is built very tough as standard, and yamaha have gone to the trouble of designing a reinforced (hence heavy frame) and replacable protection panels, combined with a proven engine its the best for the money if you intend to stray off road on your travels. Think of it as the 4x4 of motorcycles. Its built specificaly for tough terrain, a chrome molly light wieght frame would be nice but then it would cost another £1000.00. 9 out of 10 for me.:thumbup1: