Well, I was debating between new Africa Twin and F800GS as you can see few posts below but in the end I have ordered the old good small tenere, non ABS version. Africa is too heavy for my type of riding and F800GS too complicated to be 100% reliable in the desert. Both bikes also are too expensive for throwing around in dirt.

I hope it's not mistake as xt660z is quite old in technology used but maybe this is her charm and its advantage. Probably soon in Europe it will not be available with no ABS, even today I had some trouble to get one. The tenere is really good looking bike IMO, probably as good as new Africa and it has checked all the boxes: reliable, simple, good tank range, good suspension and ground clearance, crash resistant, comfortable. Anybody here got or is going to get new xt660z as well?

The XT660Z Tenere isnt exactly a light bike either and have many a points where a overlander would be very happy to have it upgraded... Look here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...rlanding-83304

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I always liked the 660 Tenere' ... never ridden one or even seen one in person here in the USA. Many dual sport riders here hoped Yamaha would import the bike, they never have.

IMHO, it's the coolest looking single dual sport out there.

But once I started looking at specs closely and reading long term ride reports I realized maybe it wasn't really the best bike for me. It's quite heavy and a bit tall ... and like ALL bikes, needs a few things to be it's best for travel.

The good news is there are lots of Tenere owners out there, lots of knowledge regards fixes & upgrades.

For me, having just a 29" inseam at 5'7", means the weight may be hard to handle once the Tenere is loaded up.

I have a hard enough time with weight wrestling my DR650 about. The DR is also an old design ... but a good one ... and 38 kgs. lighter weight than a Tenere'.

Hope you get on well with the new bike.

Many predict Yamaha will soon release an Adventure version of the FZ-07 twin. (* it's an MT-07 or something in the UK) Probably will be lighter than any BMW or Honda twin, maybe even matching KTM?

I also like Jenny's CB500X Rally Raid kit bike.

thanks for link, good reading. I wonder if some of the typical problems of tenere like weak cush rubber drives or notchy fuelling are fixed in newer bikes?

If you get into any bike there's pros and cons, ktm fuel pump problems bmw with transponder problems, but value for money tenere stands out, yes change the plastic sump guard, put engine guards on, replace with lowering links to drop the height by 30-40mm, replace screen, put had guards on, heated grips, still going to be cheaper than bmw, ktm,

If you get on the XT660.com forum you will get all the knowledge that exists about the Xt660 models.

I am not a bike mechanic at all but for the jerky and lumpy engine characteristics the best solution is a powercommander. Its of course a bit costy... The second best is probably the so called Kev mods and change the airfilter and open up the airfilterbox.

The cush rubber drive has been tried cured by packing it with inner tubes which makes them last a little longer. I have tried to cut out small metal spacers and placed them between the rubber "bricks" and the metal counterparts in the hub. It worked well and the first time as I got 40 k kms out of one set of cush rubbers. The scond time I hardly got more out of it than without the metal spacers. There has also been people who made cush rubber drives of an alternative material. I cannot exactly remember which material and how the results were but its all on the XT660.com. Others have also rebuild the whole hubb.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I'm curious what result or downside of the worn Cush Drive rubber bushings is on the 660 Tenere'.

The Suzuki DR650 has a similar problem. The Cush rubbers harden within about 7 to 8000 miles. The result is a "rough" feel through the pegs and bars, sort of like the feeling a worn clutch basket gives.

I've replaced my rubber bushings 3 times in 65,000 miles, but the last time I simply inserted bits of inner tube, which was quite effective! Hadn't thought of using metal bits but I can see that it would work.

With fresh Cush rubbers in place the DR650 is MUCH smoother on the road, especially under acceleration or when lugging it a bit with full load. Riders (and some mechanics) often mis-diagnose this issue, claiming bad chain/sprockets,
bad clutch basket, bad transmission bearing and more.

It's a simple and cheap fix for the DR650. Although Cush rubbers are now about $60 usd for the set.

Do worn Cush rubbers affect the 660 Tenere' in a similar way?

I guess a worn cush rubber drive would have the same effect on a Dr650 as on a 660Tenere. There is a surging problem on the XT660 models and a worn cush rubber drive makes this even worse. And of course unsmooth and lumpy too especially at low revs.

Also a very worn cush rubber drive makes the whole part with the rear sprocket that one "insert" into the hubb quite loose and together with a worn/stretched and unadjusted chain it makes it easier for the chain to jump off the rear sprocket. This happend to me several times the first month I had the bike as I was totally unaware of the problem. It was probably more a stretched and unadjusted chain problem but I think the worn cush rubbers played a part in that too....

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I have read the jerkiness of engine was fixed on latest models

YAMAHA XT660Z TENERE (2008-on) Review | MCN

I have a 2009 Tenere and not found cush rubbers a problem, they are consumables just like brake pads are, and I think they've been replaced once in 25,000 miles.

I have learnt my lesson, I will never buy a bike in it's first year of production, so I wouldn't consider the AT. The Tenere isn't perfect but it's better off tarmac than the F800GS.

However none of the three are light bikes for desert riding.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

From what I've read on the 660 Tenere', opening up the air box and fitting a more free flowing exhaust will help surging. Also, F.I. re-maps can also help. The OEM's always have new "tunes" to load into the computer ... can really help performance overall.

Worn cush rubbers may loosen up but the Hubb cannot not loosen up enough to be the cause of chain de-railing. This providing your axle nut is TIGHT.

But ... the inner Hubb bearing can fail ... then things will loosen up. In fact the entire inner wheel can collapse. (rare)

Other things that "feel" like the Cush rubbers are worn can be:
Worn front sprocket or worn out chain can cause a rough feel.
A loose or worn chain can cause big problems if you let it go too far. YES ... that would be the reason for chain derailing. This is VERY bad as chain can wrap up around the countershaft and BREAK OPEN the engine case.

I don't know what size chain the 660 uses but I'd recommend a DID 525 X Ring chain of best quality. Will last past 20K miles if cared for. On the DR650 most owners change out their front sprocket every 6 to 8000 miles. Really helps keep things smooth and extends chain life considerably.

About the unsmoothness of the XT660 engine I can say that stock it didnt pull clean in fifth gear until I passed the 3000 rpm mark. And passed beyond 5000 rpm it wasnt much to get either. So it a very narrow usable rev range on that bike original. I have had a Honda Dominator NX 650 who was much more old fashioned with carburator only and air/oil cooled - not liquid cooled as the XT660s and that Honda was waaay smoother, had a much longer usable rev range and pulled way much better than the stock Tenere
But I have changed gearing from 15/45 to 15/48 and for the moment I run 15/47 (about to enter Australia a so I that it was a better alternative)
Opend up the airbox, added Kevs fuel mod and Kevs O2 mod and after this mods the bike have become reasonably better. But still its quite unsmooth and lumpy for a big single. I am sorry if my english skills arent good enough to describe the bikes engines nature...

About the chain and cush rubbers, originally its only 520 chain/sprockets on this bike. For me it feels a little underdimenshoned for such a heavy bike. And yeas I have changed to 525 DID X ring chain and ditto sprockets. It feels more secure and I get around 30 k kms out of a set with a loaded up bike. And I dont have any automatic chain luber neither am I the one that cleans and lube the chain at every possible occation. I am rather relaxed about that....

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Snakeboy, which year your xt660z tenere was?
In about two weeks I'll get mine so I'll report here about that smoothness of the engine as for 2015. I would think it would be silly from yamaha not to correct this in latest models.

Have you sat on one?
I'm 5'10 , 31" inseam. With both feet down I was on tip toes on flat showroom floor!
I think you will definitely have to get it lowered or you might find yourself falling over when you stop.
Best Regards,
Dave.

Mine is a 2011 model.

I think much of the unsmoothness, surging problems and lumpyness is because of the emission standards in Europe. The engine is set to run lean and there lies much of the problem. The engine for the XT660 models have been produced since 2004 relatively unchanged and it hasnt become any different as far as I know. But if the 2015 models are better when coming to unsmoothness etc it would be a good thing of course.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....