Just read this post i may be a bit late, anyway have you considered a XT660R and changing it to suit YOU.There are plenty about which means they are cheaper to buy.You would need to change the exhausts for a 2 into 1, and then it is up to you.

Ive an XT660R and its a great bike and cant really see much difference between the tenere and the XTR apart from the larger fuel tank and a fairing. Oh and the cost difference.

The XTR can do alot more than many people think even with the standard down pipes (ie, under the engine pipes). As long as you get a good bash plate your sorted.

Yea you can get good XTR for pennies and with the extras that are needed to make it feel like a Tenere

I think airbox is bigger, cooling better and no on/off behaviour from the FI.

__________________
HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Plus a better swingarm, brakes, lights and luggage/passenger facilities...

Don't get me wrong, the XTR is a great bike, but the Tenere version is certainly worth the extra few £££s... it also looks a lot better x

xxx

ah yea forgot to say not much difference for a 1 up rider.

I can see why someone who needs to take a pillion and wants to go off the beaten track at some point would want one but there is a good bit of a price difference. All my own personnel opinions. + some of those plastics are very expensive and even the crash pods im told are a few bob.

Between a 6000 Euros new XTZ and a 1500 Euros 10 years old XTE, which would be the most relieable for a RTW tour?

In keeping this thread alive for those buying off the net:
On Saturday I popped down to a Yamaha Dealer (in Kent just off the M2) who were advertising a New Tenere on ebay so I withdrew £5000 and went to see them first thing saturday morning, unfortunatley it had been sold on firday night...
I diddnt really like the black anyway!
I was told that the bikes are not available in the UK because they are cheaper than on the continent (Apparently £1000 cheaper) so many sales are to Non Uk residents... Also that yamaha UK were due in a few more bikes as and when they became available, so the future looks bright.

However I did get a good look at the bike and well its not really better than the old XT600 tenere in my opinion. And certainly not worth spending the £5000 I had in my pocket on if you already have the original (I have the 1VJ)

The "bash" plate was plastic, no really- plastic, so that has to be replaced immediately-£84 for the Yamaha Alluminium one

The Yamaha Panniers are Alluminium plates wrapped in plastic - yes the black stuff is plastic, hence these are pretty unuseable and you need to go to the after market for decent hard luggage -£450+
The Top case mounts were surprisingly flimsy and I would imagine that the case would come off when riding on any nasty section off road.
So thats a no-no too, but ok for city stuff.

The grey plastic protectors were interesting, I get it they are cheap protectors that are designed to be sacrificial in the event of an off. But they are really cheap, and I think about how many off's my Xt600 has had recently (2 handle bars this year) And I wonder if it is practical.

All the bull and hype about the Fuel injection woes is really a load of twoddle, basically the throttle is really sensitive, and coming from a carb (my XT600) to the injection (a mates Xt660) I can see the difference and why it has a bad name, its only sensitive, the new tenere is supposed to be the same though on paper it is slightly de-tuned hmmm. Something to do (apparently) with reducing the throttle resonse via the ECU electrogimickry.

What struck me initially was how wide the bike is compared to my Xt600 tenere, it really is considerably wider, at the tank level. My other bike is a BMW 1150RT, so i am happy with wide bikes... but this was a surprise I had not anticipated.

The New tenere has the exhaust pipes on the left side, (so that will warm up my other leg now!) and on the right side it has a plastic watertank, that looks ludicrously flimsy and exposed. You need Engine guards - £84

Another thing that struck me is those ludircous exhause cans. when you feel them, they feel sort of soft (dare I say it?) plasticky These look pretty but have no purpose other than to inflate the price, or reduce the quality parts that add up to the end product.
The radiator looks set to collect as many dings from bouncing rocks off the oncoming vehicles or the bike in front of you as it could possibly attract, so that needs a mesh guard too (no price).
It does however have a Tow ring, for when you need to pull it out of a quadmire... so apparently the bike is not capable of getting through a quagmire (note to those travelling through Congo / Zilov gap)
Those sculptured pillion hand grips are made from the same cheap nasty plastic as the sacrificial tank guards. (BMW's have a similar sort of setup with their topbox, but it is significantly sturdier due to the material used.) By now you may have a feeling for the opinion that I was forming...

I wasnt allowed to swing a leg over, but rather grovel around and take in as much as possible. But it did seem higher than my XT, but not impossibly so. and it did look reasonably comfortable for a thin sculptured seat

Deep down the New tenere has all the same elements Good chassis, Great engine Good geometry, but those cheap and nasty plastics, just ruin it for me, particularly when you look at how many of them there are, and given the size of the tank area it should be more than 22 litres especially considering it goes under the seat.
When someone bumps the tank up to 30 litres, and with decent luggage on it I will be tempted by a second hand one and being a suitable replacement for the original but until then for the RTW traveller. You are better off buying a older Xt660 or Xt600 tenere for around a grand and using the £4000 for the trip. With the new tenere you only get more expense, carnets, import/export costs maintenance etc

My net opinion was that I own a 21 year old XT 600 tenere, and its still going strong, I can work on it myself, and eventually solve all the problems it presents. I appreciate that with technology things move forward, but some of the Tenere's ruggedness has been lost.
[RANT START]
As someone owning a newish BMW (and owned a much older BMW) and an older Yamaha, looking at replacing both bikes I can see why BMW's do cost more to buy (but not for the service - you theives) They use better quality materials, from the Front brake lever, to the plastics. Across the board there is deffinetly more meticulous attention to the nett package that is QUALITY, and yamaha seem to have forgotten that.
[RANT OVER]
I do think that this new Tenere will still be running in 20 years time and that is a tribite to the basics that they have managed to maintain.

Cheers G

P.S.
I will not be replacing the BMW with the FJR1300 (I havent mentioned that I was looking at doing that too) too nasty as a comparison

As I walked out the shop (£5000 still in pocket) I saw a TDM and couldnt help wondering what possibilities lay with adding WR450 forks to the front end of that a bike, with its gorgeous engine, as after all this is actually closer to the true Yamaha Dakar bikes of old than the teneres.