Hi as the soon to be owner of the new tenere I thought it would be a good idea to include any tips and mods under this thread. Anything will do, its always good to share problems and find solutions.

My only problem so far is that I have to wait one more day until i can ride the new bike.

Hello Stuxttr

Good luck with your new purchase sounds very exciting and btw not much longer to wait now.......

In between riding and admiring the bike, let us know know how you rate the performance, engine, economy, comfort/manoeuvrability on/of road etc

Congratulations, hopefully we will hear from you soon

yeah eager to hear more about the bike from real people.

good luck.

robin

Well, here we go! I picked up my new Tenere June 13th and already did 3000km with the bike. Mods so far: alu bashplate, centrestand, handguards, all original Yamaha parts, handlebar risers(30mm), oiltemperature gauge(instead of dipstick), Touratech rearfender bag. What'll come: Hepco&Becker pannier rack for my alu panniers(aug/sept), Leovince exhaust slip-on system, modified seat(flat and higher), WR footpegs. It's an allround allroad: powerful(enough for me, for now!), stable and easy handling and alltime control(even with rainy&windy weather), picks up from 2500rpm and the best riding range is between 3000 and 5000rpm, hardly no vibes, windshield is pretty good(only some turbulence above 140kmh, but how often do you go that fast with a thumper?), comfortable seating, even on the long haul(although it would be better all the way flat so you can change seating position) , good cornering, good brakes and suspension, good fuel economy(average 1lt to 24km, that'll get you about 500km's far!), long distance rider(did a 450km trip without a hassle). Some flaws: the fuel meter is rather pessimistic, the dash has a resonance between 3500 and 4000rpm.
In conclusion: I'm very happy with the Tenere, it's a good bike and fun to ride! Greetz, Hans.

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XT rules! XT660Z Tenere '08
make the world beautiful, get a tattoo!
http://dallastx.smugmug.com

Dallastx,
Great write up, gives a good insight into owning one , can you tell us at what rev range/speed the engine gets too vibey for you and have you tried her with a pillion yet.
Have they really cured the low speed surging from the injection system

And can you post some pics of the mods you've made to the bike...

Thanks and much appreciated

Like I said, hardly no vibes at any rpm, although the max speed I rode was about 140kmh, doing about 5500rpm. Ok, you feel a little buzz, but it's still a thumper, but the buzz isn't annoying. No experience yet with pillion seat passenger, but you can look on . : XT660.com The #1 xt660 resource : . | The #1 xt660X, xt660R and xt660Z Tenere resource where several Tenere riders share their experiences. My e-mail adress is dallastx@hetnet.nl, send me your e-mail adress and I'll send you pics of all the mods I've done so far(I took the pics today, but they are too large to post them here!). Next things to come(already ordered): Hepco&Becker pannier rack(aug/sept) for my H&B alu panniers and the Leovince slip-on exhaust system(later next week). Greetz, Hans.

__________________
XT rules! XT660Z Tenere '08
make the world beautiful, get a tattoo!
http://dallastx.smugmug.com

Hi everyone have just joined the site. I've been a Harley rider for many years but really thinking of changing to the Tenere XT660. I am a bit concerned about 2 issues that have been already raised, and i have read a couple of posts on these bikes.
Firstly i'm wondering how the guys are getting on with the bikes now they are well run in, in the vibration department. I'm not an overly fast rider (like i said i ride a Harley) but i would like something that can cruise through France at 80mph. Most of my riding is just commuting with maybe the odd 200 mile run at the weekend and Europe twice a year.
The second is the seat. Did they "bed in" any??
I see that the 2009 Tenere has a 23Lt Fuel tank opposed to the 22Lt on the 2008, so i'm wondering if Yamaha themselves have done anything with the seat, perhaps through feedback on the 2008.

Love the site.

Hi Portmarco - believe me, the Tenere is like a magic carpet compared to a Harley x

I've done around 1900 miles on mine now - I never found it particularly vibey in the first place (but then I'm used to big singles), sure there was a touch more vibration through the bars when I removed the bar-end weights (to fit hand guards), but the engine itself is very smooth. You can certainly sit at 70-80mph all day on it.

I also did a 300 mile day recently on it, and again, while I found the seat a little uncomfortable initially, I had no problems with it after that...

Either you do get used to it, or the vibes to lessen... either way, don't let that put you off - it's a fantastic bike (for any money, but especially at the price it is!)

xxx

ps. the 22/23 litre thing I think is a missprint at some point, I can get 23 litres in mine - I may just be how far up the filler neck you fill the tank?

I can only 2nd JMo's comments. I've ridden my Tenere 10 000 kms by now, and it's not vibey at all (but I'm used to Guzzis, mind you). Cruising at 80 mph/130 kmh all day long is not a problem. Did a couple of those days this summer. But I must admit it's on the twisty roads, with or without gravel, that the Tenere is in its ace.

Seat: I'm having mine redone. It's not a big problem with the standard seat - I just stood on the pegs once in a while to un-numb my butt. But I want another seat, perhaps a tad higher too.

Tank: Yamaha hasn't done any technical alterations to the 09-model compared to the 08. Also on the 08 Yamaha states 23 litres fuel capacity. I've seen several magazine reviews stating 22, but I think on this one I'll trust Yamaha.

So the core message here is: Get one!

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

I popped into Touratech Wales the other day while running mine in and Nick showed me a sheet of Touratech goodies for the Ten that were being launched at Intermot as we spoke. All the usual protection and gadgetry.
Nice bash plate with a tool box on the front. Grant J was at Intermot and took some pix (below).

After 4 whole days I like mine - especially 74mpg/26kpl which should = nearly 600kms to a tank. But the screen is too low for me (6 1) and makes riding much noisier than no screen at all unless I crouch. TT do a Universal windscreen spoiler which might help and the best thing is it's only £73!
Touratech UK Webshop

IMO the seat is no worse than many other big singles I've owned. Not sure the seat step is the problem; it's just half the width of the average adult human arse. Standing up briefly helps as Indu said.
Vibration seems pretty normal to me but like JM I'm used to big singles. Assume it may get smoother still but I'm about to take off the bar ends to fit guards so it may not.

Mine pops and bangs on the over run or even just a gear change but pulls smoothly. And matey at the first service place said running on leaded is not the engine-wrecking disaster the manual makes it out to be - it had me worried for a bit. The self diagnostics will get round it he said, even if you pull the lambda sensor and cat pipe.

I got the OTR rack (TT do one too now I guess) which is nice and light, looks tough but tricky to fit without help (mine was out by 10-15mm at the pillions). Just got some Barkbusters and TKCs too and off to Morocco next week to ride some tracks. It should be a lot of fun!

Ch

XTZ 660 Tenere review - Adventure Motorcycling at 5000 miles

Attached Images

 

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Chris, please let us know how it works in the rough stuff in Marocco. I have only been roughing it around on Norwegian trails this far, so a good write-up of the Tenere's sandblasting abilities would be very much appreciated.

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway