Hi people,
i need your advise. I can buy a 1991 super tenere here in holland for +/-600 euro's, which is dirt cheap considering they go for about 2500/3000 euro's. There is however a problem with the bike. According to the owner the engine shakes and vibrates and has a max of 80km/hr. He took it to a dealer and accoring to the dealer the engine has to come apart to replace the 'bigends'. No idea how big this repair is, but with good instructions i manage most of the work on bikes. Now my question, is this doable? WHat would the repair cost me in parts if i do it by myself and what damage can the bike have suffered till now?
please shoot and be critical!
cheers
Paul

Hi
why dont you find out how much a good second hand engine is

That makes a lot of sense. It is very difficult to rebuild an engine to be as good as one straight from the factory. Often they use selective assembly using graded parts. EG a 'standard bore' might be so much, but within this there are variations. Often there are several 'grades of pistons to suit the small variances that are produced on teh production line. There they machine to be not only within tolerance sizewise, but within a defined range of finishes. It is extremely dificult to equal this fit and finish combination doing a one off repair.

so basically i understand from you guys that attempting such a repair is a bad plan..? to complicated and you'll never get it running smooth? if i do attempt it, what kind of orice am i looking at for parts?
i've been looking on ebay etc for an engine, but no luck, any tips and ideas on price range?

It is not a really bad plan, just that you are likely to get another complete engine which will run better cheaper. Try looking up the bike breakers yards.. that way you should have some idea of the mileage the motor ran.. even swap teh crank complete and barrels heads to keep your bike a matching numbers bike. Any odd ancillary keep as spares.

It is not a really bad plan, just that you are likely to get another complete engine which will run better cheaper. Try looking up the bike breakers yards.. that way you should have some idea of the mileage the motor ran.. even swap teh crank complete and barrels heads to keep your bike a matching numbers bike. Any odd ancillary keep as spares. Personally I would swap the lot and keep the old engine in case someone else wanted the matching numbers bit.

The cost of the parts isnt major if the crankshaft is not damaged.. main bearings are £35 the set but you will also need a full gasket set (and maybe other parts like rings etc if you do a full rebuild at the same time) as the whole engine will need to be stripped to get to them. Before you can buy the bearings you will need to find out what size you need as these engine have 5 different bearing sizes ( each depending on the size of the hole machined in the crankcase to take the bearing and not just the wear on the crank!), sadly this information can only be found when its all in bits. We stock most the bearings, seals & so on for the engine and whole bike so please ask if you need more info.

If your looking for an easy job to get the bike back on the road then i agree finding a replacement engine is probably easier but then there is no guarentee that one too wont end up the same, the 750 engine has been out production for some time so good secondhand ones are now not as plentfull as in the past. Lastly you could also consider fitting an 850 from the TDM (or the later version from the TRX) as this is virtually the same engine with a longer stroke and bigger piston. Minimal modification is required and the extra power makes the bike much nicer to ride.

Loads more info on the XTZ can be found on the UK Super Tenere owners Club website at
Super Tenere UK Owners Club

Jenna, RaidXtreme(UK)Ltd

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RaidXtreme(UK)Ltd
Specialist Rally-Raid Prep.
http://www.xtz850.com

Super Tenere UK Owners Club
http://www.xtz750.com