XT 660 R & Z info wanted
 

Hi all - looking for some info please.
Looking at a couple of bikes for long trip - prudent to both be the same.
Thinking about the XT660Z for me but I think the R would be better for my wife as a lower seat height and 25KG lighter.
Wondering how similar they are? And weather the usual spares taken can be shared.
Many thanks for any info from you technical types bier
FF

Same engines, a few electrical components. They are different bikes though.

I liked my R. It was much lighter than a Z so feels quicker and easier to ride. It does suffer with limited ground clearance though. Depends on your riding.

If you go for an R, avoid 04/05 models. Bad fueling and rough runners. Later models have o2 sensors in the exhaust for better running.

Thanks Ted.
Electrical components are handy to share but I assume then that the chassis are different- cables etc.
There will be no hard core off road - typical gravel tracks in South America, maybe the odd one more difficult but we will not take any risks.
FF

BTW - do you know if late model Zs have 02 sensors, there is a lot of talk about the ‘Kev mod’ to stop low speed surging.
Thanks again

The Z models do have O2 sensors. Avoid 2009 models as there are a batch of almost 2000 bikes that are prone to break third gear with total engine failure as a result.

I have now been on the road almost 5 years on an around the world trip with my Tenere and my bike has passed 200 k kms a couple of weeks ago. To be honest the bike has been a utter piece of garbage. I would not recommend it at all if you ask...

- Says bike is utter piece of garbage
- Rides 5 years around the world on it.

K

Theres many things I could have mentioned but you still wouldnt have the capacity to understand but here are a few things...

1. If you give up you have lost...I dont give up that easily...

2. If you take a bike into a country in another part of the world YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE BIKE OUT OF THE COUNTRY whitin the given time frame. So bring it in - take it out.
3. After 200 k kms - I can truly from the bottom of my heart say this bike is an utter piece of crap! I belive I have adequate experience to say so. 200 000 kms and 5 continents and 5 years should be enough I belive...

Thanks for the reply. A shame about your bike, these are a popular long distance travel bike due, at least I thought, to their reliability. Maybe I’m mistaken and people take them because of their specifications and then have problems - although I’ve always heard good reports from owners about trouble free high mileage.
Do you think your bike might just be a Friday afternoon one or do you have info from many other XTZ riders about bad reliability.
I’m keen for any knowledge you can offer as reliability and comfort are my top 2 priorities.
Thanks again bier

I certainly hope other Tenere riders dont have suffered the same amount of problems that I have. However have a look on the Facebook site of Yamaha XT600Z Tenere and its quite obvious that this bike certainly has its fair share of problems - if not more than fair share. Ask the young brit Mark Waters which bike broke down in Mongolia last year and that to the extend that he chose to. ship it back to England. Ask the belgian guy Djonas Ananas whos gearbox blew up in Mexico and he had to truck the bike here and there and then get it fixed. Not an easy or cheap task when youre in another part of the world than youre from. I also know an aussie guy who spent a fortune on his bike in Salta Arentina and lots of time only to find that his bike broke down again 200 kms down the road - and he hava had it at that stage. Trucked the bike to nesrest port town and shipped his bike back to Australia.

The socalled reliability of these bikes are imo highly overrated. Gearbox potential issues on ~ 2000 bikes, Regulator/stator failes on many bikes, cush rubber drive are absolutely rubbish, a huge single cylindered bike that are set up very lean with only 520 chain and sprockets - it eats chain and sprockets for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Convert to 525 makes it a bit better though.
The heaviest single cylindred bike ever except the old Suzuki Dr big 750/800 set up very lean - how does that sound of user friendly???

Thanks for the quick reply. Certainly food for thought - my research will continue. Perhaps I should have kept my 1100gs, I did 170,000 miles on it and it never broke down - perhaps a bit heavy for a long overland trip, I do need a very tall bike though - hence the XTZ.

My point is that I guess after 100.000km you knew it was crap, then why did you ride another 100.000km on it?

Anyway, what bike would you chose now with all the knowledge you have?

So you still didnt get point 2 in my post above? Ship my bike home to Norway from Indonesia or Australia? Do you think its cheap or even possible? First major problem came around 70 k kms and of course I didnt think I would have a lot of more major problems. Next major problem at ~ 110 k kms. I still didnt think I would have much more major problems. Next again at 130 k kms - and that time it took 6,5 monts to get it fixed! Would you take a bike around the world that would potentially take 6,5 months of your precious time and life to fix? Now answer that please?!?
After that the bike has died in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico - which all have been electrical problems - but still a PITA and a lot of time and money spent to get it sorted. A broken water pump that needed to fixed twice, a blown rear shock and a front rim that was bent to that extent it couldnt be fixed and new was needed do also belong to the picture although this is things that also could happen to any bike I guess.

I havent taken any other bike around the world so I dont know what bike to recommend - but I did buy a Suzuki Dr650 on the New Zealand leg of my RTW trip (as the Tenere stood broken down waiting for spare parts in Australia) rode it 10 weeks/12 k kms and sold it again) and that was a much better bike in all aspect of better than the Tenere. And the most noticeably feature is that it is 35 kilos lighter then the Tenere. 35 kilograms - place that weight in your left hand and feel it. Its a LOT! But as we know the Dr650 is not available in Europe so if youre european its not available there. And a Dr650 will need many upgrades to be a pro overland bile.

For most part of the world a 250 cc bike would be the best imo. Light, cheap, light on fuel etc etc - = best! A Honda would then be my choiche but Kawasaki and Yamaha also has 250 cc that would be great overlander bikes - a bit worried for the Yamaha though after my Yamaha experiences...:rolleyes2:
Usa, Canada, Australia and Europe would be a bit different as a 250 would be a bit too slow for most roads there.

If I only wanted a travel bike and I wouldnt intend to ride much gravel roads other than a firm and ok maintained one I guess my choices would be a Suzuki V-Strom 650 or the newest edition of the Honda CB500X.

Or maybe I would be crazy and choose a Royal Enfield Himalayan...:clap:

No I would not. What was broken that took 6.5 months to fix?
Then again, 130k+ km is a lot for such a bike. Especially if you do a lot of offroad riding. IMO the later Tenere's weren't really that good offroad bikes.

Uhm, DR650 is definitely available in EU. Cheap as well...

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/s...=KW&scopeId=MB

Just in the interests of balance i’ve had a 2014 Z since mid 2016 and done a few trips on it in Africa and love it.

It is heavy for a dirt bike, i have a small ding in the front rim from hitting a pothole at speed in Zimbabwe and in dusty conditions i need to clean the air filter regularly. Otherwise i have had no issues.

For me it had proved comfortable, reliable, and good on the typical dirt & gravel roads i am riding, plus able to carry luggage, run electrics etc.

I could send you to a thread of pals of mine who have had a nightmare with a dr650. Every model will have some bikes with more issues than average.

On the Z and R question, I rented an R for a pal and did a shorter Z & R trip in South Africa last year. Quite different feels. One of each may not be a bad shout as the Z is physically a bigger beast (for context i am 6ft and 16st/100kgs+); the R is much lighter and with smaller tank, which worked for my lighter friend.

Good luck with your search.

20 year old beat up Drs with lots of milage maybe but not new ones as in other parts of the world. Thats what Im talking about...

Gearbox and clutch broke down. Impossible to find a mechanic down in Patagonia, took out engine and trucked 3500 kms to Santiago for repair. Came back after more than two months but with a new set of problems. Had to truck the whole bike back to Santiago. Ordered spare parts 2 times - they never came. Had to improvise a good bit. Order more spare parts - wait, wait wait. Finally when bike was running TIP had expired and spent several weeks to fix that too. All in all 6,5 monts.

Luckily I had a mate in Bolivia with a Suzuki Dr 650 he offered me to ride. So had a go on a decent bike there for 6 weeks in the meantime.