XT660Z Tenere - list of mods for overlanding
 

Hi Folks,

I've finally updated my blog to include a detailed list of all the modifications done to my bike, with hyperlinks to most of the product webpages. They were tested thoroughly during 50,000km and 2.5 years riding round S America. (Some photos will follow when I am reunited with my bike.)

If you are interested, the link is below:

LIST OF XT660Z TENERE MODIFICATIONS | HORCA MOTO

Cheers!

I saw your list and you made lots of Modifications. The original is that bad for world travel that you needed to do all this changes?

Hi Cibernauta,

Not at all. I've met several riders doing long trips on stock - or near stock - Teneres. I was lucky - a lot of money had been put into mine before I bought it. I just 'topped it up', so to speak.

I've always preached that you can do a big trip on any bike (see The Perfect Adventure Bike, or The Perfect Adventure Attitude? | HORCA MOTO), but I think a few changes to most bikes in stock form is prudent. I dropped my bike so many times and crashed a few as well; I doubt the stock bars would have survived, I bent a bar clamp, the levers would have been broken without Barkbusters and the stock pegs would have surely got mangled. My bike is a 2010, so the plastic bash plate had to go.

Things like upgrading the suspension is a luxury if your riding only moderate off road. And the stock exhaust just means a bit more weight and a little less power. Better rims are nice becasue the Tenere stock rims are not too strong, but when I bent mine I simply rode carefully until I could get it fixed.

It's all a compromise in the end, with cost being an important part of the equation. And I guess it also depends on how much the actual riding is part of your experience; if you're just travelling on a moto, any bike will do, but if part of the fun is riding fast of rough tracks, you'll enjoy it more (and it will be safer) on an upgraded bike.

There are a lot of things on the 660 Tenere that are far from optimal - and those things are clearly felt when you do a long trip/overland trip/RTW trip on it.

I am now 65 k kms into a RTW trip on a Tenere and can mention this:

The engine is running so lean in OEM that its just not no joy riding it. Lumpy, jerky and surging..... Thats what happens when one restrict a big single. New exhaust, airbox and filter, a couple of aftermarket sensors or power commander makes it better though.

Suspension are not first class, although not that bad.

The stock seat are terrible for long hauls.

Headlights are bad!

Bashplate of plastic. Is it a joke?

Pegs, levers, handlebar etc - not exactly first class products used.

No engine protection.

The rims are not first class either as Forko mention, I havent changed mine though.

But if you do something with those things the Tenere becomes ok.

If somebody could chop off 50 kilos of weight of it I would pay a good deal of money for it.....:rofl:

For many years I rated the Tenere as the best 'out of the box' adventure bike, but boy it's one heck of a way from being perfect...

Yeah, weight is the big one, its 183kg dry weight isn't that far off the 199kg of the early 1200GS models. If you don't have pannier rails fitted and you drop the bike it's practically impossible to pick up single handed due to weight and lack of purchase.

Even with a decatted exhaust, stage 2 air inlet and the well-known 'Kev' mod, the engine is terribly intractable. You can't comfortable bumble along at 50mph in top gear without it hunting. On the other hand the five gear ratios are well chosen covering everything from slow off road to fast motorway cruising.

I agree suspension isn't that bad, at least the front is adjustable, unlike BMW's F800GS.

The problem with the seat is that the deep scallop prevents you moving around. Tall riders who mod the seat to fill in the scallop have a better time.

Headlight is either dip OR main. Going to main turns off dip.

In hot climate the exhaust running up the right side broils your leg.

The Yamaha OEM engine bars don't properly protect the engine so I got a hole in mine.

The rims are very deep, almost as if they are intended for tubeless tyres and it has to be the worst bike I've ever had to change tubes on.

Avoid the stock panniers like the plague.

On the other hand it's taken me to places I couldn't reach with other bikes and converted me to smaller engined, much lighter bikes (my main bikes are now KTM 690s).

I found my XT660Z was very top heavy. It used to absolutely eat the cush drive rubbers. Typically I was getting about 1800 miles out of a set before having to pack them out with strips of car tube. When I had the bike first I found the fuelling very notchy, but after fitting a set of Leo Vince exhausts and getting a remap it was spot on. The height of the bike coupled with the top heavy feel is what put me off though especially on less than perfect terrain.

Yeah - forgot the cush rubber drives. They dont last long if not done something with. Have made some thin metal spacers of of a metal sheet and placed between the rubber blocks and the rim blocks. It helps a lot.

Top heavy? Its relative I guess. I had a Tiger 955 before and THAT was a ridicilously top havy bike. Also had a Transalp 600 which was way more top heavy than a Tenere.

Very difficult to understand the tubby guy so gave up but not before adding a comment to the video, "Is there a version with subtitles for those who don't understand 'strine'?"

Did I mention the ridicilously high gearing? OE its 15/45 which gives a rpm of 4000 at 100 km/h. All other similar bikes I have had or ridden have a rpm/km/h ratio of 4600-4700 rpm at 100 km/h.
I changed to 15/48 and it started to feel like a normal bike.

Its also 520 chain and sprockets on the Tenere which feels underdimentioned. Last 15-20 k kms. I have changed to 525 and now a chain and sprocket set lasts + 30 k kms.

xtz660
 

Regarding the gearing the stock ratios give you an indicated 83 mph at 5000rpm at which it runs quite smoothly. The bike will also still accelerate from this speed reasonably well up to 100 mph in top. Being a BIG SINGLE it will snatch and bang at low speeds/revs in a high gear as the engine fires every other lamp post in comparison to a multi cylinder bike. You can always change down.:innocent:

So funny :rofl::thumbup1:

I have been riding 75 000 kms on my Tenere and through 25-30 different countries and none of them have had speed limits that would allow me to ride 83 mph.

PM - My Tenere will not accelrate much more from a speed of 83 mph at any gearing or sprocket size used and definetively never ever up to 100 mph.

As el forko said he bought the bike with a lot of that bling on and as he got round his adventure he was working out what was worth having and what wasn't, if I was in the market to buying a new Tenere I would be very interested in knowing what would be worth buying, el forko has made it a simple so we don't wast our money buying things we don't need,,,,as we all know it not cheap to bling up our bikes for adventure.
Good reading thanks for the post el forko.