The new xtz Tenere 660
 

Hi there
I have been driving the old tenere 660 for years and years, and its now time for my long lasting iron horse to retire.

I am really curious about the new Tenere. It looks great, specially the the red and white one. I noticed there are some realy stupid features like the plastic engine protector... what the f.. is that about?

If anyone has first hand experience with the bike, please share :thumbup1:

Cheers
Haakon

I have read a couple of pretty comprehensive reviews on here. Have a little search

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nd-stuff-36605

Thanx a lot man, you saved me som time :scooter:
It looks promising.

Cheers
Haakon

Pop on to the www.xt660.com forum which has all you need to know about the new tenere and the XTR/X.

There seems to be quite alot of people interested in it as there loads of people signing in say "ive just bought myself a new tenere..."

I saw one in the flesh today for the first time. It's much bigger than I thought and my initial impression was good. I feel a test ride coming on.

Only thing that concerns me is how the single would cope with high mileages. No point being good on the rough stuff if it cant get you there in any form of comfort. Hmm thinking cap is on.

The new Tenere is surprisingly smooth for a single. Mine became smoother as the kilometres piled up. I toured extensively with it last summer. It behaved well. I have no hesitation to take it even longer.

My write-up here.

Hmm. I am swaying towards it after seeing it in the flesh. I just dont really know what style of riding I am into. I think thats the main problem. I do like having something sporty but that just isn't suitable really for going any distance. Then I'm thinking of the more off road adventures. So that would take me to a bike such as the Tenere.

Not to mention the fact you dont really want to take them over 80, so that can only be a good thing for the licence. Either way its too late to get one now. I'm off to Morocco next week. Wonder how many times the R6 will get dropped lol :oops2:

It might be made of plastic, but it works... and that's all that really matters right?

(Johnny Cambell still uses the OEM plastic bash guard from the XR650 on his Baja1000 CRF450 bike too)

If you want an off-road travel/adventure bike, you will love the new Tenere - it really is very well thought-out and constructed... I've ridden over 10,000 miles on mine already over here in the USA, and every day I'm more impressed... it will handle anything you are prepared to ride on/over/through - sand, desert piste, slickrock, forest trails, mud, water, serious rocks (and I mean serious), then cruise home at 80mpg all day on the highway should you wish to...

The XT line of singles have always been excellent at high mileages, they may not produce on-paper performance figures like KTM (yawn), but in the real world are grunty and have plenty of performance for this style of bike, together with long service intervals and minimal maintenance - perfect.

As others have said, for any specific questions and owners opinions, XT660.com is an excellent website... and of course technically to avoid confusion, the new bike is the XT660Z Tenere (not the XTZ660 Tenere which was the previous version from the 1990s).

I'm sure you won't be disappointed if you get one!

xxx

Thanks JMo for the kind words on .: XT660.com - The #1 XT660 Resource :. (who's piglet by the way?)

I would like to add that in the space of 7 months I have witnessed a massive worldwide interest toward this new version of the Tenere, in facts the XT660Z has soon achieved a fantastic 100% positive review from all the people who have bought it. And you know what is more astonishing? I would say that a great part of these people were previously GS1150 or GS1200 owners who found the beemer to be too cumbersome and too full of faults in comparison with the smooth and reliable running of the new Tenere. There have been of course a few minor issues when they were first launched but Yamaha have been quick in rectifying these and we are hearing nothing but praises from those like JMo who are putting them to the roughest of test.

Proof is that they are still in high demand in the dealerships and nearly all new deliveries are spoken for. Plus they have been out for almost a year now and used ones are still pretty hard to find.

Test ride one, you will be amazed too.

Hi, i only got my Tenere a few weeks ago and these are my initial thoughts about riding it;
seat is tall (i am 5 11 ), this can be easily altered with a lowering kit from Metal Mule.
Bikes engine, suspension, brakes and handling are excellent (for a 660 single )
Fuelling below 2000 rpm is terrible.
Over geared for offroading (fit a 14T front sprocket )
Instrumentation is excellent
Build quality and finish appear good but time will tell.
I was worried about the weight but it carries it well and even when manually pushing the bike it does not feel too heavy.
Overall i think it will make an excellent long distance tourer that can handle the rough with the smooth. Andy

At the moment I'm the owner of the old XTZ660. I bought it very cheap and in like-new condition. I'm wondering what are the differences in the real world between the old one and the new one. On the papper, the old one is lighter with the same power and torque. The brakes are for shure much better on the new one. I'm especially interested in off road ability.

Is there any owner of the old one who bought the new one? Is it worth the difference in the price (5.000 EUR in my country)?

Yes there are actually a couple of owners of the previous version on .: XT660.com - The #1 XT660 Resource :. and I believe one of them still owns the old one as a relic and because its worth to him more in sentimental value than for its financial one, in other words it wouldn't be worth selling it so he keeps it for the odd occasion.

Thanks for the answer. I registered to the forum and spent a lot of time searching through the posts, but I couldn't find anything related to the old XTZ. They eaven don't mention it in the history of the Tenere.

Hi Andy - I'd agree with you about the gearing if you're tackling some serious terrain... I'm going to fit a 47T rear next time, and see how that fares...

However, I'm surprised the hear you've got poor fueling below 2000rpm? The glitches with the previous XTR/XTX bikes have been sorted with the new XTZ, and even running on crappy 85 octain fuel here in the US, it's certainly not bad... maybe you need to ask the dealer to take a look/reset the EFi as it ought to be very smooth, right off the throttle stop...

Yes the bike may feel a bit 'lumpy' below 2000rpm, but that is the nature of a big single, not the fueling itself - that ought to be smooth - check with your dealer...

xxx

How are the tires on a new Tenere?
 

Hi all,,,,,I'm about to pull the trigger on a new Tenere and am planning a trip to Morocco on it in March/April.

How are the stock tires delivered with a new bike? Are they suitable for variety of on and off road riding or should I look into some alternatives?

Thx