Interesting link! I don't know the XT660 Tenere' well as we don't get it in the US. Surprising the travel would be so different from ABS to NON ABS version. Do both bikes use a 21" front wheel? Or 17" ?
As Grif says, if riding mostly pavement ABS model would be OK. For casual off road exploration or just riding mild dirt roads, you won't need 12" of travel.
"Real" dirt bikes have about 12" of suspension travel. (300mm)
And on a dirt bike you WILL use all that travel if riding the bike as intended
off road.
But do you need 12" of suspension travel on a dual sport travel bike? I don't think so.
My DR650 has about 10" of fork travel and I find that is plenty even in rough going at speed and works beautifully at a sporty pace on paved mountain roads as well.
I use heavier springs & Race Tech emulators, all works well on a loaded travel bike on rough conditions at good pace.
I don't slow down for "Topes" (speed humps) and generally never worry about pot holes. I can just hit them most times, suspension sucks it up.
So that is the beauty of having a bit of extra travel to spare.
But a well set up bike could get by with even 6" to 8" of travel and probably would do OK if the suspension was set up for the rider weight/ riding style and load carried. (IE: proper springs, damping)
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