It's still a single. All singles are a touch vibey with no other cylinders to balance them out. I've owned or ridden nearly every single out there over the last twenty years. It's by far one of the smoothest. And its one of the most powerful (non competition) motors too. The only way a manufacturer can reduce it is by putting a very large balancer on the motor. Which reduces power.

Unless you're over-revving it in every gear, I can't see how it would loosen your fillings. Although people who come from multi-cylinder bikes do tend to over-rev singles. Could that be it ?

I've never liked the Tenere. It's way too big and heavy for the motor. Although it gets down the road okay. At that weight you'd be better off with a Transalp etc.

I think they both had balance shaft problems or something; I know the 660 has a fancy self-adjusting system but some people had problems with the engine mounting bolts stretching. The first one I tried was rough and rusty so I didn't put much thought into it, but with the second one (a 2010 one that looked perfect) the vibration was far far worse than I experienced on the XR400 I had at the time, or a rough old XT600 that I subsequently borrowed ... the second Ténéré was from a dealer and when I took it back they tried to fob me off saying that that's just how big singles are.

I didn't look at a third one.

There are plenty of reasons a bike vibrates when it shouldn't. They sounds like rough old nails. I'm so used to riding singles now that I'd fall asleep on anything else.

doh:rofl:

I don't agree that you are looking for a unicorn.

Any 225-250 cc Yamaha or Honda Dual Sport will do - even an older two stroke with carburetor and a cickstart. Many of them have been thrashed arround, but then again, they can take a severe beating as long as they get serviced.

Look for an older bike that has done less than 20.000 kms on an original working speedo, and that has had its tires, sprockets and chain replaced less than 5000 kms ago (will save you a bunch). Preferably also newish brakes and serviced suspension (but now you are pushing your luck). Find a bike that has been dropped st low speed once or twice, and which came away from it with cosmetic damages only - has a dent or two in the tank, some scratches to the plastic and paint (not down to bare metal as that means dropped at speed), and maybe a cracked plastic panel or two that you could easily weld, maybe even a tear in the seat - but that otherwise looks to be in decent shape and that is entirely original/stock. Bikes with unoriginal decals, plastics, handlebars, sprockets of different size than original, exhaust, cylinders, full of cool stickers from Redbull or the likes... those bikes have usually been owned and ridden by bike beaters (think wife beaters).

Measure the compression, check that everything works (not too many things to check), check that the front and rear wheel lines up and that the wheels are round and straight. Brake check. Check oil level, color and smell (has it been getting service). Check spark plug. Faded paint means stored outside - which is not s good thing.

Immediately upon buying the bike. Change all fluids and filters (including suspension and brakes). Change the plug. Google common failures to your model and buy spares (fit the new part and bring the old as a spare) - and off you go!

Buying an identical bike for your GF would be ideal, but really isn't that important - buy the bike that she enjoys the most for her, and likewise for yourself. If she is vertically challenged, then know that it is possible for the smallest of us to learn how to ride the biggest bikes - even off road.

Proper ammount of practice is required to ride a tall bike. Going on a 50.000 kms trip is not conscidered practice - at the end of it you might not be any better than when you started. Riding 30 kms in a single weekend though, all of it tailored and compressed to maximize learning off road as vertically challenged - that is proper practice!

Whatever people will tell you - anyone can learn to ride a tall bike in the rough - but you have to practice smart and hard. It is easier for a tall person to ride a tall bike ofcourse, but that does not mean that a shorter bike for a short person is the better compromise - often yes, but far from allways (an obstacle in the road doesn't care if the bike has low ground clearance, small wheels and short suspension travel).

Lowering the suspension a couple of centimeters front and rear, and shaving off the width and height of the seat a tiny bit - can both be done cheaply with very little adverse effects to the bike's offroad capabilities - but may make a big difference in the rider's ability to handle the bike.