tenere
 

Glad you are enjoying the bike they get better/ smoother the more miles you put on them. Must have mods are Adventure spec bash plate (the best) and the kev 02 mod for more low rev flexibility. The fuel mod is more for if you fit a DNA filter which gives the bike a small increase in responsiveness I wiegh the same as you and have 29 inch legs, the seat will eventualy soften up and the reach to the floor will get shorter its fine without lowering the suspension once you get used to it. There are lots of little mods you can do to the bike
which combined change the bike from a very good bike to a great bike. XT660.com will give you all the info you need. You will be pleasantly surprised at the performance when the engine loosens up even though the hp figures are not that high.:thumbup1:

I'm pleased you've come to that conclusion Tremens - I've always said the 660 Tenere is probably the best RTW style bike right out of the showroom.

I bought one back in 2008, and rode it 23,000 miles all over the United States in bog standard form, and it never let me down (although the cush drive rubbers did wear after about 12,000 miles, as has already been mentioned).

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...9/DSCF2447.jpg
March 2009

I then extensively modified the same bike - suspension, wheels and particularly the engine with a Power Commander, Single Ti race can and open air-box lid/DNA filter - and raced it from Paris to Dakar.

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...09_423_2_2.jpg
October 2009

It was an awesome machine once modified, and certainly breathed a whole lot better and made much more power once it had been remapped with all the mods in place - but all that came at a significant cost of course - and not least a significant increase in fuel consumption.

While racing one was huge fun, it was a different kind of fun - and I honestly didn't find it any more rewarding than those initial few months of ownership travelling on the standard machine.

Enjoy your new bike, it's still one of the best looking adventure bikes out there ;o)

Jx

thanks! great pictures, were you racing on this Paris Dakar on tenere??? I wonder how was it on desert? no problems e.g. with clutch etc?

Hi Tremens - It was the Heroes-Legend rally in 2009, that followed the original route to Dakar through western Africa...

There was a brief thread about the campaign here on the HUBB, with links towards the end of that thread to the more detailed build story and event report on ADVrider and XT660.com

The bike was excellent throughout (the photo above is in the dunes in Mauritania), no mechanical issues at all. The support plate for my GPS broke half way though the second week, and the original Touratech road-book crapped-out on me, but I had a spare mounting plate and replaced the road-book with an MD one from my assistance crew.

Oh, and one night the refuel crew filled my bike with helicopter fuel rather than petrol. That was a fun hour or so stripping the tank off to empty it out.

Happy days...

If you're interested, do take a look at the links at the end of page two of that thread - the photos etc. still ought to be live on those respective sites.

Jx

very nice! had to be great adventure :)

tremens: not sure how much you've read elsewhere, but one really weak point on the Tenere used to be the rectifier connections. Maybe Yamaha has improved this, maybe not, and you should take a look. The problem is that the connections loosen and cause arcing, the rectifier stops working and your battery gets fried.

Here's a typical thread discussing the issue: Xtz 660 2010 Tenere Rectifier Problem, Strikes Again | Adventure Rider

My bike failed in Morocco but I managed to get it back to Algeciras in Spain where the dealer fitted a new wiring loom and rectifier under warranty. It seems to be a bad connection issue rather than water ingress as mine hadn't been near rain for months.

I believe the R-R issue was only on a few early models and as Cullis says was due to poor assembly rather than any inherent design fault.

Mine (2011 model) was tight when I inspected it and have had no problems with it.

It wasn't due to poor assembly, rather the excess current being dumped to earth so corroding, heating and disintegrating the earth pin. The loose connection and arcing which many people found seems to be as a result of the issue, rather than the cause.

XT660.com is a useful source: Electrical problems on XT660Z Tenere!! - .: XT660.com - The #1 XT660 Resource :.

In a quick look, the latest bike I can find affected is a 2012 so the problem *might* be fixed.

So the new looms and rectifiers fitted to affected bikes are in fact new parts?

Different part numbers?

Anyone know?

I have a 2011 model and have passed 100 k kms and havent had any problems with the rectifier But I know a german guy with a 2012 model who had rectifier problems on his bike and had done one repair and later had to replace the whole thing before he passed 50 k kms on his bike. So it "might" be as you say "cured" by now....

Sounds like an assembly issue rather than Cullis's electrical theory to me. If there were no new part numbers and the looms simply replaced the German guy likely got a Friday afternoon bike.

docsherlock: I've had the rectifier failure happen to me and I feel I have at least a little knowledge about the subject, so please don't be so disparaging. If it was an assembly problem it would have shown up thousands of km earlier.

Your persistence in not wanting to be wrong offers ill-advised comfort to tremens when in reality he should be checking the situation out.

Oh, and if you want to refer to me in a response use my login name, not my surname.

Yes, this is a problem not only on the xt but on HD's, dls and many more. the problem is in the single ground wire. if this becomes , lose, corroded or loses it complete connection, failure is beginning to take its toll, sometimes the whole electrical generation system needs replacing,stator to battery the VR has long given up. I clean n check the tightness, add star washers on all grounds, scrapped the paint off the VR case to better ground it that way, some have added additional ground connections( sportsters n buells) it is a costly repair even if you do it yourself,( $100+ battery, VR dont remember) glad i could do it myself including the testing as at $100 an hr that would get very big quickly.
On bike subject to vibrations( seems the brits sorted out theirs and now rather than frame mounted 650 verticals we have 650-690 singles to take their place.

thanks Tim for tip,
found this on tube:



I guess this is what are you talking about.
Definitely will check before longer trip.

Having something happening to you doesn't add anything with respect to causation, I'm afraid.

Not a case of not wanting to be wrong - I just don't think that if there are no new part numbers that this was a design fault, rather an assembly fault. If you know otherwise, do tell.

Your log in name IS Cullis, isn't it?