Hey Snakeboy,

What problems have you had with your Tenere XT660Z?
Mine's been pretty good, but I think probably has a lot less miles than yours....

The list is too long to be mentioned here but but a sudden increase in fuel consumption by 25 % that despite a lot of investigation and check ups havwent been solved and including two top end rebuilds it havent gone back to normal. Its really annoying that a 48 HP 650 cc bike on + 200 kilos weight uses more fuel than my dads car who weighs 1400 kilos and has a 1,6 liter engine of 125 HP - and that while Im riding constantly in fuel saving modus which is max 80-90 km/h and no hard axelrations.
The ECU ans thus the bike died in the australian outback.
The gearbox and the clutch melted together down in Patagonia, a total split of the engine neccesary.
Two top end rebuilds and the bike still consume oil like a two stroker.
Sometimes it doesnt start in rainy conditions.
It eat chain and rear sprockets, rear sprocket wears out twice as fast as front sprocket. Its supposed to be the opposite, isnt it?
In general - a huge lumpy piece of utter shit...

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Sounds like a dud bike to me.

Who did the rebuilds? Did they do the valve guides as well? Valve guide seals?

No excuse for an ECU dying, though....

Sorry to hear that, mate. I wouldn't have persisted that long with it...

First rebuild was probably not great performed but the last one was done by a very skilled mech who own a Tenere himself and all parts were new, cylinder, piston, rings etc.

Im about to give it up myself now. 5000 kms after the last rebuild I still need to top up 0,5 liter oil every 1000 kms. And last fuel milage was 19,5 kms/l riding 80-90 kms/h max.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I'd check the receipt for parts for valves, guides and seals; if they were not done and it is still using oil, they are the likely culprit and an easy fix; be a shame to dump the bike for oil use on that basis; mpg is 55 - about average for these bikes. Just my two cents; there's probably a lot more that has happened which makes you sick of that bike......

I didnt get a receipt but the mech who did the job I know personally through a good friend and he have sent me photos all the way through the process. So I hvae no doubt is done properly. The bike didnt use oil the first 2-3000 kms after rebuild, but then it started. So its the bike thats the cultprit.

When the bike was newish I got 27-28 kms pr liter, when I changed sprockets to 15/48 and loaded it up for overland travel I still got 25 kms/l without having to ride in fuel saving modus all the time. And now I get around 20 kms/l riding max 90 kms/h. Thats ridiciolos lousy fuel milage! All other similar bikes I have been riding, even the carburated Dr650 got 24-25 kms/l. Bmw 650 gs rotax engine get 25-28 kms/l, Suzuki Vstrom 650 25-28 kms/l. Hell even the Triumph Tiger 955 I had got a whole lot better fuel milage if I rode it easy (which I didnt do often though) No something is clearly very very wrong...

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

A bit difficult to get rid of a not decent working bike half way around the world. I heard of an aussie guy who had his Tenere rebuild and massively repaired in Salta northern Argentina just so it broke down again after a few hundred kms and he had to get it trucked to Buenos Aires and shipped back home to Australia. Im not there yet, but probably not far away...

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

100k miles with all original parts, engine, clutch, even front brakes etc..



lemons happens from time to time, most often on other brands though.


p.s.
I have only 20k km on mine but I treat my tenere like a dirt bike, often hard off-road, went for one rally even. No problem whatsoever.

A single bird doesnt make a summer...

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Hello

I'm sorry to hear of your many problems.
What is the year and milage of your Z and when started the problems?

I do not think that this is normal and representative for most of the Z's on the road.
There are reports of gear and bearings failings on the net, but overall the 660 engine is very reliable.
I know that doesn't help you, I wish you all the best to solve your problems and save your trip.

It's not what I've experienced with my '08 Z.
Did 105'000km 2 years RTW with some problems but nothing that stoped me for too long.
Started with a new bike. 0km.
27tkm: rectifier, bad contact, saldered the pins and good, no parts needed.
35tkm: rear break disc bended, due to overheating, the break didn't open properly. Replaced disc 4tkm later.
45tkm: hit a rock and had to bend the front rim in a 20t press, 2-3 loose spokes for the next 70tkm.
50tkm: new steering bearing, not enough lubrication at manufacturing.
65tkm: suicide of a kangaroo, after treating the pipes with the press, still slightly bended front fork for the next 50tkm.
80tkm: headlight broken inside, maybe from the accident, stuffed it with foam. No parts.

Valves: checked at 50tkm, o.k. at 105tkm 1 valve needed adjustment.
Fuel consumption was normal at all times, 4.75-5.5 l/100km depending on my riding.
Oil consumption was not measurable until 50tkm, then maybe 1l/10tkm.
Not sure if it was the engine that burned it or the oil vent through the breather hose, a problem of the '08 models.

The spring in the rear suspension lost 2-3cm tension, better to take a stronger spring

At home:
110tkm: a small hole in the radiator caused by a screw of the ventilator mounted on it.
115tkm: bowdon cable of the gas broke.
117tkm: finally I burned the clutch while riding in the snow, got surpriced, used too much grinding clutch.

I would recommend the XT660Z to anybody as a RTW bike.
Perfect bike for someone with limited mechanical skills who treats it not too well, like me.
The R needs some modifications but is lighter.
Can't say anything about the BMW.


sushi

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My RTW:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere

Mine is a 2011. It has now 153 k kms on the clock but in reality it has done somewhat less. Its ridiciously overgeared OEM so I have changed the rear sprocket from 45 to 48 and now ride with a 47.
Anyhow - problems started at around 70 k kms. Suddenly fuel consumption went from 25 kms/l without thinking about riding slow to 20 kms/l. And to this day spending huge amount of cash on technical checks, top end rebuilds etc the fuel milage is still 20 kms/l riding 80-90 km/h max. And this is not right at all. A 650 cc efi bike should have a fuel consumotion something like 25-28 kms/l if its ridden moderately. And the low output Teneres should probably have less. Mine had 27-28 kms/l km when it was new.
Oil consumption started around 50 k kms, and has increased since. Its not uncommon for certain bikes, the problem with the Tenere is that it still uses oil after a recent top end rebuild. I have had numerous problems with oil leaks too. Some have ben easy to fix, some not. For a time I had a oil leak and none could even find out where it came from. But its not there for the moment although Im sure it will come back one sunny day...

Valve checks - they are supposed to be done every 20 k kms, mine has been done and Im always told they are way out of specs.

Its a clear myth that the Teneres are reliable. Every time I meet or hear of a Tenere I hear about all the problems they have had. I rode with a german guy in Australia and his rectifier died. His cush rubber drives worn out after less than 10 k kms. An australian guy in northern Argentina spend heaps of money on a rebuild and repair and travelled by bus to Santiago Chile to get spare parts. When done he rode 2-300 kms on it and it broke down again. He had to truck it to nearest shipping town and ship it back home to Australia. Not exactly what you had expected on a RTW trip?
I know a couple of guys back home with Teneres. One of them blew up his engine after 50-55 k kms after numerous problems before that. He had a long case going with the local Yamaha dealer who refused to replace anything under warranty as he had added the Kev mod on his bike. He wasnt very happy about that and rides a KTM today.

Adding that the Teneres are very heavy, in fact the very heaviest single cylinder bike except the very ancient mk2 of Suzukis old Dr800 and that the engine is set up so lean that it requires adjustmenst that void the warranty - dont even think about it.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Hello

Thanks for the reply.
150tkm is a lot for 1 cylinder. No matter what kind of model the bike is, RTW counts triple compared to riding back home.
Mine was done after my trip for passing a road safety inspection in Switzerland, but I could have done more RTW, but not trouble free after the 100tkm.
Even bikes with 2 cylinders have more problems in the 100-200tkm range.

The Z has had a problem with the "ventilation of the engine" and the oil goes out through the breather hose. Yamaha changed something with the airbox. Sorry, don't know the correct explanation in english.

Would have done that had I found enough Yamaha service stations along the way.

Yes, the rectifier, small cause (bad contact of a pin), big problem.
Just break the plug open and solder the pins directly to the rectifier, seal with silicon or something else, before the problem occurs.
Cush rubbers, use a piece of old tube around them and change the tube everytime you take off the wheel.
I used new cush rubbers at 18tkm and again back home at 110tkm.

I don't know how often problem are mentioned on Facebook or xt660.com.
I'm active in xt-660.de, covers the german speaking countries.
Over 3000 users since 2004 starting with the first 660 engines.
Sure, most ride just at home, few RTW but I think thats not much different on the english speaking site.
There were few with gearbox or engine failure, but it happend.
Long thread on rectifier. Overall still very reliable.

I haven't had the chance to meet a fellow Z rider on my trip.
But, I met lots of riders with other made bikes.
One rider on a KTM 690 had 4 breakdowns where he needed transport just in southamerica, on the same route I had two minors problems with no need of transport.
At first I was doing research on F800GS and found many stories of breakdowns so I droped the idea of buying one.
I don't think the Z is a legend that never breakes, but, I think it's a good bike for the money you pay.

Anyway, just my opinion on the Z.
wish you good luck for the rest of your trip.

sushi

__________________
My RTW:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere

Well - last top end rebuild I got a completely new cylinder mounted and new piston, rings etc. Top and valves overhauled and machined - but the bike still uses oil and fuel consumption is still shitty.
I had a Triumph Tiger 955 earlier on and at one stage that bike also started to use a whole lot of oil. But I got it rebuild and it was good as new, no oil consumption and fuel consumption was never an issue on that. Its strange to think about that if I rode the tuned 950 cc Tiger with around 110 HP in 80-90 km/h it used notably less fuel than my 48 HP Tenere at the same speed. Fuel is the single biggest expense on a RTW trip so it bothers me a lot, and especially since the Tenere newish I could get 27-28 kms/l.

I would like to hear more about the «ventilation of the engine» issue with the Tenere? Mine is running hot too for the moment, I have had thought about oil circulation issues or the PVC valve and the breather box. Breather box was improvisedly fixed at one stage. But unfortunately Im not very mechanically skilled so I dont know...

KTM 690 has many issues that I have read about, at least the earlier models. But then again its a highly tuned high performance machine. Its not a tractor like the Tenere. Anyhow - KTM was not a part of TS questions...

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Hello
what is that in l/100km

Know this thred in german:
Modifizierter "Ölabscheider" - Seite 4 - XT-660.de
Google of the part number 11D-E5371-10 I found that, hope it helps.
https://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=12331&page=2
https://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=8394
After 50tkm I had always oil in the pipe, so I removed the cap on the pipe and put a cigaret filter in it. So the oil droped out, couldn't measure how much went through the pipe or got burned in the motor.


Hope it helps


sushi

__________________
My RTW:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere

Yes, but did he specifically replace the valves, guides and guide seals??? Sounds , like he lapped the valves in to me, possibly re-cut the seats, which implies he reused the valves. Even if he put new valves in , did he replace the guides???

I do suspect new valves, guides and seals would solve your oil problem and possibly your fuel mileage problem as well, although it isn't actually that bad at 55 mpg imperial.