"Yamaha Tenere XTZ660Z" thread in "Off Road"
Originally Posted by Gregor Excellent, hope she's having fun, I'd be interested to hear more. I was going to pm you with some more info ...

She will enjoy it I'm sure, I would and I've already got a giant trail thingy.

I took her out this past weekend for an 80 mile loop round Bristol using all the forgotten roads around this way, shes been a bit twitchy in the wet since some SMIDSY pulled out in front of her in bad weather, she did just great with some gentle bullying leading into praise and encouragement, mud, gravel and crap on the road, high winds and cold driving rain. 10 miles in she was not a happy bunny, 50 miles in she was made up and once she had warmed up again she was in a very good mood indeed.

I'll keep her on the road for now till shes adjusted to the height and balance of the bike and then hopefully she'll come up to the plains for a play.

I'll be opting for the TKC's over the MT21's as I found they last better on my old CCM, mind you front tyre is where its at, loads of choice there and IME if you get the front wheel somewhere eventually the rear catches up!

Well I opted for the Pirelli, the front will get a hardly worn motorcross tyre I've got kicking around for local offroad rides and several half worn MT21s need using up.

I'll have to sort something new for longer runs involving a lot of roadwork though.

Can't fault the Tourances in the dry and they are predictable off road to a degree.But I've noticed they behave oddly on wet tarmac. Tramlining over repaired sections, twitching on catseyes/ whitelines and I had the rear let go then grip again while lent over on an innocent looking bend recently.Could be purely down to my suspension settings I have increased the preload but have either of you noticed anything odd in the wet ?

Too early for me to say, Mrs SSD said she had the back come loose a few times but then it garnered grip in a nice controllable way, I assumed she meant whilst on wet leaves and mud of which there was plenty last weekend though. She described it as reassuring though, saying her old SV would have caused her to crash in the same situation

She’s a fat old girl but stick an aggressive tyre on the front and she’ll go where you want most of the time.


I rode a few lanes today to get a feel for the bike and it’s capability as a greenlaner proper. After an absence of 2 years I find some of my local lanes have beeen graded with mot type 1 making them rather boring after a while.

A few miles on I found some up and down chalk and muddy stuff the Tenere tackled it no problem.



A leaf covered uphill,flint and chalk track.A careless person might stop for a slash, put a left foot down only to find a leaf filled rut beneath as the bike goes over to the right.Was it God/Rod who said these can be picked up with one hand.Not on an uphill off camber with the bike laying wheels higher than the seat.



More later

Looking good mate.

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Nice,im starting to like the look of 'em,had a sit on one at the off road show and i felt very at home.still cant afford one though !!

Same here, I've done about 5000 miles so far incuding a trip to the Alps,

Report here if you are interested...
6 Day trip to the Alps from London - ADVrider

Anyway, I find the same problem with the Tourances, especially in the wet. But I just love the bike and so does the wife on the back. It is a brilliant all round bike and I traded in a Pan Euro for it.

OGR

Glad it's not just me then.

Won't say a word against them now though having ridden with MT21s the last few weeks, they are scarey in the wet but do the job well offroad.The Tourances will feel so much better when I re-fit them.

I enjoyed your roadtrip writeup.Very useful info for a touring virgin like myself.

Gregor.

How do you find the bike on the motorway. What will it happily cruise at? Also what's it like away from the lights etc. Currently torn between an xt660 and a f800gs as I'm a bit worried the xt660 might feel a bit underpowered. I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Had you considered a second set of wheels? Might solve a lot of problems.

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Never break more than one law at a time, and never carry more grass than you are willing to eat.

I'm tempted by an XT660Z but that's my worry too. A mate did a few hundred miles on one and said it didn't have much puff overtaking 80mph cars and these days everyone's flying along the motorway at 90 in fast VW Golfs he wished the Tenere had a bit more poke.
I'd fancy a F800GS as well but I'm put off by BMWs recent build quality issues and the fact they're expensive ATM.
I might go for a TDM900... maybe... or an R1150GS Adventure... or.... etc


edit - although looking at the pics of Gregor's again, it's one lovely looking bike.... I could see myself on one, especially if I could get a good price on one with the aluminium luggage...

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Lying outrageously on the internet since 2003

Air brakes ready installed .. It ain't a Mway cruiser, its a compromise

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The Cardiomyopathy Association a heart muscle research leader
http://www.cardiomyopathy.org


Accelerated ageing made easy

Well I don't really do many motorway miles so it wasn't a factor for me come decision time.It will sit at 80mph easily, 90 is still comfortable and once I'd made the mental adjustment after riding more powerful bikes the lack of poke hasn't been an issue.It will get up to a ton without flapping about across all 3 lanes like some trailbikes but yes overtaking needs a bit more use of the mirrors and planning.

I wanted to curb the 120mph blasts on long Mway runs on the Fazer and silly speeds I was getting away with early am commuting which were bound to end in tears/ban/fines eventually.

Pulls away from lights just fine.On country roads and round town it's a lot quicker than my Fazer was. overtaking in the 40 to 70 range is easier with the extra visibility and punch from the engine. Plus you really don't have to worry about the road surface,shite,fallen branches on back lanes etc.

If you want a cheap,low maintenance big trailbike that can actually be ridden offroad this is the one to go for. But the compromise on paper is a relatively low powered engine in a heavy bike, in reality it's got enough go for me and in my riding habitat ..........that don't include much motorway.

I've not ridden the F800GS but I'd be surprised if it could match the Yamaha offroad.

On a 300mile motorway trip made recently the Tenere was the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden and the missus agrees too ..........for once.

Handy hint

If you do a lot of filtering in town, remove the handlebar weights this will reduce the width of the bike by 11cms

Minus bra and knickers


for a session with the Loctite.

You may want to do a bit of research on the Yamaha luggage. From what I've read they're not really all that. May be better off going for a non-luggage version and spending the money saved on an aftermarket set.