Yamaha XTZ660 Tenere First Test

Story by Lance Turnley. Photos by Tim Munro.

The Yamaha XTZ660 Tenere has been a long time coming, especially for Australia. The demand has been so great in Europe it’s only now that the French have thrown some bikes our way. See, that’s the thing. The new Yamaha Tenere is built in France, not Japan which sets it apart from its XT siblings. And it’s the same people behind the new Tenere that created the long line of Dakar champions that are at the core of the Tenere family tree.

Being a big fan of the Tenere, (a 1992 Super Tenere resides in the ORE garage) I’ve waited eagerly for the new generation XTZ660s arrival over the past two years. I’ve also experienced the frustration of having to wait so long for the bike to arrive. So much so I worried that my expectations would exceed the reality and I had gone full circle ready to poo poo the bike. Having now ridden the Tenere I’m confident that its reputation is well and truly intact.

Offroadexplorer.com was invited to test the new Yamaha XTZ660 Tenere just this week in the first group media launch. I could sprout off a whole heap of technical info but I’d rather just tell you about the ride and my experience on the bike.
As a group we set off from Yamaha HQ in Wetherill Park, Sydney with the first sector all transport to Mittagong. At around 167cm, (depending on how much my spine has compressed after face planting off the last test bike) throwing my leg over the bike for the first time reminded me that this is a tall bike with a seat height of 895mm. In fact a tall bike for most riders, especially when negotiating tricky terrain but once in the seat, the bike’s ergos felt pretty much spot-on. The seat in particular is very comfortable. Not too hard but not too soft and wide enough to give support on a long haul. I immediately forgot how tall the bike is.
Motoring along the highway, the bullet-proof XT660 plant is as smooth as I remember and the gearbox is tight and crisp, shifting effortlessly. Reaching and maintaining highway speeds is easy and requires constant monitoring of the digital speedo to make sure that you don’t exceed the limit. Unlike the European spec bikes the Australian Tenere breathes through a foam air filter instead of a paper element. The vibration is less than most bikes of a similar configuration but the most impressive feature is the Brembo brakes. With dual 298mm discs up front and 200mm disk at the rear the brakes have a nice progressive feel giving great control on and off road. The screen is enough to deflect airflow over your head and the digital/analogue multifunction digital display is easy to read.

After a quick coffee injection at Mittagong we finally reached the dirt road to Wombeyan Caves. With the standard Metzler Tourance dual sport tyres the bike felt a bit skatey as would any bike. Standing on the pegs to keep weight forward over the front wheel raised the confidence level. The Tenere feels much higher in the front end than the XT660 and the new seat design is not too wide as to put too much pressure on the inside of your legs. The bike could do with some slightly wider foot pegs but this is one bike I could ride standing all day.

As the fire trails got tighter we descended a steep hill into a gully. Despite its size the Tenere was easy to manoeuvre and went where I pointed it. When the specs were released everybody was complaining about the weight at 209 kgs wet. The good news is that it handles and feels like a 180kg bike and is a real performer in technical terrain.

At the bottom of the gully was a 20 metre long, knee-deep creek crossing. The large river stones marooned me two metres from the end but the adequate ground clearance meant there was no chance of hanging up on a rock.
Next was the climb out of the gully and this would test all of us, both man and machine. We’d been told the incline was a little technical. That was a gross understatement as recent rains had exposed large granite rocks which stranded most of the test riders. I made it two-thirds of the way up before stalling. Standing next to the bike the tank was at chest level and remounting looked impossible. Trust me, it’s less embarrassing to get help than finishing the ride with a huge dent in the tank of a test bike.
We all finally made it to the top of the first hill only to be faced with a rutty yet steeper incline to the top. Once again carnage ensued but I made it to the top unassisted where a couple of my other media counterparts suffered more carnage. Don’t want too take anything away from them though because they smoked me on the tarmac. The Tenere had the torque and on the hill starts it didn’t overheat but in these conditions knobbies are essential. There are not many bikes in this class that would have made it through this trail.

A few kilometres of rocky twin track has us back in the paddocks and we emerged about 8kms out of Taralga. By this time it was late afternoon so the decision was made to beeline it to Batemans Bay via Braidwood. The Kings Highway down to the coast provided enough twisty black top to satisfy me that the Tenere is one of the most well balanced dual sport bikes on the market and is not radically biased either way.

The next day we had an opportunity to ride around a motocross track. Getting air on an adventure bike usually means bottoming out with the sounds of frame rails scraping the ground. The Tenere felt tight and plush and was right at home. The rest of the day was a mix of highway to back country dirt roads all of which were taken in its stride.
I have to admit I was worried about blowing too much sunshine up the Tenere’s twin mufflers. The only thing I can criticise is the lack of handguards which are available from GYTR and Barkbusters and wider foot pegs. Heated grips would have been a nice touch but they are also available from GYTR.

Since the Tenere has been around for a couple of years there is a swag of accessories and luggage options available from GYTR and other European aftermarket suppliers. That being the case the bike with its front windscreen, dual headlight, 23 litre tank, touring seat, rear rack, long travel suspension and fuel injected 660cc engine is ready to go straight out of the crate. At $13,999 plus on road it’s more expensive than the DR650 or the KLR650 but value for money it’s head and shoulders above. As for other bikes in its class at a similar price point a simple test ride will give you a clear choice.

In this economic environment and cost cutting strategies I really expected to find something lacking with the new Yamaha XTZ660 Tenere but this new generation of adventure bike has lived up to the legend.

Check out the Tenere Specifications here and click on the Adventure category