THE word Tenere - a word boldly emblazed on many Yamaha off-road bikes over the past couple of decades literally means desert. And if riding in the desert isn't your idea of an adventure, I'm not sure you still have a pulse.

Cycle Torque's big adventure trip didn't take us into the desert, but the countryside around White Cliffs, Broken Hill and Silverton is pretty close. It's desolate, barren and a long way from help, so reliability comes to the fore and the XTZ660 didn't let us down.

The bike arrived from Yamaha with a set of genuine aluminium and plastic panniers ($1402.91 plus $348.87 for the stays), but no key for them: someone at Yamaha HQ thought the two keys with the bike were both ignition keys so stashed one away safely - but it was the pannier key, which looks similar to the ignition key.

The correct key was duly despatched, but it wouldn't arrive until the day before we were due to leave, so a locksmith was entrusted with getting the panniers open so we could pack. He failed, as did two others. Yamaha locks 1, Hunter Valley Locksmiths 0. Serious security.

Yamaha also sent up a GYTR bash plate ($269.96), engine guard ($277.81) and hand protectors ($92.47). These were all easy to bolt in place, although when the instructions say to use Loctite, take the advice seriously: I didn't have any at the Cycle Torque office and we lost a couple of bolts on the trip

That was about it for Tenere preparation. The bike is very well equipped for the long adventure tour with a good touring screen, decent headlight, comprehensive instruments, a comfy seat and with the accessories supplied it would be a bit tougher and able to carry a good deal of luggage, too.

Motor-vation
The current Tenere is a single cylinder adventure bike mid capacity with moderate power output, this bike isn't about ripping up the desert, it's about getting through it comfortably, safely and having fun along the way.
The liquid-cooled four-valve motor provides enough power to cruise above the highway speed limit if you're so inclined, although a downshift or two is required to overtake B-doubles and caravans quickly.
But being a single means the bike is lighter and a lot cheaper than many of the other machines on our trip. With a 21-inch front wheel it was quite at home in deep sand or even single track, but keep in mind it's not a WR450. It's far better than a WR450 on the long haul. One of our testers, Daniel, speared off from Broken Hill to visit his parents in the Clare Valley, SA, and ended up doing well over 800km in a day catching back up to the group, and he didn't need a chiropractor that evening.

This bike - possibly more than any other in this group - could probably go places none of the others might make it, at least without serious modification. A big fuel tank with miserly consumption, the right wheel and tyre sizes for dirt riding, light weight compared to the multi cylinder machines and even a tow hook on the front if you need some help getting out of a tough situation adds up to a package which might be just the ticket for getting across the Ténéré or the Simpson, Great Sandy, Tanami.

Part 2 - August 2011 Issue

YAMAHA'S XTZ660 Ténéré offers an awesome combination of capability and value. It's not too heavy, too expensive or too intimidating. It comes pretty well ready-to-roll, but there's also a heap of accessories available to make it perfect for your usage and needs.

For the rider eating miles across tough terrain, the XTZ can be equipped with alloy bash plates, engine protection and handguards, so going down in the bush is unlikely to cause major expense or the inability to continue. With it's single cylinder motor it's a lightweight by adventure bike standards, so it's less likely to be on its side anyway, and is a damn sight easier to pick up, too.

For the long distance tourer the Ténéré's performance is adequate, although highway overtaking usually requires a downshift or two, and the pipes do restrict the breathing a bit (Yamaha offers Akrapovic mufflers…), but the fuel-injected engine is frugal and the tank a decent size, so more than 300km between refills is easy.

For Cycle Torque's big adventure trip the bike was also fitted with the genuine panniers, which swallow a decent amount of gear, but I think the fittings and mounting mechanism are unnecessarily complex.
Unusually for an off-road machine the rider's seat is scolloped out a bit, which makes reaching the ground a lot easier, but if you're riding hard off road it makes it a bit more difficult to move around: there's always compromise in these things. The seat comfort and riding position are great: it's very comfortable to ride long distances, both sitting in the saddle and standing when off-road. It's relatively vibration-free for a big single, too: Yamaha's done some work in this area, fitting very heavy weights to the ends of the handlebars (which are removed if you add the handguards) and there are removable rubber inserts in the footpegs, which we left at the office.

What I believe Yamaha has built is a machine which can do quite serious off-road work, albeit at lower speeds than on enduro bikes. But where enduro machinery is awful to ride on the road, the XTZ simply chugs along, eating the miles comfortably behind a reasonably protective fairing, which sits quite a long way forward of the rider, where it's less likely to get in the way when you're standing up and leaning forward, a position when trying to get bodyweight over the front end of the machine, common off road.
The Ténéré was totally reliable on the trip: even the chain didn't need adjusting after 4000km.

The versatility of the Ténéré make it a bike you could use all year: commuting to work, big adventures, even trailriding.
One thing I wouldn't recommend for the Ténéré is two-up touring: for day rides and short trips, fine, but for longer distances at higher speeds I think the addition of a pillion passenger would make riding tiring for both people.
There's also been some controversy about the $13,999+ORC price: the Ténéré is considerably more expensive than some other single-cylinder dual-purpose bikes such as Kawasaki's KLR650 and Suzuki's DR650.
I actually don't believe they compete that closely.

The DR and KLR are both great bikes: they have both been around essentially unchanged for donkeys' years, but they are dual purpose bikes, not adventure machines. To turn either into an adventure bike is very possible and a popular thing to do, but it takes time and money, whereas the Ténéré is ready to go off the showroom floor, especially as you can have one configured with the accessories of your choosing before you wheel it out of the dealer's showroom. I was disappointed there's no electric power outlet on the bike, but I've found an inexpensive way to add this: check out www.cycletorque.com.au/more for details.

I don't consider the Ténéré an expensive dual purpose bike, I look on it as a cheap adventure machine. While the DR and KLR are both great bikes, I wouldn't have wanted to do a trip like this on either, but the Ténéré was fantastic.

The Yamaha 660 Tenere will cost $13,999 plus on-road costs.