2009 xt660z tenere RTW mods & upgrades after 50,000 miles

[Ni3ous]

You think the swingarm could last, and not worn out, if you would change plastic chainguide when it was worn out?
Did you had any issues with rear sprocket hub freeplay in the wheelbearings? Did you have to change it alot? What about rear hub rubber? I found these parts are weak point on Tenere.
By now (18 000 kilometres I already changed several whealbearings in rear sprocket hub. I had changed (in warranty) rear hub, because bearing socket got too much freeplay. And I had changed the sprocket hub rubbers.
Now at 18 000 km I will soon have to change rubber and bearings again.
( But I do qiute some offroading)

[Dotbond]

Originally Posted by 5kadv

I bought the 2009 XT660Z in mid 2010, i was in England for a few days got to see the bike for about 5 minutes based on the agreement that they would hold the bike
for me until i needed it shipped to Ushuaia Argentina in early 2011, it had 12,000 miles on the clock already

So, are you a Pom or American? If you are not a Pom, how did you get around buying the bike in England?
Did you have to get Insurance, Tax, MOT etc

Cheers
Trev.

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by Ni3ous

You think the swingarm could last, and not worn out, if you would change plastic chainguide when it was worn out?
Did you had any issues with rear sprocket hub freeplay in the wheelbearings? Did you have to change it alot? What about rear hub rubber? I found these parts are weak point on Tenere.
By now (18 000 kilometres I already changed several whealbearings in rear sprocket hub. I had changed (in warranty) rear hub, because bearing socket got too much freeplay. And I had changed the sprocket hub rubbers.
Now at 18 000 km I will soon have to change rubber and bearings again.
( But I do qiute some offroading)

when i got the bike it had 12,000 miles on it, i have done a mod on the rubbers adding inner tube to tighten it back up but the same rubbers for the last 38,000 miles

the reason that the swingarm had an issue was bad quality chains in south america, that were made for smaller bikes but were all that was available, there were no O rings to be found, the chain ate thru the slider as well, so on the new swingarm i made new sliders out of a high density delrin that we use in the shop where i work to counter act this happening again.

no bearing issues, i am carrying spares but will only change when i need to, you might want to look uto higher quality bearings, google allballsracing for them

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by Dotbond

So, are you a Pom or American? If you are not a Pom, how did you get around buying the bike in England?
Did you have to get Insurance, Tax, MOT etc

Cheers
Trev.

Dual citizenship, UK/US, bike is registered at family in UK, i did a export on the V5 so not responsible for tax and mot, i can change that back whenever i get to the UK, i have it insured thru my carrier in the US, considering changing it to a US reg so on the RTW when i am in Europe i don't have to pay high fees for the UK, basically playing the system!!!

[eurorider1]

Good thread, keep it coming.

Just about to buy a 660 myself so this is all good info.

[Dotbond]

Originally Posted by 5kadv

Dual citizenship, UK/US, bike is registered at family in UK, i did a export on the V5 so not responsible for tax and mot, i can change that back whenever i get to the UK, i have it insured thru my carrier in the US, considering changing it to a US reg so on the RTW when i am in Europe i don't have to pay high fees for the UK, basically playing the system!!!

Can't beat good luck on your part regarding the dual citizenship!

[Salami]

Originally Posted by Ni3ous

You think the swingarm could last, and not worn out, if you would change plastic chainguide when it was worn out?
Did you had any issues with rear sprocket hub freeplay in the wheelbearings? Did you have to change it alot? What about rear hub rubber? I found these parts are weak point on Tenere.
By now (18 000 kilometres I already changed several whealbearings in rear sprocket hub. I had changed (in warranty) rear hub, because bearing socket got too much freeplay. And I had changed the sprocket hub rubbers.
Now at 18 000 km I will soon have to change rubber and bearings again.
( But I do qiute some offroading)

To save the cushdrive rubbers I modified the rear hub, with another bearing on the inside. I did this at work but any metal shop can do this for you, just create another bearingchamber and make the spacer fit again.
You also can replace the original bearing by a INA 3205-2RS F0712 this is the one BMW uses on some bikes. This is a double bearing and works well too, best thing is the drive chain lasts much longer too

[Rafael Martins]

Hi Pal,

Which brand is on the brake and clutch lever?

The link on ebay is not working...

Nice job on the rear suspension!

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by Rafael Martins

Hi Pal,

Which brand is on the brake and clutch lever?

The link on ebay is not working...

Nice job on the rear suspension!

this is the link http://www.ebay.com/itm/170694297800...#ht_6597wt_960

and i will also update it in that post as well

[rtwpaul]

the stock exhaust was harder to get off than the new one was to put on...the retaining bolts on the exhaust clamps had rusted solid so had to be snapped to get them off. I replaced them with nickel plated grade 8 so it won't happen again.

the stock rear exhaust hanger is replaced with the new unit, i'm doing a single stainless can, ordinarily you would cut the other side off if its not being used to hang an exhaust but i am contemplating making an auxiliary fuel tank in the space left by the right can

once the stock system is taken off you can see the heat resistant pad which is silver colored, i sprayed it with hi temp black paint to help it disappear a little but still have the same effect if required to protect the electrics





before the rear wheel went back on i did the kev mod on the cush drive rubbers, it looks oily, its not its soapy water to help it slide together easier...oh, and by the way those cush drive rubbers have 40,000 miles on them!!!








just realized i forgot to mention tyres...i did a front tyre change to match the rear, the front has zero miles but the rear has 6000 on it, Kenda K270, i did maybe 2500 miles off road...the wear is good but they are a bit noisy on the tarmac, but cheap - pros and cons!!!




...and if you are wondering what the white patch is on the left side of my tank it a customs sticker from flying the bike bike from columbia to panama, it looks like $hit but kind of reluctant to take it off

[rtwpaul]

had some spare time this week so when i found a crack in the chain guard it was time to make a new one

took a template from the original trimmed some aluminum sheet to size and bend it in a sheet metal brake



drill some holes and used a dimple die, they look like this




so basically lightened it up a little but the dimple adds strength to the piece

this is what it looks like against the original...not sure if i like it or not, or if i need to paint it black, or add another hole or more in the "V" area





got this finished quicker than i thought so i had a template for the head light, so started to make a rock guard, with the XTZ headlight being a complex shape it was easier to make a generalized shaped around the template











in the last photo you can see another one i was making as well...choices????

[rtwpaul]

the bushings were out of stock and on back order, as the old ones were unusable i had to make new ones on the lathe in the shop where i work, the originals were made from 308 stainless which has a small amount of carbon hence the rust, i made the new ones from 316 S/S



yamaha paper weight



pull out the swing arm...that's it, about 15 minutes for it to be out, do some cleaning and regreasing if you haven't done it before, when you put it back in i use that rod to locate everything and check the side play and make the adjustment on the nut on the inside of the right frame rail to get it to spec



so do all steps in reverse to put it back together, this is the new one back in place with the new chain guard painted with an additional hole!!!

[150ron]

That is one sick bike

[Ni3ous]

Originally Posted by Salami

To save the cushdrive rubbers I modified the rear hub, with another bearing on the inside. I did this at work but any metal shop can do this for you, just create another bearingchamber and make the spacer fit again.
You also can replace the original bearing by a INA 3205-2RS F0712 this is the one BMW uses on some bikes. This is a double bearing and works well too, best thing is the drive chain lasts much longer too

Do you have any pictures?
I will have to do this mod also. Soon.




5kadv, always happy too read about your progress, explanation and pictures.
By the way, chain guard in black looks much better now.

Where do you keep tools and what tool you carry on long trip?

[kemizz]

looks so cool , and I'm damn jaleous you can do all these things yourself


I have a question on the chain tensioner , this is one from R&G , any info on model , supplier ? fitting ?

thanks !