Here is my 50p' s worth: for the trip you plan buy a Super Ten 1200. You will never get a single to do what you want, never. That is why I am lucky enough to have several bikes and I never take the XT660X on the motorway except for very short blasts, it is just not its playground. Have fun and ps I put a pair of Leo Vince cans on mine and that takes off 3kg and makes it both breathe and sound much better too.

I completely agree. I would never go above that, just want to be able to sit there in comfort. Going to try a comfort seat or soft pad to take some vibration off my bum.

Thanks for everyones help, i'll keep my mods minimal, and try to reprogramme my brain to stay at 70!

I reduced my rear sprocket by just 1 tooth when I travelled across spain.
I was still able to do light tracks, but 2nd gear was too fast off road.
On the road it made 1st gear more usable; all the gears 'seemed' longer and revs dropped slightly on motorways.
Just my thoughts, but maybe you wouldn't need such a drastic ratio change.

All this said, I have the X, which I have proven recently isn't the same as the Ten offroad, But still suffers the motorway boredom.

I don't think that's fair,,,, you just had the wrong tyres.

Shrewsbury to Aberdeen is about 400 miles. Even if you assumed it was all motorway, you'd only gain 40 minutes by doing the entire distance at 80mph rather than 70mph. In practice, there's going to be so many places you're going slower than that anyway (non-motorway, traffic, fuel stops) that the time lost to chilling out and going 10mph slower is irrelevant.

(and it's not like you can't go 80mph on standard gearing, just that it will be a bit less comfortable)

I'd also be pretty sure you won't be able to do 16/42 and 15/45 on the same length chain.

I have Kev's encyclopedia now so will be looking through that tonight. Gearing wise I'm going to stick with the 45 (just bought a Renthal Twinring) and will see what a 16 on front is like compared to a 15. Can take both with me easily then and very easy to change. The 16 will just make the wheelbase a little shorter. Going to get an airhawk for my bum to take the vibes off that, the handlebars are ok. BHP mods i will stick to the usual cans, got a K&N already, and then a Power Commander if I can find one cheap enough. That should be fine then.

not sure about the X but on the Z increasing the front sprocket by one tooth would make it far too over geared. it would drop the revs at motorway speed down into the rough revs around the 4k mark.
80mph on the Z is a nice 5k revs.
i'd like to try the one tooth smaller front as this would make it less likely to stall offroad in the technical going and pulling away.

the ten really should have six gears for good motorway cruising but a nice low first gear for trail riding.

I'd have to agree with redbikejohn and Jmo.

These bikes aren't about hp, they're about TORQUE (in any case hp is a product of torque). And at the rear wheel.

The easiest and cheapest surefire way of a guaranteed increase in rear wheel torque is a bigger rear sprocket. (or smaller front - I prefer bigger sprockets as it gives more contact area with the chain - albeit marginal)
I use +2 teeth (chain needs to be 2 links longer at 112) on my Tenere and it is so much better for it. The engine is sooo much more willing. When you are battling the wind barrier at 70-80 (true)mph, taller gearing will put more stress on the engine. Lower gearing on the other hand makes the engine LESS stressed.

Oh, ACCELERATION! :blob1:

Any loss of top speed is in my opinion irrelevent when compared to the benefits (with a new Mefo Explorer rear tyre 5000rpm in top is an indicated 85mph & about 80mph with a worn Explorer). In any case there is still plenty in reserve to break the UK National Speed Limit if that's what you want.
As for fuel consumption...I'll wager that lower gearing is no worse than taller gearing because the engine is more willing and therefore more efficient (less throttle required per given rate of acceleration & the ability to hold a higher gear at lower speeds). For any long term benefit to fuel consumption with taller gearing at motorway speeds you'd need to be riding in a vacuum! (or always have the wind behind you/be going downhill).

I have been using a popular aftermarket single silencer for the last few months (also have a K&N air filter - but that was purely to keep maintenance costs down) but I refitted the original silencer at the weekend because my Ten had been running rich. Interestingly, the bike feels better for it.

Of course a lot will depend on an individuals riding style and environment. The above is just my findings after 108,000 miles of courier use (town/country/motorway) with 15/47 final ratio and mostly getting 220 miles (indicated - actual is now x [45/47] )to reserve

You pays your money..........


BTW, if you do go for performance enhancing mods, don't forget to inform your insurance company.

Hate to say it, but I don't think the Ten is the right bike for what you want if you want the high speed motorway killing bike.

With an opened airbox and free breathing silencer it's going to be rather noisy and a pain for being on for long distances.

You can still do decent distances on the bike as it is. Even spunking a grand on tuning is not going to make it a fun bike on motorways.

Rick, am I right in thinking +2 on the back is the same as -1 on the front, or is it +3 on the back?

Shouldn't that be the other way round? ;) Worn tyre should give a higher speed at the speedo, smaller circumference, more rotations per mile.