North East ' Prospect'
 

Hello all

I'm Peter (52) from County Durham and recently, following an accident and smashed arm, I find myself bikeless and bereft. I am now considering which direction to go with my next bike.

Under prime consideration is an XT660 Z, hence my arrival at the door of this brilliant forum!

My local dealer has a very nice white one up for sale, and I've been drooling over it for weeks. At 5' 10" and 31" inseam, I'm bloody terrified of the height of the bike having never ridden anything this tall having had an SV650N up to now. Now I' m pretty sure it's possible, but can anyone advise as to how wise it is to lower the suspension, versus customising the seat, and how does this affect handling? Should I even consider the bike? I' m more than satisfied it will do what I need it to, I' m no boy racer and will likely only use lightly for green laning round Northumberland, long days out and some camping trips. Oh and commuting of course, along with the fettling, cleaning and OCD cosseting that go with my obsession! :-)

I' d truly appreciate some help deciding (I haven't ruled out the 660R either). Right, I'm off for a trawl through the archives.

All the best

Peter

:hello: and :welcome: to :660:

There are ways to cheat the height issue by cutting a chunk of foam from the scoop of the seat, ( I did that myself ) and it sure works a treat but, the Z it is indeed a rather tall bike, so you might need to get some lowering links which are widely available on ebay and last you could drop the forks on the yokes but I would do that as a last option cause it does change the geometry of the bike and that is not really something I'd consider.

hi and welcome , iam up the road from you in blyth , and i love the tenere this is my 2nd one , they are tall but saddlekraft in south shields can sort the seat or change the dogbones/rear links and drop the forks a little bit , go for it

:006: Hi Peter and welcome to the fold.

I shouldn't get too hung up on the height thing. Yes, you can fit lowering links, drop the forks and chop the seat, but you'd be surprised how many owners of shorter stature get on just fine with the Tenere in stock trim. Get a test ride and see how you get on (then buy one and ride some more!) After that you'll have a definitive idea of how it feels and know, rather than speculate, as to whether to lower or not.

Hi


Thanks to all of you, there's a definite and very helpful consistency of advice there. One question if I may, just to clarify really, but can you fit the lowering links without altering the forks and if you do does this not change the geometry/rake/trail as the rear is lowered by (I think) 2". In effect this will alter the angle the bike sits at, won't it?

All good advice and I'll have no problem getting a test ride, that is if the bike is still available when my arm heals. It could be another 6-8 weeks before I can ride again. Still, at least I'm a 'proper' biker now that I have metal and screws holding me together lol!

Cheers chaps! :-D

Same height as me, with a longer leg.

Good advice.

Many years ago I got my first Varadero, it was a monster of a bike, tall and wide. I too was terrified. A friendly (off duty) traffic officer gave me a titbit of advice, get some good sturdy boots, plenty of ankle support. I bought some Hein Gerricke boots, can't remember the name (don't think they make them any more though), but no different to the 'adventure' type boots you can buy in most places now.

OK, so now I had lost the weak point of the ankle, still couldn't reach the ground with both feet.....

Next advice - don't, why would I need to have both feet on the floor?? One foot down, and close into the side of the bike.

Tried that, learned to balance properly and ....... no more worries about tall bikes.

The Tenere is a really easy bike to ride, and hold at stops. It will (with a semi competent rider) almost balance itself at lights, junctions etc.

We have a few guys on here with less length in the leg who get on perfectly well with the Tenere.

The pig is getting your leg over the bike when it's loaded.. so you learn the Tenere Waltz, which involves putting your leg over the sear then 'hopping' towards the bike to get the leg over it. Sounds complicated, it's really natural to do, just looks a bit odd!

Welcome along.

Hello and welcome.

Don't hesitate - ride it as is and then if you still want to lower it.

You're in great countryside for a Ten'..

Hiya and best of luck!!! I strongly suggest that you do NOT lower the bike and I explain why. When I bought my first XT660X back in 2008 I was convinced that it was too high so I had the lowering kit fitted. Result?? (a) Fully loaded and two up it scraped the pegs on the ground even on modest corners and (b) The handling was awful and (c) I could not change it back to standard without purchasing a new side stand plus quite a lot of work. My latest XT660X instead is standard height and 100 times better. And I am only about 5 foot 8 ish. Ciao!!!

Yes it will, and will handle horribly, I would have thought. Dropping the forks in the yokes is very easy and lots of people do it. It's the standard way of quickening the steering on a sports bike. I would suggest you measure very carefully before and after fitting the lowering kit, so that you know exactly how much you have dropped it, and then replicate that at the front. Usually an inch or so is fine. More than that and you need to check that bits of the wheel assembly don't contact the frame on full bump.

One tip from experience: if you loosen the clamps to move the fork legs up a bit, do it one side at a time. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to raise a whole bike up by six inches when they both drop together.

Hello,

at 5'7" with 27" inside leg you now know why I'm "stumpydave"!!!!

I've no problem on my r with only one foot on the floor at a time, the only problem I've ever had was caused by a wriggly pillion who nearly had the pair of us on the floor a couple of times untill I explained it to her!

Darrens right (gasup) you'll learn to do the xt dance to get on or off or get on the bike whilst its still on the stand. Either way dont let the height put you off as once youre moving you wont even notice and the extra height is such a bonus whilst commuting in traffic.

Test ride, I'm convinced you'll enjoy it enough to buy one!