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The MrOCM Tenere mod project
I bought my XT660Z very late last season. I haven't ridden it more than a couple of km on a short test ride when I bought it and since then it's been parked in my garage. I've spent quite a lot of money on stuff to mod the bike during the winter (more or less as much as I spent on buying the bike itself). There still snow and temperatures around 0 degrees (C) outside and the garage is not heated. Therefore I'm still waiting for more spring-like conditions before I start mounting all the goodies. I'm considering making it a more public project by posting info and pictures of my progress but I'm very unsure if there are any people out there that would be interested in it.
The bike itself is a 2009 and the colour is blue. It's strictly stock with just under 6000 km on the clock and even the air intake "snorkel" is still in place. I'm not even sure the tyres have ever been changed. The stuff I've bought this far is: * �hlins shock with spring selected for my weight * �hlins fork springs selected for my weight * Power Commander V * Stage 2 Airbox cover * DNA High Flow Air filter * Nology High Power Ignition Cable * Akrapovic exhaust * H&K centre stand * OTR Side stand extension * OTR Foldable gear lever * OTR Brake lever extender * OTR Swingarm axle covers * OTR Headlight protection * Garmin 590LM GPS * Touratech GPS bracket for mounting GPS * Touratech lockable GPS mount * Touratech on-board power socket * Touratech rear rack (large) * Touratech long-distance foot pegs * Adventurespec bash plate/engine guard * Adventurespec aux light bracket * Magura handlebar (fatbar) * Rox handlebar risers * Headed grips * Barkbusters Storm handguards * Longer throttle cables * Short clutch & brake levers * Steel braided brake lines, f & b * LED aux lights * Snake skin tank grip pads Also on order: * SW Motech Trax Adv panniers * Inside lid bag for pannier * Inside lid net for pannier * On-top-of-lid bag for pannier * SW Motech Quick Lock Micro tank bag * SW Motech Tailbag/drybag Perhaps I have forgotten something but this is at least most of the stuff that will be put on the bike. It's quite a list and it will probably take some time before it's all done but I'm looking forward to doing the work and of course also to start using the bike. |
mods
you got a lot of work to do there mate,keep us posted on what your doing with pictures aswell,i have blue ten also and have done alot of mods to
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ill keep an eye on this one.
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Blimey with a list that long will it be bike be ready during this summer !
It would be great to see some photos of the various stages & to know how easy / difficult they where to do. All the the best and you'd better get cracking. |
I certainly hope it won't take all summer to get it all done. Today I got the last stuff I've ordered. I spent part of Easter clearing some space in the garage so I'll have somewhere to work. It's actually a temporary solution since I'm also planning on insulating the garage during the summer to make it a much nicer place to work as well as a tolerable place to work during the cold winter months. I hope to have time to start the bike modding process this weekend. This is what the temporary work space looks like now...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s4tux0bbpm..._0371.png?dl=0 Apparently my link doesn't work for embedded images so you can see it here... |
Now I've finally found the time to at least start the process. I've also figured out how to post pictures. :-P
Here's a couple of pictures of the bike in stock condition. http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=108 http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=109 |
I started by building a contraption that allows me to keep the bike suspended while working on either the front or back end. Here's the bike ready for modification.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=113 |
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This is the current status. The back wheel is off and the shock is half off. However, to get to the top mounting point it seems I need to take off the mid pipe of the exhaust. Removing the exhaust (except the header pipes) is next on the todo list. Hopefully I will get it done this weekend. I don't have much time to work on the bike on work days.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=115 |
Good to see surgery has begun. I hope your keeping all the nuts & bolts in a safe place through out the process.:023:
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Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if anything will get lost along the way and if there will be any nuts and bolts left over when it's all done... :-)
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Time for another update. I removed the stock exhaust (except for the header pipes) to get access to the top mount for the shock. Now the new �hlins shock has been mounted.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=116 |
Next I changed the gear lever and the footpegs. I also mounted the side stand expansion plate.
Here's before... http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=117 And here's after: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=118 |
I also mounted the main stand but I need to get a tool for putting on the spring before it's all done so a picture of that will have to wait until it has been taken care of. It'll probably be done next weekend.
I also started mounting the crash plate/engine guard. However, I encountered a bit of a problem when it turned out that a spacer was roughly 2mm too long to fit. Don't quite know how to solve that yet since I don't have anywhere to mount it securely enough to cut it or file it down myself at the moment. |
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Just a thought but easier to double check than have to make a new spacer. |
Good tip. Of course, I need to check it out properly before making any adjustments. :) I have also contacted adventurespec.com to get their take on it.
Feels good to have started putting new stuff on the bike and not just taking old stuff off it though. That shiny, goldy shock sure felt good to see mounted on the bike. :D I'm sure I could be making a lot faster progress if I put more time into it but I actually like taking it slow and steady and actually enjoy each step of the evolution. I'm really looking forward to that first test ride.... |
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Good luck. |
Well, the total amount spent is about the same as I spent on buying the bike which effectively has doubled the cost of the bike. Even though I may be adding some value to the bike by doing this it won't be anywhere near what I've spent. I will certainly never get my money back. However, my intention is to keep the bike for a while so I'm making the investment to make sure I enjoy the bike when I ride it. I was very close to buying a brand new XT1200Z before I found this bike. Even when all the stuff for my XT660Z is taken into account it's still about half the price of a brand new and fully tricked out XT1200Z. If I think of it that way my bike is a bargain... :D
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Always good to do these things steadily and think about what order to do things and what steps need to be done before parts go on so you don't have to take them off again to complete another job. Been there, done that, stripped it down again!!!! Doh!!!!
When you did the shock, did you do the top mount mod? It involves drilling a hole in the airbox on the right hand side so you can remove and install the shock without having to remove the exhaust. Search for it on here if you have not done it already. |
Yeah, that's also one of the reasons why I'm taking it slow. I don't want to miss something along the way and then realize I need to redo half the stuff I've already done.
I didn't know about the airbox mod you mention so I removed the exhaust to be able to get to the upper shock mount. However, since I had to remove the stock silencer anyway (to replace it with Akrapovic) it wasn't too much of a hazzle to remove the exhaust mid pipe as well. To be honest, even if I would have known about the airbox mod I would problably have gone with removing the exhaust anyway. I don't want to make modifications like holes in the airbox unless they are necessary. However, if I wasn't going to remove the silencer I may have considerered the airbox mod instead of taking off the exhaust. I had some trouble getting the bolt in place for the front/upper mount for the crash plate. I was just about to resign to the fact that I may have to remove one of the header pipes as well when I managed to get it in. I then had to take it off again because of the spacer problem but now at least I know I don't need to remove the header pipe. I bought an AGR blanket kit fr�n OTR but I don't think I will use it. At least not initially. It seems really tricky to get to the area in which to mount it so I will most likely save that for another time when perhaps I will need to remove enough stuff to make it easier to access. I also bought a cover for the swing axle but I think I will skip that as well. It seems too tight and if I force it in place I'm afraid I may not be able to get it off again if I need to remove the swing axle for some reason. |
The guy at Adventurespec was surprised by the fact that I had gotten a spacer that didn't fit. First time that happened according to him. He's sending me a new one. :023: Unfortunately we have a national holiday on friday which means that DHL will probably not get it to me until next week. Therefore, I will most likely not be able to mount it this weekend. I still hope DHL will surprise me but I'm not counting on it. I've got a lot of other stuff to do on the bike as well as a lot of non-bike chores to take care of so it doesn't really matter. I would have preferred to get it mounted if I could though.
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As I expected DHL did not get the spacer to me in time for the weekend. Should be here before next weekend though.
This was a three day weekend due to a national holiday on friday. I had a lot of other stuff to do on friday and on saturday it was really cold and damp so I didn't do any work on the bike. However, today the weather was good and the temperature was nice so I got some bike stuff done. The first thing I did was to finish the mounting of the main stand by getting the spring in place using the tool I got earlier in the week. The same tool was very handy during the mounting of the Akrapovic pipes as well. I was actually a bit worried that the main stand would have a significant negative effect on ground clearance. It seems quite nicely tucked away when not used though so I don't think it will be a problem. Here's the main stand down: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=120 And here's the main stand up: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=119 |
Here's the mounting bracket for the auxiliary lights.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=121 |
Next up was a preliminary mounting of the handle bar and risers. I also mounted the mirror and lever clusters. I will hold off on mounting the electrics until I can be relatively sure of what angle to mount the handle bars before I drill the hole needed to keep them in place. However, I did at least mount the new levers.
Here's the handlebar with the old levers: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=122 And here it is with the new levers (ignore the clutter of stuff in the background): http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=123 In the pictures you can also see the new and slightly longer throttle cables. They're mounted at the other end but the mounting of the handlebar end isn't done yet. |
Next up was the removal of the snorkel and changing the air filter.
Here's the stock air filter (on the left) and the new DNA filter (on the right): http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=124 And here it is in place along with the DNA snorkel replacement: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=125 |
GPS mounting bar. I have a Touratech lockable mount for the GPS unit that will be mounted on this.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=126 |
Next up was the Power Commander. Before mounting it I updated the firmware and loaded one of the maps I've downloaded. The name of the map indicated that it was for a 2009 XTZ with Akra pipes and DNA air filter, i.e. exactly that same setup as mine. I hope it'll work well.
The PCV I've got was originally bought for my 2012 XTR. Before I sold it (after I bought this XTZ) I took the PCV off the bike. A friend of mine who also has an XTZ told me that the PCV is exactly the same for both XTR and XTZ. Since the cable harness connected to my PCV doesn't seem to allow installing the cables the way the instructions indicate I'm not sure my friend is actually right. I'm sure the actual PCV unit is the same but I'm not convinced the cable harness is the same. Well, I don't really feel like spending even more money buying a new PCV unless I really have to and since it seems possible to use the one I already have I figured I should at least try that before doing anything else. I actually got the cables quite nicely tucked away. However, the ground cable was much too short to be able to connect it directly to the battery. First I thought I might cut it and add some more cable. Then I thought it may be good enough to ground it somewhere else. The mounting bracket for the rear brake fluid container is welded to the frame so I used that as a grounding point for the PCV. I hope this will work. I'm also uncertain where to put the main PCV unit. The cable is too short to put it on the wheel house behind the battery. I'll work that out later. I also mounted a quick connector for a CTEK battery charger and tucked it away quite nicely as well. Here's what it looks like from above: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=127 Here's a couple of pictures from the right side of the bike after mounting the PCV. You can see the ground wire in the first one: http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=128 http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=129 Here's a couple of pictures of the O2 Optimizer (on the left side): http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=130 http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=131 |
Now I remounted the exhaust mid pipe and the heat shield.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=132 |
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Now the Akrapovic pipes are mounted. Looks nice. Can't wait to hear the sound but I'll have to be patient.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=134 http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=135 http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=136 |
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I now realized that it may be time to remount some of the plastics that would no longer be in the way. I started with the side cover located below the air box on the left side of the bike.
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=138 |
While remounting the rear handles and the rack I realized I might as well mount the Touratech rack at the same time. It's the larger version (Touratech has a smaller version as well).
http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=139 http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=140 |
At this point I thought I should probably have a look at the mounting instructions for the SW Motech pannier mounts before continuing. When I did I realized that I will need to take the rear rack and rear handles off again to be able to mount the pannier mounts. Too bad I didn't think of that earlier. Well, nothing to do about it now. At least it's not too much stuff that needs to come off and not too much work getting it done. However, I took this as a sign it was probably time to stop working on the bike for today. I got enough stuff done to be quite satisfied with today's progress. Mounting the pannier mounts will have to wait until next time. Hopefully I will also have received the spacer for the crash plate by then so that I can finish mounting that as well.
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Enjoying the build...looking forward to seeing the finished build! Steve
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The new spacer arrived today and it seems to fit so the crash plate is now ready to be mounted. Looking forward to seeing it on the bike this weekend. :)
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Yesterday I didn't really have time to do any work on the bike but I was too curious about that new spacer so I mounted the crash plate anyway. It didn't take very long.
I was actually quite impressed with the simplicity of the design of the crash plate. The crash plate comes already mounted to the crash bars and the crash bars are mounted using only two bolts which makes it a very easy job (when you have a correctly sized spacer). It is very sturdy and gives the impression of providing ample protection for the engine. In my opinion it's also the best looking crash plate I've seen for the bike. http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=141 |
Now I removed the Touratech rack and all the rear plastics I had remounted last weekend. It had to be removed to be able to mount the hardware for the panniers. The pannier rack was actually quite easy to install even though the angles of the mounting points seemed very strange at first.
One awesome thing about the SW Motech panniers is that the rack is easily removable using a quick release system. It only takes a few seconds to remove the rack and once removed you can hardly see any signs that the bike is prepared for using panniers. The panniers themselves look awesome and according to a couple of friends of mine they are water tight and of very good quality. I also have a set of locks for the panniers as well as locks for the rack but I will mount them some other time. http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=142 |
Unfortunately I realized that I had to remove the Touratech rack once again to be able to mount the mounting plate for the Givi top box I've had for many years. After putting it back in place again I hope third time is the charm. I'd prefer not having to remove it again.
I also put the bike down. It's no longer suspended. It's resting on the main stand. This way I could get on the bike to adjust the angles of the risers and handlebars (this was done after the picture below was taken). I will be suspending the front of the bike to get the front wheel and fork legs off to change the fork springs and oil but it will have to wait until the rear wheel is back on. I was planning to clean the chain and to get the rear wheel back on this weekend but it has been a cold, damp day and I felt this would have to be enough for today. http://www.xt660.com/picture.php?alb...&pictureid=143 |
Nice going!
You have a nice place to work on the bike, i envy you :) |
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