Regarding unleaded fuel and Africa, check this thread:

http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?p=71690#post71690



Torsten

@mcthor, thank you very much for this very useful information. I've sent this link to my yamaha dealer.:hug[1]:

last week of this year my new tenere will be shipped to nigeria. From there i wanna drive to cape town.
Very exciting. first time in afrika, on my own.
Got inspired by your amazing trip. But since i have only two months in winter i start from nigeria.

i have to be back ik belgium beginning of march. I am reading your blog and would be very thankfull if you could give me more info about crossing

cameroen
gabon
congo
angola
namibie
zuid afrika

how about visa and other things?
how about a flat tire?
oh, i feel so exited.
:icon_king:

drove to the travelagency yesterday to get more information about the country's i'm crossing. I need visa for all of them except namibia and south afrika.

'ill better start a thread on horizons unlimited and keep this thread for what it's meant to: preparing the teneree for long distance.
Nigeria to south afrika is not that long. Approximate 10.000 km.

Me and one of my best friends have bought a new tenere and a F800GS last month and have been comparing last saturday.
We sticked to our conclusion based on personal needs:
The tenere is the better bike if planned long trips outside paved roads and eventually a RTW tour, the BMW is the better bike for daily use on tarmac and highway. Although the bmw can handle a RTW tour and the tenere can handle tarmac.
so @scottnet, your focus is on a RTW tour. If you have to choose between these two bikes, the choice is obvious.

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/7...rkleindvk3.jpg
more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bonimacx/MotoVanJanEnBoni#

Few years ago i saw 2 bmw's 650GS with touratech tank in laos. 39 liters means a big range. More pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bonimacx...0GSSeenInLaos#
I don't think Touratech will be able to do the same for the F800GS.
The F800GS's front is just to wide. The hughe radiator for cooling the two cylinders makes it impossible.
Have a look at the F650GS front with touratech tanks and the F800GS without touratech tanks:

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/5...00frontaj9.jpg

If BMW would create a F800GS Adventure version with hugh integrated tank, that would be the ultimate. A 1200GS adventure light version.

But finally, whatever you buy for a RTW tour, whatever "style" it is, will probably do fine. Take a look here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tripplan/bike

There was a test in a Swedish magazine where they compared the 800GS and the Ten to find who they want to go into the wild with. The Tenere won. I made a post about it here:

http://www.xt660.com/showpost.php?p=61997&postcount=1

Also want to add about the weight: A friend of mine bought a brand new 800GS and put it on the scale. BMW lies about the dry weight of the 800GS, it is actually 20kg's more then they say.

this is hard to believe.
the tenere's official dry weight is 183kg, the F800GS official dry weight is 185kg.
According to your friend that would be 205kg...
You're sure his bike was not filled up with fuel?

I'm 100% sure about this. Would be fun if someone did the same with the Ten. =)

My 1200gs felt substantially heavier than the tenere full tank vs full tank even the specs said it is only 10kg difference.

Dont forget some manufacturers dry weights dont inclue engine oil, fork oil, tyres, petrol, battery, and a few others. Some even go as far as taking the brake pads off.

I think all manufacturers should quote fully wet weighs, ie full tank of petrol etc etc

I did this some time ago.

It was about 205 Wet with 85 miles of fuel used (about 6 litres or 4.5kg) and a main stand and a TomTom (manual states 208).
So adding the fuel back in and taking the stand off (about 2kg) we are back to what the manual states, 208kg.

The stated dry weight is 183, which probably low when you consider petrol is about 75% as heavy as water and for a 22 litre tank, thats about 17kg, then add on 3 litres of oil, about another 3 kg, Thats about 20kg total.

Add that to the 183kg advertised dry weight and we have 203kg.

Thats only a 5kg discrepancy. This may be accounted for as the early show models had Yamaha Akroprovic exhausts on, not the huge car type exhaust that are on the production models.

Ray