Hi all,
this is my first post, though i have been lurking around these parts for a while ever since I became obsessed with the XT660Z.

I've just bought a new tenere and want to do the front fork upgrade. OTR's kit is quite pricey and will be a last resort if i cant do it all myself.

I have a set of WP 48mm forks from 990 adv lined up. I like the idea of keeping the dual front brakes as the bike weighs a lot and more braking power the better i imagine. The downside to these forks though is the travel is only 210mm.

I know most of the conversions out there use the 640s forks (i think) and OTRs kit offers 240-310mm travel.
What avenue do you think I should I take. Less travel but keep the braking power, or more travel but with a single disc up front.

Oh, my intentions for this bike is to ride it quit hard. I live in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and there is endless rough terrain out here which needs to be explored!

Any advice/info is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Tim.

Hello

I use KTM690 ENDURO R 2012 front fork on my XTR. It has 250mm travel but would like 300mm what I got on my KTM690 EnduroR 2011 before I sold it. About the brakes do you really need two discs or is it just that to see original?

It,s gonna be a fail compared to XTR travel 225mm if you use KTM 990 fork or you change the springs to stiffer ones. Did you got the clamps as well with the KTM forks? Dont,t know about your stem but just sold my original front fork from my XTR to one guy who got a XT660X. It seems that it,s bolt on to the clamps so in your case if you want to do same conversion that I did it should not be to much job!

http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=20031&page=2

I think it wheel be over braked on the front. as the Ktm IS HEAVER.

On loose terrain one disc is enough. Better brake power is needed when traveling fast on asphalt and riding two up.
If you will ride hard on rough terrain, than you sure need more suspension travel.
Simple bolt on conversion is to put front end of Yamaha WR!

Ok, so from the feedback, lets scrap the twin front brakes and go for more travel.


Ni3ous, can you shed any more light on the WR conversion? Everyone seems to go the WP direction, has anyone out there done this WR front end swap?

If you're serious about dirt riding then you'll have knobblies fitted all the time. A single 270mm disc will lock a knobbly front, even on tarmac. How much more braking do you actually need?

(if the answer is 'slightly more', discs up to 320mm are reasonably easy to find)

Also, the feel is much, much nicer than the stock setup, which lets you make better use of the braking power you do have, especially on dirt.

__________________
I spent a lot of money on travel and racing motorcycles - the rest I just squandered.

XT660Z - Commuter, Adventurer...Racer?

www.dashmoto.net

Other bikes >> MT-03 / CG125BR-J / ER-6F
Departed >> ZXR400L3 / EC300 / DR-Z400E / DR800S / GPZ500S / GS400

Yes it did. It is simple bolt on modification and it get cheaper than 1000€ (you can do it for 800€) You can use Yamaha WR complete front end. You just fit harder springs in it. My friend did it.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1139154...orquillaWr2012
There is a few more upgrades like this.
Cheapest way is to buy WR with broken engine, take off what is good and sell the rest.

Another one here, but need to be registered.
http://www.foroclubtenere.net/login....pic.php&t=7869

This is excellent info. I was concerned about the brakes but after what you are all saying it sounds like it isn't an issue.
I was unaware of this WR mod, and considering how simple/cheap it can be done I don't know why everyone goes with the WP conversion.
Thanks all for your help! Saved me from paying extortionist prices for the otr kit, or messing around with 990 forks!

Time to start sourcing parts!

The reason everybody goes to WP conversion is that this is very known, good and reliable solution. Since owners of other bike brands do the conversion to WP front, only reasonable conection was that you do it on Yamaha also.
The option with WR (I think also YZ) on Tenere was not "discovered" long time ago, so it is not so often used yet, also because that was not known solution.

First link of my friend named Nacho is the first such modification in Slovenia. He had quite a lot of work with it, since he had no one to learn from. I consider this as a pioneer work. Second link is from a guy from Spain, and he did such conversion before Nacho. So Nacho only saw pictures and saw, that this could be done, but how and if it will work properly, he did not know until he did it on his own and learn on his own. So this info is quite new I guess.
Maybe someone reading this, will know about those kind of conversions done from someone else....but I am not familiar with.

Look at the prices....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/yamaha-yz450...7a21b7&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/YZ426F-YZ450...d33b41&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/YZ450F-YZ-WR...fdb740&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/01-02-03-YAM...595318&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-WR450...4a4d56&vxp=mtr

i must admit, i had never heard of the WR swap either. (i had heard of the YZ swap but that takes some machining)

So...are you saying the WR one is a straight swap?