New England Tenere owner checking in!

[Larson627]

Ok technically I do not own it yet. I got the call today that it has arrived at the dealership *heavy breathing* will report back hopefully soon! 

 

In the mean time, I've just moved in from a long residency at the KTM forums where I talked about my KTM 690 Duke a lot. It was never the bike I wanted it to be, but I tried to ride it like an adventure bike anyway. Very excited to be getting my hands on a Tenere! I recently rented one in California on my wedding trip, rode 500ish miles to Yosemite and back from San Francisco. Had a blast! On my wedding day, my wife asked me how I was liking the bike, told her I was going to put a deposit on one as soon as I got home. She told me "Don't bother, I already bought you one"  

 

Anyway long story short, I started ordering parts before I even got home to Massachusetts from California. Looking forward to getting a few rides in before snow flies, and an excuse to drag out my trusty old GoPro after a long hiatus. Here's a clip or two of my old Duke being used inappropriately, looking forward to checking in on the old stomping grounds soon enough! 
 

 

 

 

-Adam 

[ADVUSA]

Nice. I ditched my 690 for the T7. A great move.

[Larson627]

Seems like a good move to me! Hated the transmission on the 690, amazed at how much nicer the Teneré shifts. 

[ADVUSA]

It's solid. I changed out the factory "oil"   at 75 miles. Shifted much smoother after too.

This site is the best for technical info.

Below is a dealer pickup checklist.

 

 

My spokes were loose a bit that's about it. Others reported a couple loose parts and it's all on the builder at the dealer.

Within a week or so do a good 'once over' on the most serious bolts....caliper (yes one person had one fall off,  etc.)  ( I had an old bike build brand new...the exhaust bolt wasn't tightened and it fell off while riding).

 

Finally, some of the bolts are over torqued:

mainly the drain bolt...only needs ~ 23 ft lbs  NOT 32

rear axle bolt ... way too tight for a field change, needs to be torqued down a bit to your field tool.

 

I mainly drive street and flat dirt roads. Any serious offroading the the suspension / tires hit their limit and the bike is a BULL.

For that reason I created an 'extractor' gig to unstuck.

 

 

 

 

I also picked up a motowinch so as to not write checks with my back.

 

Just a few tips. 

 

[Larson627]

13 hours ago, ADVUSA said:

It's solid. I changed out the factory "oil"   at 75 miles. Shifted much smoother after too.

This site is the best for technical info.

Below is a dealer pickup checklist.

 

 

My spokes were loose a bit that's about it. Others reported a couple loose parts and it's all on the builder at the dealer.

Within a week or so do a good 'once over' on the most serious bolts....caliper (yes one person had one fall off,  etc.)  ( I had an old bike build brand new...the exhaust bolt wasn't tightened and it fell off while riding).

 

Finally, some of the bolts are over torqued:

mainly the drain bolt...only needs ~ 23 ft lbs  NOT 32

rear axle bolt ... way too tight for a field change, needs to be torqued down a bit to your field tool.

 

I mainly drive street and flat dirt roads. Any serious offroading the the suspension / tires hit their limit and the bike is a BULL.

For that reason I created an 'extractor' gig to unstuck.

 

 

 

 

I also picked up a motowinch so as to not write checks with my back.

 

Just a few tips. 

 

 Much appreciated!! I’m going to give the bike a thorough once over when I get it home, lots of parts to install anyway. Good to know what to look out for. I’ve never seen a motowinch before, thats wild! 

[Larson627]

Today’s the day! Got an email from the dealer last night with a pic attached of a blue bike. My wife is certain that they promised her a red one but honestly I don’t care either way. Might need to order a different color front fender though. And so the tear down begins! 

[ADVUSA]

Nice.

Take your time and be patient in what you want to see.

There are a lot of nice decals out there if you want to add colors.

I waited 11 months and had a massive pile of work cut out for me when the bike finally arrived at the "dealer" and the setup guy rolled in as I was standing there on his sixths test ride now up to 3 miles.

Honestly there are at least 3 mods I still haven't done - low priority. Not sure they'll every be done

 

It's a busy world, do I want to wrench or ride?      I already traded my KTM fr the 690! 

 

 

[Liquidape]

8 minutes ago, Larson627 said:

Today’s the day! Got an email from the dealer last night with a pic attached of a blue bike. My wife is certain that they promised her a red one but honestly I don’t care either way. Might need to order a different color front fender though. And so the tear down begins! 

Congratulations. Take a lot of pictures of it now. It will never be cleaner. 
If I had my choice when I got mine I would haven gotten red, but after living with the blue version I like it better than the red at this point. Got mine a little over a year ago and am about to do the 8k service. No issues or problems with it so far. 
Enjoy. 

[Larson627]

2 minutes ago, Liquidape said:

Congratulations. Take a lot of pictures of it now. It will never be cleaner. 
If I had my choice when I got mine I would haven gotten red, but after living with the blue version I like it better than the red at this point. Got mine a little over a year ago and am about to do the 8k service. No issues or problems with it so far. 
Enjoy. 

Thank you! 

 

I agree, I had to transition my mental build/obsession from red to blue but I really think the red just photographs better, the blue is great in person! Going to design a custom graphic kit for it to try and tie in the white fender, and I might wrap over the grey with white or black, but after two years of drooling over these bikes I am very pleased to finally own one! 

[Larson627]

9 minutes ago, ADVUSA said:

Nice.

Take your time and be patient in what you want to see.

There are a lot of nice decals out there if you want to add colors.

I waited 11 months and had a massive pile of work cut out for me when the bike finally arrived at the "dealer" and the setup guy rolled in as I was standing there on his sixths test ride now up to 3 miles.

Honestly there are at least 3 mods I still haven't done - low priority. Not sure they'll every be done

 

It's a busy world, do I want to wrench or ride?      I already traded my KTM fr the 690! 

 

 

All very true!! I’ve got a pile of parts coming Monday, and another pile Wednesday, so I am breaking up the work into sections!  I am going to start designing a new graphic kit tonight, going to try and add some white to the mix to make the high fender match a little better. I think it’s going to look great.

[ADVUSA]

3 minutes ago, Larson627 said:

Thank you! 

 

I agree, I had to transition my mental build/obsession from red to blue but I really think the red just photographs better, the blue is great in person! Going to design a custom graphic kit for it to try and tie in the white fender, and I might wrap over the grey with white or black, but after two years of drooling over these bikes I am very pleased to finally own one! 

 

It just gets better!  If your going to do a fair amount of road,  get some good AUX lights.  I put on BD S1 spots on OEM brackets using a Denali waterproof switch and an auto relay following some basic wiring instruction.  It really keep tempted cager in their place - for the most part.  Next year I'll be adding Denalis d7 for any rare future night riding and LIGHT UP the road when no cars around.

Feel free to PM me questions or anything,  I've read this site and others for it seems like years! So I can at least point you in a direction.

Edited November 6, 2021 by ADVUSA

[Larson627]

11 minutes ago, ADVUSA said:

 

It just gets better!  If your going to do a fair amount of road,  get some good AUX lights.  I put on BD S1 spots on OEM brackets using a Denali waterproof switch and an auto relay following some basic wiring instruction.  It really keep tempted cager in their place - for the most part.  Next year I'll be adding Denalis d7 for any rare future night riding and LIGHT UP the road when no cars around.

Feel free to PM me questions or anything,  I've read this site and others for it seems like years! So I can at least point you in a direction.

Much appreciated!! I am working to keep it as nimble as possible for the tight rocky single track I am surrounded by, but I am always a big fan of auxiliary lighting. That is definitely on my short list! Especially since it will be dark out all of the time after this weekend. 

[Larson627]

First stop: Yamaha LED signals. Wish they were plug and play, wish I wasn’t working at a farm garage… off to the auto parts store for the proper tools! 
 

Major aesthetic improvement though! 
 

PSA: when taking the panels off, take your time and don’t make assumptions. First part removed, first part broken (I swear I know what I’m doing)

[Larson627]

Front signals done, moving on to the @Camel ADV tail tidy, fit and finish are excellent! 

[Larson627]

It was a long night in the shop, but all of the Camel Adv parts fit flawlessly, couldn’t be happier. Was worried about the white fender but I think it’s going to come together nicely with some graphics! 

[Camel ADV]

@Larson627 Thanks for the shout out, much appreciated!