Tenere 700 Rally Prep

 A good rally bike is one that is as light and fast as possible while making sure that damage from minor crashes don't turn into race enders. Cory at Camel ADV struggled through a coolant leak at the Desert 100 race and may have done significant engine damage to finish the race. Things like broken radiators and cracked engine case covers mean your bike is going home in a truck or a trailer, scratched paint doesn't. 

Battle scars

My old Kawasaki KLR650 was covered in the dirt from almost 100k miles of adventures and the plan was to outfit the Tenere 700 based on the damage it had taken. It's crash bars had done their job and kept the radiator off of the ground but they were unnecessarily large because they were also designed to protect the bodywork. My Tenere 700 had already taken a fall that cracked some body work so my only goal was to prevent damage to the radiator and the engine case covers. 

Tenere 700 Rally build montage

For a bike like the Tenere 700 that is designed as an adventure bike, there are still some fragile parts on it. A radiator bolt sits behind the body panels on either side and has a tendency to punch through when the bike falls over. Since the Tenere body panels are ABS plastic, I was able to sand down and repair them from the inside with a patch to spread future impacts. 

Dimples in body panels.

The offending bolt head.

ABS body panel repair.

After looking at different crash bar options online, I found the Altrider lower crash bars fit my requirements. They were the minimum amount of metal I could add to the bike in order to protect critical parts. While watching my bike slide over rocks, I knew I also had to keep the engine case from taking a puncture. Leaving all of my oil on the side of the trail would certainly be a ride ender and an expensive one. TrippleClamp makes a set of bolt on HDPE engine case covers that would do the job even if they needed a little trimming to fit. After the installs I made sure to check clearances because these were parts that were installed to take hits, not just look nice.

Altrider lower crash bars for the Yamaha Tenere 700.

Checking clearance.

Important bits are off the ground.

Testing my work by falling over on the trail.

After the crash bar install I found that the stock Tenere exhaust still hit the ground pretty hard and had a tendency to bend into the swingarm. After kicking it back into place several times I decided to install the Huzar high mount exhaust. Their site is in Polish but their work is top notch so I did my best with Google translate. Their site only ships to Europe but if you find them on Facebook they will happily ship to the USA. A lot of after market exhausts run hot and loud and I worried about burning my hand when picking the bike up but thankfully this setup runs cool and quiet. My FLIR One Pro confirmed that the pipe was safe to touch but the heal of my boot rubbed against it enough I had to add a little heat shield. 

After a few more front tire wash-outs I decided to fix the source of most of my crashes by putting on rougher tires. I looked at tire reviews and narrowed it down to a couple of different knobbies that would fit my Tenere. Availability became the issue so I settled on the Pirelli MT21 because that was what I could get a matching set of the quickest. So far I have been really happy with their performance. Big adventure tires go on a lot easier with a tire changing tool like this one. 

I also upgraded the rear spring to a K-Tech industries 80Nm because the rear end felt pretty rough in places. The Tenere 700 rear suspension geometry works progressively so that it gets stiffer as it moves through the travel which helps prevent it from bottoming out. With the stock spring preload turned all the way up I was still riding a little lower than the typical 30% race sag which meant I was always in the stiff part of the suspension stroke. Ironically a stiffer spring meant a much softer ride and less "chugging" from the rear tire bouncing over washboard roads when I was on the throttle. Pulling the rear strut assembly is a surprisingly easy job. Removing a plastic cover from the right side of the bike gives you access to the upper suspension bolt. With the weight of the bike on a center stand and the rear tire supported on a air wedge pump for easy adjustment, the two bolts slip out easily. The top bolt is captive on the back side so you only need a socket on one side. The bottom bolt takes a second wrench but it is easy to access. I may also do the front suspension since a simple spring upgrade made such a big difference in the back.

This is the Tenere all setup with the mechanical upgrades I needed to get the job done. I also splurged and added a MotoStick graphics decal kit to look good while I was doing it. The stickers turned out really well and have made for some great photos. Some day Ill get sponsors names on the side of the bike. Until then its just for my own enjoyment. The trick to the graphics installation was wet application of the stickers. Initially I resisted the idea of spraying soapy water on everything but it allowed me to float the decals into place so that lines met neatly. Once the placement looked good I could press out the water with the included squeegee and heat some of the tighter corners to get them to lay down nicely. 

Next Ill go through my Digital Roadbook setup including the buttons I am using to control it. I am also mapping out a 180 mile home made rally course to test myself and my setup. Once I get the course nailed down Ill invite anyone who wants to get a little taste of Dakar navigation. 

This blog is going to be the story and mechanical side of my road to Dakar adventure. If you want to see the bike out in beautiful landscapes, checkout my Instagram. Share, follow along and feel free to reach out to me with questions or advice.