I agree...450cc bikes have the advantage of lightness but 650cc gives you the legs on the road. Mind you I have an XR650R that I used to think was a 'hefty ' old bike .....but compared to my Tenere it's a lightweight! The XR650R is a keeper...I love that bike and my biggest compliment to the Tenere is that I feel the same way about it! And the XT engine is good for many miles with regular oil changes. I head back to the West of Ireland every summer and Tenere is just perfect...from the fully loaded trip from West Sussex to Pembroke docks to exploring the endless lanes and peninsulas of West Cork and Kerry. Cheers, Steve

Great review 12 model onwards was slightly refined. The Tenere T7 is due out in a few months at the same price as these were new. The T7 is lighter, USD suspension but sadly the only a 16ltr fuel capacity.

Superb video & honest evaluation - thank you.

Have it, love it 👍🏻

Great review. Thank you for sharing. Your advice persuaded me to buy the Tenere, which was up against a CB500X, RE Himalayan, Versys 650 and Benelli TRK. I absolutely love the bike, even though, like you said, its heavy, weighs a bloody ton when you drop it. That’s the thing though…I’ve ended up on 25% incline green lanes in Wales, motorway riding and everything inbetween and it seems happy to keep chugging along.

starting 2012 progressive suspension pretty good (non abs version) even for heavy rider like myself. This bike is virtually indestructible. Love mine.

Exactly the review I was looking for, very many thanks.

Great honest review. It’s also one of my favourite bikes, so I recently purchased my second one in 10 years with lots of bikes in between. 👍🏻

I love it. And i wont exchange it in the near future. Got kevmod , hyperpro, dna filter. Great bike.

Much underrated machine.

Excellent review....it's a brilliant all round bike. As you say, a little heavy but actually on long journeys when you have to munch up some road miles the weight makes it very stable. And when you do drop it off road it's pretty tough!. Putting some Ohlins springs and race tek valves in the forks transformed the front end. Endless possibilities, but to be honest it's a great bike in standard form! Cheers, Steve

Great review. I've owned mine for 10 years this year, and agree with everything you've said.

I still want one, can't afford the T7 will have one by the end of year hopefully

After a string of bikes over many years and now a humble little DRz400E the XT660Z will be my next one and only, do it all bike. It ticks all the boxes for me and my intended use. The Dizzer is good for tight single track and limited highway to and from but tiresome any longer than a cpl hours on the open road, gearing is always a compromise, highway to revvy, off road first is too tall if geared for open road. Otherwise a bullet proof and capable platform....and like the Tenere, exceptional value. The late Tenere are now well under ten grand AUD here in Oz now as the T7 has long since hit the market.

3:30

Greetings from Portugal! Great useful and practical review. I like that. Thanks. Everything you said about pros and cons its true. I've one from 2010, to save weight changed to a single titanyum exhaust pipe. Also put a harder forks springs with high viscosity forks oil (in winter) wich i change to low viscosity in the summer. Added a power commander and thats a "better" bike if i can say so. Could you consider making a review about the "AJP PR7 2020 Adventure"? I really apreciate that. Thanks.

Saved 5.5 kg just by changing the exhaust:)

Thanx for the review ! I'm actually riding a vstrom 650 and I'm looking for a more off-road bike. Do you think for long trip with two people and luggage on it it would be ok ?

I'm considering dipping my toe into the world of adventure bikes and I think the Yammy might be the one for me. I already own a VFR 750 which I've ridden the wheels off on European road trips but I've never ridden off road other than mountain biking. Would this be a good starter model? Or should I look for something a bit lighter/smaller?

I'm not sure why you are saying you can't ride in that snow- It looked perfect for riding!