Yamaha has announced details of a new bike with an old name - the XT660Z Tenere, just out in Europe and due here in early 2009. This, however, is a far cry from the somewhat agricultural air-cooled singles that carried the name in the 1980's and 90's.
The Triple Tuning Fork's flagship adventure tuner is powered by a Minarelli-built, fuel-injected, 35kW, 660cc SOHC single we've already seen in the XT660X motard but with off-road suspension, a 21" front wheel, enduro-style, floating-calliper Brembo brakes and a deeply padded, all-day saddle.
The engine has a dry-sump system for toughness and cool running, with the oil in the frame rather than a vulnerable separate oil tank.
It's housed in a tubular-steel frame with a fabricated aluminium swing-arm, gaitered forks and 22-litre fuel tank. It has tough, replaceable plastic body and engine protection panels for when the terrain gets rough and a towing eye mounted on the lower triple clamp for when it gets really rough.
The fuel tank has been kept narrow and compact by extending it under the saddle, which also centralises the 20kg weight of a full tank to improve handling.
A tall, narrow, KTM-style fairing protects the rider from the hot winds of the north African desert after which it is named and the low and high-beam headlights are vertically stacked in another page from the KTM how-to book to keep the bulkiest part of any beetle-crusher as narrow as possible.
The rear carrier is built-in and there will be a large range of factory accessories available including tough aluminium pannier and top boxes, a tank bag, headlight protectors, bash plates, hand guards and engine protection bars and that most useful of roadside maintenance tools - a mainstand, without which a puncture can become an emergency.
The XT660Z Tenere, says Yamaha, will take you to work, to the next town or the next time zone; the rest is up to you.
- The only XT660Z Tenere in South Africa will be on display at the Amid motorcycle show at the Coca Cola Dome in Northgate from May 30 - June 1.