Motorbikes & Parts

Actually, we wanted to take both motorcycles from one manufacturer, because this would certainly mean advantages during maintenance on the road. However, as a normal tall woman it is difficult to find a suitable motorcycle. Of course you can lower the height of a motorcycle, but does it make sense when you don´t have no more ground clearance?

Kai had decided very early to buy the Yamaha Ténéré XT 660 ZA. Nici gave a chance to the slightly smaller XT 660 R, but after several test rides, she decided to go for the small BMW GS. But, is was quite difficult to get a well preserved and not oversized expensive BMW G 650 GS Sertao or F 650 GS Dakar. In the end she decided to take the G 650 GS. From the beginning, Nici felt comfortable on the small GS and that played a big role having done the drivers license short time ago.

We will see how the small BMW will actually perform on the journey.

The Ténére has already driven around the world several times and has been very well tested. Now we will see how the ABS version will perform in terms of maintenance.

Conclusion after the trip (July 2020): Both motorcycles did their jobs brilliant, brought us safely from south to north and NEVER let us down completely. Except for a few small things and normal maintenance work, everything was fortunately in order. It only became problematic during service in Guatemala City. It was very hard to get new and good tires as well as spare parts for the Yamaha. A general issue is that most mechanics are only familiar with bikes up to 250ccm or with the big bikes from 1200ccm. For these bikes spare parts and tires are mostly available. For our "medium sized" bikes rather less often. Our tip: On the one hand take enough spare parts with you, on the other hand plan the due service in time and inquire about workshops. Contact the workshops and if necessary send spare parts from Germany or have them brought by other travelers.

• Board socket and USB double plug
• Touratech pannier rack: The mounting of the rack was a little bit adventurous. The mounting above the number plate was a bit challenging, because the Hepco and Becker rear enlargement was already mounted there
• Touratech pannier system Zega Pro 38: We´ve decided to take the Zega Pro and not the Zega Pro 2, because we were told, that in case of a crash, the quick release system can get bend easily. With the Zega Pro, you don´t have this problem and you can easily bend it back.
  Touratech pannier accessories: 4 base plates for accessory, 2 double bottle holder, 1 three liter fuel can, 1 two liter can for oil or in our case for water. The mounting of the accessories was easy and done within minutes.
• BMW skid plate and crash bar (already mounted by BMW)
• Additional fairing crash bar from Heed: It was not easy to find some that fit the BMW. Touratech had 3 months time of delivery, so we decided to buy the bigger one from Heed.
• SW Motech handguards: The mounting is easy and you can feel the better comfort.
• Touratech folding gearshift lever: The mounting was done in a few minutes.
• Touratech large sidestand foot: We cannot understand how a fitting attachment can be so badly designed. We had to customize with a saw by hand to make it fit. It took some time and many trials until the stand was mounted.
• Hepco and Becker rear enlargement rack: The mounting took some time, because the pannier rack was already mounted.
• Touratech headlight guard
• Enduristan tankbag 3s
• Ortlieb waterproof packing bag 60ltr.
• 4 ABUS straps
• Heidenau K60 Scout tires

• Board socket and USB double plug
• Touratech pannier rack: The mounting was time consuming. We had to screw with little space or lost screws that had to be found and
  picked out again (again time consuming).
• Touratech pannier system Zega Pro 38
• Touratech pannier accessories: 4 base plates for accessory, 2 double bottle holder, 1 three liter fuel can
• OTR skid plate (already mounted)
• Hepco and Becker crash bar: The mounting took very long! On the internet, it was told, that the crash bar would perfect fit to
  the OTR skid plate. Absolutely NOT! We had to demount the skid plate and customize it with a saw by hand. The screws supplied were
  mostly too short for mounting the skid plate and the crash bar together! After a lot of sawing, screwing and many swear words, both
  fit and could be mounted.
• Yamaha handguards (already mounted)
• Folding gearshift lever (already mounted)
• Touratech large sidestand foot: The first time plug and play! Mounting was easy and done within minutes! Yeah! Yamaha -> BMW 1:0 :-)
• Touratech rear luggage rack big: At first, we wanted to mount the Hepco and Becker rear enlargement rack. Unfortunately this was so wide, that we weren´t able to open the panniers anymore.
• Touratech headlight guard: The mounting was done in a few minutes, no problem.
• Enduristan 3E tankbag
• Ortlieb waterproof packing bag 60ltr.
• 4 ABUS straps
• Heidenau K60 Scout tires
• Surfrack custom made --> Read more about the Surfrack motorbike - Yamaha Ténéré
• Battery disconnect switch: That makes the disconnection of the battery more easy.

It was much more difficult, to mount the attachments to the Yamaha. Most things are in very small places, so screws got lost, had to be found and picked out again several times. The Yamaha (with ABS) is also quite impractical: e.g. to reach the battery, the complete petrol tank has to be removed. Not an easy task, with a volume of approx. 23 litres. This is an advantage of the BMW. The petrol tank is in the back, the battery reachable by unscrewing 10 screws. Despite its small size, the BMW also seems to offer us more space for screwing and we haven't had to invest as much time as with the Yamaha.

Unfortunately our illusion of plug and play was destroyed quite early. For almost every attachment, we needed not only several hours (especially for the Yamaha), no, we sometimes had to cut parts, customize it or use other screws. Positive aspect: we got to know our motorcycles better every day...