Yamaha XTZ750 Super Ténéré

I'm accumulating parts for a winter overhaul/ spruce up on my XTZ750 as we speak...

I bought the bike earlier this year and it's already got some nice features/ mods:
TRX850 engine swap
Arrow Dakar exhaust
Dakar style screen

I'll go over it over the weekend and make a to-do list and add it here but main plans at the moment are new fairings (they've arrived but need to be prepped and painted), decals (I've found a guy from FB XTZ group), repair to the fuel tank before paint (a previous owner replaced a fairing screw with one too long and burst the tank, they then welded the hole up to stop the leak but in doing so lost a fairing mount) and finally the big goal is to add and integrate a TFT dash with fuel level sensor/ gear indicator and all sorts of other jazzy mod cons...

Updates to follow...

1 Attachment

ooh what sort of fuel sensor?
I'm after a fuel gauge for my Varadero but struggling a bit.

That's super cool. How does it ride on the tarmac?

So far the best solution I can come up with is this LSK Electronics universal fuel sender. The big use is that it measures the fuel from the line after the tank and as the XTZ has a sort of funny split tank design (two outlets and two fuel taps) this should allow me read both "sides" of the tank at once. It measures hydrostatic pressure and then converts it into 0-510 ohm or 33-240 ohm signal... the TFT dash I'm looking at at the moment can read 510 ohm resistance so this should work fine although I'm almost skeptical of how simple this seems so I'm sure there will be something to make it more difficult along the way... would probably work really well for the Varadero if you were happy to just use one of their gauges!

Honestly not bad on the tarmac at all, I've changed the tyres to Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR and I've been getting more and more comfortable with it to the point I've been clipping boots and pegs on roundabouts... it's never going to be a sportsbike but I went for a spin on Sunday with a R1200GSA, Tiger Sport 1050, Tiger 800XCA and NC750X and had no problem keeping up at all with the newer machines.

Got out for a spin yesterday to Cars & Coffee in Dundalk, then called to my folks on the way back and then home, 350km round trip.
Bike was fun though I'm a bit sore and tired today.

I've still not gotten around to doing a detailed to-do list and photos for here but I have been acquiring bits... I've finalised the colours for a very cool decal set which is in the post now and I'm starting to think about biting the bullet on ordering a TFT dash though it's pretty spendy...

Will try and get some photos and the to-do list done later in the week when I get back from a work trip.

1 Attachment

• WhatsApp Video 2023-11-06 at 12.13.16.mp4

Custom decal set has arrived, as have Aliexpress "Acerbis" Rally Brush hand guards.

New MV Agusta LXP Orioli at Motorcycle Live has convinced me that silver Excel Takasago rims would look fantastic on this so need to find some of those now too...

1 Attachment

Just doing a quick research on the Excel rims... the three bikes I've been most tickled by recently (MV Agusta LXP/ Ducati Desert X/ Yamaha Ténéré World Rally) are all running 21/18 wheels and it seems like 18" Excel rims are easier to come by and find a bargain so I might swap the rear wheel to 18" while I'm at it... most people do this swap to have access to more aggressive off road tyres but I'm not really going to be going too wild on the off roading I'd imagine?
I can still get the same tyres I'm running now which I'm happy with so can't think of a negative to it...

Love the look of these. Sounds like it'll be a great project with all those bits thrown on.

https://www.northeastcustom.net/bike/

Have a look at some of their builds

Koso RX-4 Unlimited ordered! Found one on Christmas sale and couldn't resist. Need to purchase a new dashboard surround to fit it in now and the fuel sender for fuel level... I'm hoping everything else I need will be in the kit with the dash...

Sorry had missed this post, some very cool builds there (aside from the confederate Harley which can get in the sea...) I particularly like their 749 and Griso café racer builds!

I know I've been utterly useless at posting updates here, January has been full of Covid and an unexpected work trip...

I've ordered the fuel sender device and I've convinced myself to do a more extensive job than I had initially planned...

The bike is now in the workshop at my parents place and I'll start the strip down asap.

I'm going to get the frame powdercoated again in satin black as I really dislike the metallic gunmetal the previous owner chose... it's also a good opportunity to add in some frame reinforcements as there are a few known weak spots on the frames.

The engine will also come out, I'll make some blanking plates and get it blasted and painted, I'm torn between satin black or OEM silver...
I will also do a compression test and possibly an engine oil analysis beforehand just to totally rule out any use in a rebuild but the compression seems to be really good so I don't think there's any issues there.

I'll park the wheels for now and focus on getting these bits done before summer and then probably do the wheel rebuild next winter.

Really looking forward to getting down to it! I'll update with lots of photos once the strip down starts...

Photos finally...

3 Attachments

More...

3 Attachments

And more...

3 Attachments

Out of curiosity, what's the use case for that round lens that's riveted to the license plate? Never seen anyting like that

It's my motor tax disc which is "accidentally" covering my license plate... the previous owner left it like that, its pretty common over here but also obviously not legal... I don't think you get much more than a slap on the wrist for it though...

Reminds me of a certain magnetic leaf ;)

Realised I had never posted the bespoke colour scheme decal set I've gone for...

I'm going to paint the bodywork Honda Championship white as a little nod to my JDM car fanboy tendencies... I actually haven't 100% decided I'll use the green and black stripes yet (I've been heavily inspired by the spartan aesthetic of the Jane Motorcycles KTM 990 Adventure) so will play it by ear as it comes together.

1 Attachment

Here's what the Sonauto colourway usually looks like...

I have been thinking about getting the crashbars powdercoated in Faraway Blue (the main colour of the OG Sonauto colourway) but unsure if it could turn into a dogs dinner with the green decals... time will tell.

1 Attachment

Started the stripdown today and went a bit loose and fast regarding labeling as disassembling so decided to call it a day at this point and regroup with ziplock bags and labels next weekend for the fiddlier bits...

2 Attachments

Did also start probing at previous bodged tank repair and removed all of the sealant that had been slathered about it...
The perpetrator had put a long bolt back into it a gutter washer and then the sealant which had actually sealed it but I'd like to restore the fairing mount properly so will need to weld that hole up...
My immediate thought is that the easiest way to do this neatly is to cut a hatch in the underside of the tank behind the hole, weld from inside and then weld the patch back where it will never be seen anyway so no need to stress over polishing welds off etc. this will also mean the fairing bracket can stay where it's meant to be and not need to mess with that...

3 Attachments

Totally agree about the Harley. I like those Multistradas as well

Progress has been abysmal with life getting incredibly in the way at the moment but I bought a new handlebar... this one is almost the same dimensions as the one that's on it but a bit wider which should be good.

1 Attachment