In response to your numerous questions, I will show you how I solved the luggage issue in my Tenere 700.
Since some of you have been following my journeys on Tenere 700, I have been asking you how to combine three elements that do not work together. So for me, it looks like this:
Adventure Specs Rack + HP Corse high exhaust
First of all – why this duo?
Adventure Specs Racks
I chose side panels for the Tenere 700 because they provide solid protection for the motorcycle’s rear when I ride without luggage. While it’s hard for the Tenere 700 to land accidentally, hitting the ground with its rear end, it’s happened to me many times.
However, when driving with luggage, I have a solid stiffening to which I can attach my luggage and not worry about something flying, loose, or sliding to the side, such as roll bags. During “active” off-road riding, I have often seen my friends’ bags slip to one side, which can result in them collecting their luggage from the mud. Additionally, even though we use soft bags, it does not mean that they will not destroy the original plastics during vibrations and movements. That’s why, for me, the side panels are worth attention. The only downside is, of course, the extra weight.
Why Adventure Spec and not some other company? I have tried other products, but in my opinion, they were unusable and poorly designed. In short, AS has rounded edges, so you won’t cut the straps after the first trip. Secondly, and most importantly, AS has a sufficiently large distance from the plastics, so you can easily put the straps with a buckle through them. Other companies make these panels (especially the back) too close to the plastic and it is simply impossible to move either the belts or the bungee strap.
HP Corse high exhaust
Before I bought the Tenere 700, during off-road driving training, I witnessed how the factory exhaust flexed due to minor rolls or emergency positions of the motorcycle. When my XT660ZA was flying through the bushes, my friend from T7 kept straightening the soft exhaust mount, which after some time became almost rubbery. Additionally, the swing arm is damaged. It didn’t look good. I wondered why Yamaha didn’t let the exhaust go through the top in the Tenere 700, like in the XT660ZA. I still don’t know, but fortunately, the accessory engineers had the same question and that’s probably how the HP Corse titanium exhaust was created. After a lot of research, I found two more companies that made a high exhaust for the Tenre 700, but both of them were not homologated, were made of steel, large and without dB Killer. The choice fell on HP Corse.
Additional problems with HP Corse
As a bonus, it is worth mentioning the mounting of the board. Of course, installing a high exhaust on the Tenere 700 means that the exhaust ends directly where the turn signal falls. A few kilometers and the turn signal will be burned out. Therefore, together with the exhaust, you should buy HP Corse Tidy Tail. And here there is no point in looking for alternatives. I had other tidy tails and they fell apart. A simple solution, one bent sheet metal from HP Corse, and everything is as it should have been since the T7 left the factory.
Additionally, instead of mounting the turn signals to the board, I drilled holes in the plastic behind the back and connected small LEDs there. This way I can be sure that when the motorcycle overturns, I will not break the turn signals.
How to make it work?
Of course, nothing can ever match, same with the HP Corse exhaust and Adventure Specs panels.
The problem occurs because the AS attaches to the passenger footrest. Additional mounting and screws interfere with the exhaust pipe. You can omit the passenger footrests and then everything should be fine, but I didn’t want to lose the potential of carrying a backpack.
We will need two small modifications:
Mounting element for the footrest.
Instead of the original mounting plates, AS must use other, low-profile ones. It is a threaded plate made of 5 mm sheet metal.
In my case it is a piece of sheet metal that could easily be thinner, which would then increase the clearance between the footrest and the exhaust. A screw with a different head will also increase the clearance, but I used the AS mounting screw. The clearance for me is about 1-2mm, but I haven’t noticed it decreasing due to any vibrations. I’ll probably leave it at that.
Exhaust attachment point distance.
By minimally lowering the mounting point, we will move the exhaust away from the footrest by a few mm. All you need are two steel plates in which we will drill two holes. It can be done nicer, but I like such ugly solutions.
Adventure Spec racks + Kriega bags
It is worth mentioning here that AS has large holes that provide many possibilities, unlike other companies that make holes only for appearance and do not check, for example, what fastenings the bags have.
Kriega bags can be mounted in many ways, I used Kriega Subframe Loops, which are permanently attached under the passenger seat. Only loops are released from under the seat and OS-12 or OS-18 buckles are attached to them. I personally used the straps attached to my Kriega US-40 bag, because this bag is by default mounted to the couch in this way. Well, I have an Adventure Spec rear frame, so the loops remain free.
The upper straps are attached to loop straps and the lower straps are placed through the AS panel. This way, the luggage stays stable and there is no possibility of any damage to any of the elements.
Summary
As a fan of good design, my choices are often guided by functionality, but also by subjectively good appearance. The combination of my favorite and reliable Krieg luggage, well-thought-out design (unlike the competition) of Adventure Specs panels and the HP Corse exhaust that sounds and looks beautiful and solves the “only” disadvantage of the Tenere 700, made my machine look and work as you see. With a little help, everything came together and works great. I hope it will be an inspiration for many, or a guideline on how to live with Tenere 700.
PS, as a Krieg fan, I managed to establish cooperation with a Polish distributor, so you can see that Kriega products can be purchased in my online store. Shopping through my blog contributes in a small way to the development of the AdvAnywhere project. Therefore, if you are planning to buy something from Krieg, I strongly encourage you to order from me.
Have a wide and safe road!
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