I broke my Tenere 700

Apologies for the click-bait title, but its true. the biggest gripe anyone has with the Yamaha Tenere 700 is the muffler hanger.
A simple google search will show you the gouges people have sustained to their swing arms after a small, seemingly innocuous drop on the right hand side.
And this si what I did on a recent trip to the Akatawaras.

Lets wind back the clock. it was the 3rd of Jan, and a stinking bloody hot day in the Wellington region. Todd called me up and suggested we see if its any cooler in the bush. so we saddled up and headed to the closest off road playground to y house, the section of forrest separating Upper Hutt and the Kapiti coast, known as the Akatarawas.

All was going well until we came up on a corner which is etched in my mind from a previous expedition through this ares. its a rutty right hander with steep banks on both sides, the surface is rough and mostly clay. so when conditions are damp, its incredibly slippery. at first I attempted to go up the right, but fell into a hole with both front and back tyres, so rolled back and tried going up the left. However due to a lack of speed and possibly commitment, lost momentum, and put my right root in a hole. finding nothing but air, i dropped the bike on the right hand side and the Outback Motortek bars took most of the impact.

This drop was... well... nothing. I was fine, the bike was picked up, and inspected, and thats when we found I had bent the muffler in towards the rear wheel. now any time the rear suspension compresses, the muffler makes contact with the swing arm.

Damn! the one thing these pikes are prone to, happened.

We let the bike cool, then with Todd holding the bike on the side stand, I, with gloves on, yanked on the end of the muffler to bring ti away from the swing arm. We got it out far enough to be able to carry on riding. but it was a bit wonky. and still is.

There are a number of after market options for a muffler which should be less prone to this issue. Camel ADV make a high exhaust mount muffler system, which required cutting the factory hanger down a bit, and mounting a new muffler. HPCorse do something similar. but I am a little worried about the placement of these mufflers and melting luggage. one option I have seen also brings the opening of the exhaust out right behind the right hand rear indicator, which I cant see being a good option.

Some more research is required, so keen an eye out for this unfolding story.
I will keep you updated.