The BMW R1300GS has a more powerful motor and upgraded electronics, all in a package that weighs 26 pounds less than its predecessor, making this legendary adventure bike even better. By using a shorter stroke, bigger bore and increased liquid cooling, the engineers at BMW added power right where you want it.

Touratech USA is the firs company in the USA with a full product line available for the R1300GS. What else would you expect from the world leader in adventure motorcycle parts and accessories. Here is a look at Touratech equipped motorcycle. Our product line will begin shipping to customers the day the motorcycles hit store but you should pre-order now to insure that you get your Touratech upgrades when you get your motorcycle!

See the product line here

Touratech Lower Crash Bars for Husqvarna Norden 901 will fit the Norden Expedition after some modifications to the stock skid plate. Touratech upper crash bars attach to the Touratech lower bars once installed.

These instructions are provided to assist customers who wish to make the skid plate modifications. Some people may want to use a professional fabricator or installer to attempt this project as this is not just a simple bolt-on solution.

The following images show interference areas (circled in red) between the Touratech Crashbar inner mounting bracket and the factory Norden Expedition skidplate.

The areas marked with a blue X need to be removed from the aluminum skid plate.

Yellow circles show areas of factory skid plate that have had material removed. Use a grinder, file, or sander to smooth the edges.

The top edge of the skidplate will need relief cuts to avoid interference with the portion of the crashbar that bolts to lower radiator mount. This can be done with a half-round file or sanding drum.

The factory skidplate spacer can be cut and repositioned to align with the three countersunk mounting holes in the bottom of the skidplate. Follow remainder of Touratech instructions for installation. https://cdn.touratech-usa.com/09-414-5155-0.pdf

Three countersunk flathead bolts for the bottom of the skidplate are not included with the Touratech crashbar kit. You will need to source those three bolts locally.

Touratech offers crash bars in Electroplated Stainless Steel finish (shown here) #414-5155, or Black Epoxy Coated Stainless Steel #414-5156. Link to purchase: https://www.touratech-usa.com/store/Lower-Crash%20Bars-Husqvarna-Norden-901

Upper crash bars can be added #414-5162 (SS) or #414-5163 (Blk). Link to purchase: https://www.touratech-usa.com/store/Upper-Crash-Bars-Husqvarna-Norden-901

Call 1 (800) 491-2926 or email sales@touratech-usa.com with questions.

Touratech USA is once again proud to support rider and filmmaker, Sterling Noren as he embarks on another epic solo journey on his BMW R1250GS.

This season he travels over 8000 miles from his home in Arizona and to beautiful British Columbia and  back. It’s a terrific adventure and one that every rider, no matter the experience level or bike genre should watch.

Touratech parts on the trip include:

Zega Panniers

Crash Bars

Rallyeform Skid Plate

Aventuro Carbon 2 Helmet

www.touratech-usa.com

Your Adventure bike’s most vulnerable section resides at the gut of the engine. For ADV riders, this gut often gets kicked with rocks, stumps, and those fallen trees that appear out of nowhere.

And just like someone kicking you in the gut, your bike feels much pain from exhaust dents that restrict exhaust flow to a cracked block that quickly ends your day.

But this pain is preventable with the proper protection: a skid plate. Not just any skid plate, but one that will endure endless beatings.

Many of the world’s most popular ADV tourers, from the BMW R 1250 GS to the KTM 1290 Adventure R to the Harley-Davidson Pan America, arrive with a stock skid plate. Most of those stock units are flimsy, though, and will dent or crack when bashed, leading to immediate or future issues.

These problems could be simple, such as a dented exhaust pipe, but others can be more disastrous, such as a cracked engine block that spews oil, or a ripping off exhaust or linkage.

With that said, here are some reasons why you should wisely invest in an aftermarket skid plate.

• Protects Frame: Next time you see an adventure bike that’s actually ridden off-road and doesn’t have a skid plate, check out the frame. It’s likely flattened and scraped badly. Constantly bashing frames can tweak the engine’s alignment in the frame, something that will have you wearing chains quicker and feeling unbalanced.

• Protects Exhaust: A dented exhaust decreases performance. And if you smash the exhaust hard enough, you may tweak the bolts on the engine head. That’s a dire situation, and of course, super costly.

• Protects Oil Filter: I ripped off an oil filter on my first ADV bike, a 2002 V-Strom DL1000. And I was about two miles away from any public roads with no phone reception, but thankfully on even terrain. I had to push that heavy SOB all the way out. A skid plate would have saved me from all the madness. Busting an oil filter can also lead to a crash due to slick tires.

• Protects Lower Engine: Not only is a damaged engine pricey to repair, but it also means downtime from riding. Protecting your engine is a must for any off-road riding.

• Protect Linkage: Ever bend linkage or got a rock stuck between your engine and the brake pedal? This happens often. A skid plate deflects rocks, keeping them away from your rear brake and shifter linkages.

• Allows Sliding: Besides protection, another benefit is the slide factor. It’s a fun technique to learn and allows you to descend stiff cliffs. With the proper brake control, you can glide down cliffs that once looked unrideable.

What Should You Look For in a Quality Skid Plate?

The more you ride off-road, the pickier you need to be when purchasing a skid plate.

The first thing to look for? The type of metal.

The optimal choice is aluminum, which protects but will also dent if needed instead of cracking or being so rigid that it’ll damage the mounting points. Aluminum also won’t add much weight to your ride.

Speaking of mounting, that’s the second thing to look out for. Skid plates should install in solid locations along the frame, and be simple to install. In addition, the mounting brackets and hardware should all be quality steel.

A bonus would be a skid plate that provides quick and easy access for oil filters and drain plugs. A few, like the Touratech RallyeForm, pivot out of the way by removing only a few bolts.

I installed the RallyeForm on my KTM 1190 Adventure R, and oil changes are easy. Just remove the two bolts at the bottom of the frame, and the entire 4mm aluminum plate pivots forward, allowing quick access to the oil filter and drain plug.

Another thing to look for is optimal welding. Skid plates take much abuse, and the last thing you want is a weld to bust. This was another thing that attracted me to the RallyeForm. It contains now welds and is built from one sheet of rounded aluminum pressed with 500,000 pounds of force.

Is a Skid Plate’s Price Truly Worth It?

The cost of a skid plate is minimal compared to repairs, especially on those European rides, and worth every penny. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way a decade ago aboard my Multistrada. A tree suddenly appeared around a turn, and I destroyed my exhaust mid-pipe, which is not cheap.

Most cost under $500 and can save you hundreds of dollars in repairs. Plus, they add a rugged look to any adventure bike and allow you to learn some slide riding techniques.

Shop Touratech Skid Plates for your Adventure Motorcycle Here

Shield your KTM 790 with next-level armor by installing the stainless-steel RallyeForm Skidplate. The engineers at Touratech have developed the ultimate in protection with this ultra-strong stainless-steel skid plate. Protection is extended upward from the stainless-steel base skid plate with integrated 3mm aluminum guards to protect the low-slung fuel tanks. The stainless-steel lower portion is designed to give the maximum protection during hard hits on rocks, stumps, or bottoming out the bike off-road. If the ultimate in protection is what you seek for your KTM 790, look no further.

The overall design fits the KTM 790 like a glove to maximize protection while keeping the bike streamlined and agile. There are two color combinations available: silver base with either silver or black tank guards. Unlike other products on the market, the RallyeForm skid plate can be combined with Touratech engine and fairing crash bars for complete protection of your 790. The KTM 790 is one of the most athletic twin-cylinder motorcycles in the ADV class and it entices riders to explore off the beaten path. The stainless-steel Rallye Form skid plate gives your KTM 790 the best protection on the market, so you can explore rugged terrain with confidence.

When the going gets gnarly, stainless-steel is the ultimate shield for your KTM 790!

Get your Skid Plate and all other KTM 790 Adventure/R parts here!

Overview

The Yamaha Tenere 700 is opening up the adventure motorcycle dream to a broader market with its low barrier to entry at around $11,000. The affordability of this bike is even tempting some riders to add this middle-weight bike to their moto-fleet because it’s smaller, simple and easier to manage off-road than their full-sized BMW R1250GS or KTM 1290 Adventure R. It’s refreshing to throw a leg over a bike that doesn’t require you to navigate a menu to figure out the electronic settings. It’s more of an old-school dirt bike with the exception of one button to engage the off-road ABS. The bike and motor feel surprisingly refined and smooth for a bike at the value-end of the cost spectrum. The 21” front wheel and 18” rear are perfect for riding dirt and a wide range of full knobby tires are available to help riders conquer a wide range of terrain. For anyone looking to get into ADV riding or just wanting a mid-sized bike, it will be hard for them not to consider the Tenere 700.

Rally Styling

Yamaha nailed one thing for sure on the Tenere 700 and that is the rally-inspired body work. From the moment I laid eyes on the T7 concept bike at a trade fair in Germany a half-decade ago, I loved the look of this bike. The production version that finally made it to the US still has that rally look and very good wind protection from the tall navigation-tower-shaped windscreen. I have friends who’ve dumped a small fortune into their Husqvarna 701s to get this look and wind protection that comes stock on the Tenere 700. My only upgrade to the cockpit so far is the Locking GSP Mountand GPS Mount Bracket that I installed onto the triple clamp. On the front side of the fairing I’ve installed the Removable Headlight Guard.

I also chose to protect this body work with Touratech Upper Crashbars which wrap around the front of the bike for maximum protection and enhance the styling. Another benefit is that it provides a good place to mount accessory lights or Crash Bar Bags.

Third Gear of the Gods

On many an ADV bike over the years, I had to change the stock sprockets to get the right gearing for off-road riding. This isn’t necessary on the Tenere 700. In fact, I felt like the gearing could not be more perfect. I fell in love with the Tenere’s 3^rd gear on most of the forest service roads and two-track along the WABDR. It has the perfect range of speeds for this type of riding. At times when the trail got tight, steep, or more technical, 2^nd gear was perfect for tractoring up and through the challenging terrain. It’s a simple thing, but some bikes require a lot of shifting on your typical BDR-style tracks and the Yamaha didn’t. It just felt perfectly geared like it was made for exactly this type of terrain. I installed an Aluminum Chainguard to protect the drivetrain from rocks, sticks and debris on the trail.

B-minus Brakes

My initial reaction was that the Brembo brakes could be better in terms of shear stopping power. The 4-piston caliper dual 282mm disc front brakes are adequate and I was able to modulate with just one finger which is great. They just didn’t give me that ‘wow those are good’ feeling that I have sensed during my first ride on some of the recent twin-cylinder ADV bikes. The rear brake reservoir is somewhat exposed so I protected it with a Brake Reservoir Guard. Yamaha did score points with me on the off-road ABS system.

Off-Road ABS

One of the best inventions of the last decade is off-road ABS. I remember the early days of ABS where we had to constantly remember to disable it and when we forgot to turn it off, there was an oh-shit moment coming into that first corner, feeling the overactive ABS rejecting your instructions to lock up that rear tire and the front brake just wouldn’t bite. I don’t miss those terrifying moments. The off-road ABS on the Tenere 700 is fantastic. It allows you to completely skid the rear wheel to help turn in those corners and for braking assistance in loose gravel. The beauty of this mode is that the rider can grab the front brake hard without completely locking up the wheel. This reduces crashing risk and makes the bike safer to ride, especially for people with beginner or average off-road skills. I protected this critical system by installing an ABS Sensor Guard.

698cc Parallel Twin Powerplant

While it’s not the most powerful twin in the segment, it has plenty to get the job done on pavement, even at highway speed, and it’s very good on the dirt. Riding this bike some 1,500 miles with about half of those miles being off-road, I came to really like the character of this motor. My first impression centered on how smooth it was and that it pulled better than I expected on the highway. I came to enjoy the sounds it made while riding on the twisty high-mountain two-track.

Lofting the front wheel sometimes takes a down-shift as compared to the more powerful twins in the class, but it makes up for this in excellent fuel economy and very manageable traction. This bike has no electronic traction control whatsoever. This was done partially to keep the bike affordable, but also because the bike simply doesn’t need it. I rode aggressively with a full load of camping gear and never felt I was breaking the rear wheel loose excessively. For the first 1,500 miles I’ve averaged 48.8 MPG. It is a very enjoyable motor for slabbing it to and from your favorite BDR and is a joy to ride once you are on dirt. If you like this motor as much as I do, you’ll want to protect it with a Skid Plate, and Crash Bars.

This bike also has a water pump that is exposed so I added a Guard to protect it. There is a lot to love about this motor, but if you are looking for exciting power the T7 might not do it for you.

Toss the Tires

If you are commuting to the office with the occasional fire road on a dry sunny day you might find the stock tires acceptable. I was riding classic BDR roads with loose desert terrain and some slick mud on the higher mountain trails. This rear tire is not adequate for clawing a fully-loaded bike up a steep loose section of rocky or sandy trail. When it comes to mud, the bike control quickly gets sloppy. In most of the conditions I encountered, the tires were just fine. In a few places I was ready to toss them in the dumpster and spoon on a set of Scorpion Rally or TKC 80’s.

Cigarette Plug for Cell Phones

On my first day on the trail, I went to help my riding buddy air up her tires and found a limitation on the accessory power plug. My Stop n’ Go Air Compressor started for a split second then stopped. Troubleshooting revealed I had blown the fuse for the cigarette socket. This power plug is fused for only 2amps which is enough for a cell phone charger and that’s about it. This was a bit disappointing to see on an adventure bike, but Yamaha scored points by having a spare 2amp fuse on-board making it an easy fix.

Battery Access

The passenger seat comes off easily with the ignition key inserted into the lock bezel located just above the foot pegs on the clutch side of the bike. This gives you access to the modest OEM tool kit which surprisingly doesn’t include the 4mm hex key required to remove the main rider’s seat to gain access to the battery.

So, you will be relying on your friends or will need to carry a 4mm hex key with you. Fortunately, I had my CruzTOOLS RoadTech M3 tool kit for Japanese metric motorcycles with me which contains the 4mm hex. I also had a CruzTOOLS Outback’r 14 multi-tool in my Universal Enduro Tank Bag which also has a 4mm hex so I was able to gain access to both the fuses and the battery.

Seat for Standing

I’ve never met a stock seat that I liked and the Tenere 700 is no different. On the tarmac my back-side got uncomfortable after about an hour. Fortunately, my ride involved a lot of dirt and this seat is easy to move around on and encourages riders to stand up. I’ll be upgrading the seat before my next ride.

Suspension

As with any new motorcycle, the suspension is set up for a rider who weighs 170lbs with riding gear and carrying 15lbs of gear. Most of us are far beyond that. First impressions of riding this bike around town is that the suspension is not bad. Without a load it feels pretty good. Once loaded up with camping gear, tools, food and water for a week-long trip in the mountains, it became clear the bike wasn’t going to work for me with the stock suspension.

I installed the Touratech Suspension Extreme Rear Shock and Progressive Fork Springs in the front forks. This dramatically improved the handling and kept the bike level when loaded up with gear. After riding it a bit, I increased both the high-speed and low-speed damping until I felt it was providing maximum control with the heavy load I had for a week-long adventure. I always bring a few nice extras like a camp chair, hammock and like to roll into camp with plenty of water, a bottle of wine and a great selection of appetizers. I am definitely not one to pack light, and I like to ride hard and enjoy launching an occasional water-bar, so upgraded suspension is a requirement for me.

How does it carry the load?

There is a lot of talk about smaller is better. A lighter bike is easier to pick up for sure. A lighter bike does handle better in technical terrain, but only if you pack very light. If not, the front wheel can become too light which creates tracking and control problems and you can feel the weight on the back pulling the bike around.

In my experience, a larger adventure bike carries the load better. A balanced bike is always easier for me to maneuver than a lighter bike with too much junk in the trunk. So, determining how the T700 would handle a full load of camping gear was the real test for me. I was happy to discover that it handled the weight better than some of the 650 thumpers I have ridden. I am a heavy packer, so I reached the limit of weight this bike wanted to carry. When riding the bike with full fuel, water and lots of groceries on board I could really feel it. The larger bikes like the BMW F850, KTM 1090, or Africa Twin can generally handle that type of load better. For me this bike is good, I just need to keep the load reasonable.

For luggage I installed a Zega Pro Pannier System with 31/38 liter anodized boxes which was great for secure and dry storage. It’s nice to be able to take the boxes off at camp for sitting or cooking. The Pannier Lid Dry Bag further extended my storage and also doubled as a camp cooler as it fits a full bag of ice. My tent, hammock, chair, pad, pillow, and sleeping bag fit in a 50 Liter Waterproof Extreme dry bag strapped between the panniers on the seat/fender. This set-up gave me enough space and organization to carry what I needed while keeping the load balanced.

Bottom Line

Just like people, bikes each have their own personality. You meet some you like more than others. I have a feeling that a lot of people will like the Tenere 700. Even though it’s not the lightest or the most powerful in its class there is something special about this bike. It might just be that there is little to dislike about it. This machine has few characteristics that would rub a rider the wrong way, and it has plenty of attributes that people will enjoy. The bottom line is that the Tenere 700 is a pretty darn good choice for riding a Backcountry Discovery Route and it’s at a price that many people can afford. You also have to admit that this is a great looking bike. The rally styling speaks to me and the extra wind protection is nice for long days in the saddle. It’s great to see Yamaha back in the adventure segment with such a strong contender.

Touratech has been making parts for Yamaha Tenere models since the 1990’s. For 30 years, adventure riders exploring the most remote locations on Earth have relied on Touratech.

Check out our complete line of products for the Yamaha Tenere 700 on our website.

Protect your Tenere 700 engine with Touratech’s Expedition Skid Plate. With a 21” front wheel and good ground clearance, the Yamaha Tenere 700 likes to wander off the beaten path. You are likely to find something on the ground that will make dangerous contact with the underside of your Tenere. You best protect it with an Expedition Skid Plate which offers three levels of protection in one skid plate. The stainless steel base plate distributes the load, while the heavy-duty 4mm aluminum shell provides robust protection. This is capped off by reinforced nylon sliders that absorb impact and provide a sliding surface to glide your Tenere over any obstacle in its path.

Shop for Tenere 700 Parts!

TRANSCRIPTION –

Hey folks, Ian here with Touratech USA. Today, we are going to be installing the Expedition Skid Plate on a Yamaha T7. This is the skid plate that uses a bunch of different layers to add reinforcement to the motorcycle. The main component here is your 4mm thick aluminum skid plate, and then you have these two 5mm thick stainless steel plates as the front one. That’s the front one and this is the back one right here. These guys are super strong and what they do is they spread out the load of impacts on the bottom of the skid plate onto the frame that cradles the bottom side of the engine.

The first step I always take doing an install here is to lay out all the hardware that comes in the kit. You have two stainless steel brackets here. These are only used if you do not have Touratech engine crash bars on the motorcycle. So I’m not going to use those today. You have six M8 washers. You have eight of these clip nuts. You have six of these coarse thread screws and six of their corresponding plastic spacers. Those are installed here into these sliders of what you have two. You have a whole bunch of these flange head bolts here, and then there’s two of them that are longer. They’re the exact same bolt, just a little bit longer. Four of these hex head bolts, one M8 nyloc nut and one socket cap and a bolt. So that’s the collection that you should have in your hardware pack, and let’s get straight to work.

The first thing to do is get on your computer and print out the paper instructions. There’s a lot of steps to this installation, so I highly recommend having these handy, not to mention they have the torque specs right here. We’re going to be using the Inox A2, that’s stainless steel, and we’re going to be using these torque specs while we’re working on the bike.

Once we got the instructions printed out, first thing we do is install all these clip nuts into the two sub pieces. You start with the front mounting plate and you install these just by squeezing together and clipping them in. They should be able to slide up and down like this, and they’re installed on the inside of the bracket here. Now we’re going to install these coarse thread screws and their corresponding spacers onto these nylon sliders. These go into the one o’clock… I should say the first, the third and the last position. I do that on both of the spacers. I find these much easier to install using an electric tool. I’ll show you how that works here. These coarse thread screws use a Torx T20 tool. I use the CruzTOOLS drivers on just an electric impact.

You put the screw through the plastic spacer, like so, hold it in place and then just send it down here. You don’t actually want these so tight. So when I do that, I’ll actually then go and back them out about a quarter turn, so that plastic spacer is just floating a little bit. That’ll make it a lot easier to get into the skid plate when we’re doing it at the end. So first position, third position, final position. Now that we’ve got the two sub-parts assembled and the plastic sliders all assembled, it’s time to head over to the motorcycle and start installing these two subframe pieces.

For the front piece, we need the socket cap, M8 bolt, two of the M8 washers and the M8 lock nut as well as two of these M6x20 flange-head bolts. You can see on the instructions here that these flange-head bolts are screwing into the subframe on the motorcycle. So I’m going to put some Loctite on these, and then the M8x30 bolt is going into its own Nyloc nuts. So I’m going to put anti-seize on that one before I head to the bike.

Here we are under the motorcycle ready to install the front sub part and this installs with three bolts. The two lower mounting positions go here and here on the front engine cradle, and then the upper bolt here goes right up in here in this hole that’s cast in the front of the crank case here. So we’re going to bolt it up like that. I’m going to start by just loosely installing these two flange-head bolts by hand, just to hold the bracket in place, and then I’ll work on the top hole. Once you get the top bolt through and we have the two bottom bolts just loosely started, you can take the nyloc nut and another one of the washers here and install it on the back side of the upper bolt.

Now I’m going to use a Torx T30 bit to snug up these two lower bolts and a 6mm Allen drive and a 13mm spanner wrench to tighten up the upper bolt. This upper bolt is a little bit hard to get to because of the shape of the frame. So just make sure you have a good selection of tools to try and make sure you can reach it here. With  the front plate installed, now it’s time to work on the rear sub plate. And that requires all four of these longer M8 hex head bolts as well as two of the shorter flange-head bolts. All of these are screwing into the frame of the motorcycle. So I’m going to use thread locker on all six of them. Remember that at this point, if you do not have Touratech lower engine guards on your bike, you will need these spacers to be installed here or here. I’m not quite sure yet. But since our bike already has those on the bike, we are not going to be using these pieces.

So from both sides of the motorcycle, we have to remove the two factory bolts here. These factory bolts use a 12mm head. With those four bolts out, we now hold this plate up and loosely install it with the two big hex head bolts going back here, and then the flange-head bolt going right here on both sides. Make sure you got the washers and some thread locker installed on these bolts. With the three bolts on each side now loosely install, use a Torx T30 bit to screw in the two flange-head bolts, and then use a 13mm socket to screw in the two big bolts on the sides. Now that we have the rear and forward subframe brackets installed underneath the bike, we’re going to install the actual skid plate itself.

To do that, we are going to use the remaining six M6 flange-head bolts and we’re going to put thread locker on all of them because they’re all screwing into those J nuts that we previously installed or those clip nuts. And so we want to make sure that they don’t rattle out. Little blue thread locker. For installing the skid plate under the bike, I like to start with the two front bolts that are going to go into these J nuts here. So hold the plate up with one hand, and with the other hand, just loosely start these bolts into the clip nuts. You’ll notice that I’m not putting any bolts in these front holes right here. That’s because these are used last to secure the nylon reinforcement sliders.

Now the last step is to install these sliders on the bottom side of the skid plate. These are held in place by the little bobbins that you previously installed and the two longer flange-head M6 bolts. I like to put just a little bit of Loctite on both of these guys, and then we’ll use our Torx T30 to drive them home. All right. That’s all there is to it. Skid plate is fully installed. Underside of this motorcycle is now protected way better than stock, and it’s ready to go for a ride.

Touratech USA

This is the first of 25 amazing episodes of Riding Solo presented by Touratech USA!

Leaving home in Arizona on a 6,00 mile motorcycle ride.

Riding Solo is a video series about motorcycling alone in the USA backcountry by Sterling Noren for the Motorcycle Travel Channel

The videos were filmed during a 6,000 mile/30-day solo ride in the summer of 2020 in locations including Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Each episode focuses on great motorcycling roads (paved and dirt), camping, cooking and relaxing in scenic and remote locations. The purpose of the series is to show viewers how easy it is to ride solo on a motorcycle adventure in the USA backcountry.

Next Post – Arizona High Country Motorcycle Adventure 

Touratech Parts used during Riding Solo:

Zega Pro Pannier System
Crash Bars
RallyeForm Skid Plate
Sidestand Foot
GD Hand Guards