YZE 660T Ténéré Rallye Bike

A dream goes on…YZE 660T Ténéré Sonauto Yamaha Factory Dakar Rallye Bike

I picked up, aside my twin bike, as well this fantastic last ever Yamaha air cooled single 660cc Dakar bike from Paris.

This bike was ridden on the 1987 Paris-Dakar by Thierry Charbonnier and finished 8th.

As far as I am aware there are only two of these bikes remaining, one in the factory museum in Japan and mine.

I will start posting all the interesting details about this bike in the future, but I will rebuild first my twin bike. The bike is in good condition, even though the storage time of about 23 years has left some marks. The bike is more or less straight from the rallye, even though there have been some new wheels and suspension fitted. Obviously there are some severe marks on the bike, so I will rebuild it to running condition, maintaining the natural used original appearance, but create 100% functionality.

Both of the main tanks (left & right front) have huge dents, which will be repaired. The rear tail is the 3rd tank, which is in very good condition, but the water tank on the tail end is completely bent. This will be the trickiest rebuilding work, as this hollow structure cannot be just bent back, but needs to be de-assembled (!) and then after a new fitting welded back together. I will let you know about the progress of this work.

Hope you will enjoy this very unique story…