Yamaha is really hyping the Ténéré 700, a very capable off-roader powered by the 689cc parallel twin from the MT-07. Before production begins this Fall (with an expected unveiling at EICMA), Yamaha is taking a prototype of the bike around the world with accomplished riders and racers testing the machine and appearing at promotional events. Take a look at the following press release, excellent photos and video from Yamaha:
Yamaha’s commitment to the adventure segment is as extensive as it is impressive. The first bike ever to win the Paris to Dakar Rally was the Yamaha XT500. Not only was it the first bike to win the Dakar Rally, it was the first vehicle to win it outright. Initially the rally had no separate car and motorcycle classes so the Yamaha machine was battling against rally tested giants such as Range Rovers and Renaults to pull off a spectacular Yamaha 1-2. After another Dakar win the following year on the XT500 Yamaha found stiff competition as more manufacturers saw the potential of the rally which lead to a return to the drawing board and eventually the XT 600 Ténéré. From there the Ténéré name became synonymous with adventure and over the decades Yamaha worked hard to make sure they produced machines that yearn for exploration.
This chapter of the Ténéré story began in November 2016 when Yamaha revealed the T7 concept and the Ténéré spark was reignited. The idea behind the concept was to remind the world that Yamaha are dedicated to the ideal of exploration and wanted to get a new terrain stomping model out into the wilds in the future. One year later a bold new design was revealed at EICMA, the Ténéré 700 World Raid. A prototype model which is being used to develop the final specification of the production model.
The Ténéré 700 World Raid prototype was designed with adventure in mind, the perfect machine on which to chase your dreams. The bike retains the rugged, rally bred character of the T7 concept bike but has been extensively developed over a year’s worth of intensive testing on the T7. The Ténéré 700 World Raid’s chassis is light in weight and slim, which is in sharp contrast to its competitors right now. This new approach to the adventure scene means the Ténéré 700 World Raid has incredible handling both on and off road. The compact 689cc twin cylinder provides a wide band of tractable power that’s easy to use and perfect for anything the roads or mountains can throw at you. Add to all this an expanded pilot area for navigation equipment, Dakar Rally inspired 4-project headlight assembly and tweaks to every part of the chassis; what you get is a bike ready for any condition, any terrain, any time.
Experiencing Adventure with the 2018 Ténéré 700 “World Raid”
The 2018 Ténéré 700 “World Raid” is an event that will put Yamaha’s most advanced adventure machine through its paces over every terrain imaginable, through all the conditions you could conceive and over incredible distances. This isn’t just about getting out there and showing the world what the Ténéré 700 World Raid is about, it’s about giving you the chance to see a machine engineered for achieving the impossible, realizing an adventurer’s dreams. The Ténéré 700 World Raid will be piloted by ambassadors who are some of the greatest names in off-road racing, true pioneers, ground breakers and visionaries. For those wanting to keep up on the tour, to live the dream along with the ambassadors and teams out there in the wilds, check out the dedicated website and make sure you follow us on all major social media channels using the #’s listed below.
Chasing the Next Horizon with the Ténéré Tragics
The 2018 Ténéré 700 World Raid kicked off in Australia, a land of wild weather, unique wildlife and danger around every corner… a dedicated explorer’s delight. The tour’s first ambassador, Yamalube Official Yamaha Rally Team rider Rodney Faggotter, has the local knowledge of this continent. Rodney has a decade long history riding Yamaha’s both for official teams and independently. He carries a weight of experience with him that’s hard to beat having battled the odds and elements to conquer the mighty Dakar Rally at the start of 2018. Rod hooked up with Australia’s own Ténéré Tragics, where they attended the Ténéré Tour, a specialist tour full of Ténéré bikes from throughout the years. The Ténéré Tragics are dedicated to the ideal of capturing the next horizon, a philosophy that runs deep in the Ténéré line. Finding the next horizon focuses the rider on always searching for the next step in their own never ending adventure.
Conquering the Dunes with Stephane Peterhansel
The second stage of the tour takes place in one of the world’s most inspirational locales for off-road adventure, the Moroccan desert. Deserts, plains, rocks and mountains abound in a landscape that screams adventure, mystery and intrigue. Follow the tour as it finds its way to Merzouga, a legendary location for its yearly rally, part of the Rally Raid calendar, but also as a part of the historic Paris to Dakar Rally. The Ténéré 700 World Raid picks up the perfect ambassador for the job, the living legend Stephane Peterhansel. Of the thirteen Dakar wins Peterhansel has racked up over his record breaking career, six of them have been on bikes from the Ténéré line. Join Peterhansel in his stomping ground, the place where he made history, and see what dreams can be made of.
Living the Dakar Dream with Adrien van Beveren
Stage three kicks off in Argentina with Adrien van Beveren taking up the reins as ambassador. Follow him as he heads back to attack the harsh conditions in South America, a place where legends are born and where the highest peaks carry the promise of great things. The Yamaha Racing star has racked up an outstanding three back to back wins at the legendary Enduropale du Touquet on his Yamaha YZ450F. On top of that he wowed the world with his first outing in the Dakar Rally netting a staggering 6th place overall as part of the Yamalube Yamaha Junior Rally Team. That performance earned him a place in the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team where he stepped up again, this time taking 4th overall, finishing only 1 minute off a podium position. Adrien will be pushing the Ténéré 700 World Raid to its limits in the terrain that he came so close to victory over earlier in the year at the 2018 Dakar Rally.
Reaching New Heights with European Legends
For stage four, we dive into the largest part of the 2018 Ténéré 700 World Raid, the European stage. Nick Sanders, world famous bike explorer will be bringing his globetrotting adventure lifestyle to the experience. His company, Nick Sanders Adventures, is a cornerstone of the Destination Yamaha Motor platform and for good reason. In his career he has racked up numerous superhuman feats and set out to achieve the unachievable at every opportunity. From record breaking circumnavigations of the globe to long boating across the English Channel, Nick is an inspiration to dreamers everywhere.
David Frétigné joins the tour as ambassador and is ready to help those eager to learn, delve into the Ténéré life. David has had a long and successful career as a top flight Enduro racer and has brought home the French Enduro Championship title on multiple occasions with the Yamaha WR450F. He’s also a seasoned Dakar rider and has completed the 2015 Africa Eco Race on the XT1200Z Super Ténéré displaying his affinity with the Ténéré spirit, never waiting to chase the next horizon.
Touratech founder Herbert Schwarz has adventure in his veins and he’s dedicated his life to enabling other intrepid explorers in achieving their dreams. His first two items were a set of aluminum panniers and an illuminated motorcycle computer that Schwarz created for his own travels on all continents and from there, the new adventure segment was born. Herbert Schwarz has developed adventure equipment for almost three decades now and represents everything the Ténéré Spirit is about. Joining the 2018 Ténéré 700 World Raid as ambassador, Herbert Schwarz will be putting over 850,000km of worldwide adventure experience to good use.
Cristóbal Guerrero has enjoyed great success in Enduro, winning the Spanish Enduro Championship four years in a row aboard Yamaha machines as well as placing solidly in the top six for years for Yamaha on the world stage. His experience in off road will be essential on the 2018 Ténéré 700 World Raid.
Alessandro Botturi takes the lead on the Italian leg. Botturi is a legend in the Enduro scene, competing in twelve seasons of the world championship and winning nine Italian Enduro Championship titles as well as two ISDE wins as part of Team Italy. He made the move to Yamaha and secured a win at the 2015 Merzouga Rally as well as three Dakar Rally entries aboard his Yamaha WR450F. The Italian leg of the tour marks the end of the adventure and Botturi and the 2018 Ténéré 700 World Raid crew will be taking you on an odyssey through the mountains at the Hard Alpi Tour. A weekend’s worth of whipping around the alps most spectacular trails both on road and off, high above the clouds and amongst snowy peaks. What better way to finish the tale?
If all that hasn’t whet your appetite for the latest and greatest in adventure action then click here to learn more about the bike itself and get a good look at what promises to be the avid explorer’s new best friend.
More information about the tour will be emerging out in the coming weeks so make sure you check out the dedicated site www.World-Raid.com.
See more of MD’s great photography:
With the KTM Line up there are So many choices now, this would add to the mix, I like it alot, hope it makes it to US if it hits production, which I’m assuming it will. For some reason the Yamaha appeals to me more than the KTM’s, probably price point. I’m a Vstrom fan also, owned many of them. Everyone is looking for something slightly different it seems, at least we have all these choices.
For all the complaints about weight and difficulty in lifting this bike in an inevitable tip-over in the sand; did any of you watch Long Way Round or Long Way Down without skipping the first two episodes? You know, the ones where Ewan and Charlie do boring stuff like weightlifting and training prior to setting off? That stuff is important if you want to maximize your enjoyment of DS riding. There isn’t any Couch-to-Baja 500 program out there, so if you want to take something like this out into the desert you need to be as physically prepared as the bike is. If you want to launch a weekend ride from the recliner, get a standard and stay on pavement. Don’t get me wrong, the waistband of my riding pants have shrunk significantly over the last few years so I have no room to talk, but unless I were willing to commit myself to a more rigorous fitness regimen I won’t concern myself with the struggles of lifting something I am not fit enough to lift.
First, thanks for the lecture.
Ya, Long Way Round…too funny and total BS… just a BMW bull crap production.
I live in the real world. I AM physically fit because I exercise daily and have done so even before my military career began. I am also smart enough to avoid big and pointlessly heavy dumb-ass motorcycles that I don’t need to lift, especially when they are loaded down.
My Anti-hero is Ed March, the Brit that has ridden half the world already, mostly unassisted, on a Honda C90. Way more respect for guys like him, thank you.
My 500lb Triumph T100 did very well rallying in the dirt on Pirelli Phantoms, so I couldn’t complain about much.
IMO it isn’t a real dual purpose machine unless you can pick it up 10 or 20 times on a days worth of riding. Or back it out of a tight arroya that’s got mud in the bottom. And if you can accept that, an XT550, an XR650R a DZ400 or any number of other highway legal machines should remain the blue print for this sector, not an Africa Twin, IMO not a F800GS BMW, certainly not a GS1200. These are great bikes, but absolutely suck for REAL DS riding conditions.
True, we try not to drop our bikes, maybe 10 drops means we aren’t very good at riding. But if you’re really in the outback going up, down, across streams, through the woods etc. etc. dropping is a real part of that type of riding. I’ve helped guys lift their fricken pig bikes over downed tree trunks that left us no way to get around them. I’ll tell you, a BMW 800 GS ain’t the lightest thing on wheels.
The OLD 660 Yamaha would be about the limit in my view, it was also dead simple motor-wise (single cyl as I recall). These bikes these days have too much plumbing and farkles and plastic and other junk….and too much weight. You ought to be able to walk up to it and push it over and let it fall to the ground without an expectation of busting turn signals, bending bars, breaking levers, etc. etc.
I agree. My XR650L was big and heavy in the tight stuff, but had loads of torque and a decent suspension, plus it had no problem on the highway. Now I am riding an XT250, way more fun on tight trails, not scary and easy to pick up when it does go down, plus it cruises down the highway just fine. I get way more enjoyment from riding the smaller dual sport.
I’m not going to be able to help myself. I will compare this bike to the FZ-07 for price, range and weight. I’m sure the price will be more but if it’s a reasonable amount and the range is also more I’ll be OK. Can’t see the weight being any less though. Still, it’s got to be a bunch easier to handle offroad than the KTM 1090R!
Hopefully they don’t lard the production bike up with a bunch of bs
What kind of stuff would constitute lard/BS?
What would NOT be lard/BS?
Yamaha needs to stop promoting this bike and ship it. It’s ridiculous how long this bike is taking to get to market.
In the past you wouldn’t have known about it for this long. Markets are tough. They’ve been teasing the prototype to try to figure out if it was viable, which despite the perceived popularity of adventure bikes, it not a given.
I might, might wish to own this. I’d need to see a lot more specs including fuel capacity, and a thorough review.
i rode my friends africa twin, and man is that an awesome bike for almost all occasions
The adventure market is quite large now and after many years of growth, but can this continue? Yamaha is late in this segment of mid-sized displacement adventure motorcycles and understood they had to offer a better choice. Certainly the level of performance is well above the available Japanese units of this standard and likely the most recent BMW’s. Once this motorcycle is optioned for the touring duties if that is possible then the advantages will diminish. As a pure solo rider machine on various terrain it should be effective.
Aren’t there any studly adventurers in the North American continent? What about hte aforementioned Starbucks run? It HAS to be done!
Picking up my 250 in the desert is hard enough, don’t think I can manage this beast when it falls over (and it will fall over at the worst possible time.) Also, I ain’t a young buck any more, but I still use my bikes off-road, not just a quick ride to Starbucks. As an “adventure” bike that will spend 98% of its time on the tarmac, it looks like it’ll do the job.
You’ve certainly built up some impressive cynicism muscles despite (or perhaps because of) your current ride. I guess anything is a “beast” compared to a 250.
True enough. With aging comes lower back issues, rotator cuffs, arthritis etc. which make picking up the bike more difficult than when you were 20. You also may develop a liking for machines that weigh less than 300# for off-road use when you reach you 6th decade, especially if you ride alone (as I do). The Tenere looks to be a fun bike, just not for my old bones.
And your old bones etc are ok riding the sub-300-pound bike to the off-road playground? This is the inherent compromise with adventure bikes. They are not specialized tools.
Or if you use a pick-up truck to transport your bike or live in the desert you really shouldn’t comment on adventure bikes.
My 300# dual-sport gets ridden everywhere. I thinks this Yamaha Ténéré would be a great bike for me if I rode often with a group for those times I can’t lift a 475# bike by myself. Riding in the deep sand means you’re gonna get practice lifting the bike off it’s side. The group doesn’t get together often enough for me so I ride solo a lot. Getting old does include SOME compromises, at least in my case.
Encouraging to see Yamaha, KTM, BMW, Ducati, etc. expanding types and improving the mid-range bikes (700 to 900cc). The potentially lighter weight, improved suspension and engines are better for over 95% of real world riding. Better performance at a reasonable price = a really good reason to buy a new bike.
Whatever fuel tank they give you it will be sloshing up high making it feel topheavy. Motor is very tall with huge sump underneath.
If you are thinking this bike will be a good handling bike offroad. You had better reconsider.
It is a smaller Africa Twin, if that is what floats your boat , great. But it is not gonna be worth squat offroad. The only Adv bike that has any ability offroad is a single Husky 701/KTM 690. Those bikes are too heavy IMO.
This whole ADV segment is a scam to sell parts that double the price of the bikes to be equipped properly. Like some kind of contest to buy the most stuff.
Give me a decent well suspended 500 Dual Sport and I can tough out the slab parts.
Thank you, Soichiro.
Exactly why I keep pounding out rocky rancho miles in centro Baja with my ancient plated XR600. No place for a big or midsize twin, they’re pinch flats on 2 wheels. 250’s are fun there for day rides, but most don’t have the range/load cap for more. 400’s are ideal.
Totally want one. I’ve been begging Yamaha to bring over the 660 Tenere for a decade now. Finally, this is close enough that I will accept this as an alternative. This is coming to the US, right?
Todd. I the same wanted the 660 Ten . Have an FZ 07 and love the delivery. Going to bite into the smaller adventure competition big time. Waiting with excitement Yamaha. Canada excited. Along with the world.
Yamaha is such a tease. The Transcontinental was a nail bitter. Was it going to be a v4 or sport tourer. It turned out to be huge in a good way.The Niken is much anticipated and we find out doesn’t stand up on its own compared to mp3 and that’s it. Now the 700 Tenere been around longer then those two. We knew it was ugly but they I improved it with paint. But come on Yamaha at least give us the specs.
I have a 1200 Super Tenere, and although i really like it, i prefer smaller displacement, lighter bikes. This looks to be a winner – time to trade.
Well, this is the bike I’ve been waiting for. But it’ll be at least a year from now to get one.
Great news. I’ll enjoy my FZ07 this year. But, if the production model is similar at what we see here, the odds are high that i’d be trading my 07 for the Tenere 700. I’m hoping that the final version will not become too street oriented. Promising!
This could be a really great bike – possibly the best adventure bike available. I don’t like low front mudguards on this type of bike because I have had them clog up with mud and stop the wheel from turning, but it probably is a necessity to allow adequate airflow to the radiator.
Too much, too little, too late. Again.
It does look nice and while I’m in the market for a new bike (I just sold off some bikes and am now down to just two of ’em) it might not be this one. Might.
I want to know specifics such as tubes or tubeless, fuel capacity, ABS (standard) and ride by wire (and therefor REAL cruise control) to name a few. Yes, I am one of those eeeeeevile baby boomers that have ruined the economy, the planet, your Aunty Griselda’s petunia garden and whatever else the saaaaafe spaaaaace runtlettes out there can type up, LOL!
Am I the target for this bike? I should be. Why? Because I have the money. The moolah. The dineros. The bucks. The cashola. The…Yup. The wherewithal. 🙂 Actually, this type of bike should have a lot of people in its sights but that’s up to the product planners at the Tuning Farkle Factory. For what a motorbike costs to purchase, insure and maintain these days, it had better be good, i.e. worth the money.
I went to a local Harley dealer this past weekend. Sorry but outside of a couple of models, nothing there gave me the walletjerk response I had hoped for. I already have a full-on touring rig and I can get a single disc and a 3.4ish gallon tank on a 300cc scooter costing me a lot less than one of the new Sofsells. Speaking of scooters, none of the area dealers keeps anything above 300cc in stock. I can’t say I blame them but then I can’t say I will buy something sans sight of and seat time.
So good luck Yamaha. OH! In the event one of the sophomoric yoots posits a highlarious TLDR I can only say that’s my fault for using “big” words. Public school is long since an inbred breeding ground…
Keep up the good work, Dirck!
It should be ok- but built down to a price. High cog. On the plus side it will have a tested japanese motor. The 790 will be way better to ride but a ktm so all kinds of problems.
I ain’t skeered of a KTM, my SE Asian built 390 has soldiered on through long and short distance riding in all weather with nary a burp. Granted I may have been lucky as I know others have had problems with theirs, but if the 790 is a proper Austrian bike I would happily drag my nethers across the seat.
That being said, this bike ticks all the boxes for me and lately Yamah has been knocking hits out of the park with the FZ-07 & 09 platform. I expect this will be another successful notch on the belt and sell well, maybe the next V-Strom.
Dakar schmakar… whatta bout DuQuoin/San Jose/Indy/Sacramento?
Small front wheel? Whats the specs? How much? I”ve been waiting for this bike for 10 years!
If it hits all the apexes, this could be my last bike…Looking for a cross between my XSR and my DR 650.
It would be nice have One bike to rule them all!
Looks like a 19”.
Look again, it’s a 21
Look at the first photo. Compared to the 17 or 18-inch rear, it looks like a 19.
Check these pix out and you’ll see its a 21.
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/yamaha-tenere-700-thread.1217063/
FWIW: 18″ rear tire can have a larger outside diameter than 21″ front. Check out 140/80-18 Dunlop D908RR foe example. I suspect Michelin Desert and Pirelli Rally (what that bike seems to have) would be about the same.
And in the darkness bind them.