New lightweight, double cradle tubular steel frame
During the development of the Ténéré 700, one of the key goals was to achieve a slim, agile and light feeling chassis that would be equally suited to both road and off-road riding. To satisfy these requirements, Yamaha’s designers have developed an all-new lightweight double cradle tubular steel frame that combines low weight with immense strength, making it ideally suited to a variety of riding conditions. Featuring a compact 1,590mm wheelbase and a slim body, this rugged chassis delivers responsive handling characteristics, and with 240mm of ground clearance, the Ténéré 700 is designed to help its rider conquer the roughest terrain.
Slim, compact and ergonomic body and seat
The ability of a rider to shift their weight and position on the bike is crucial for maintaining full control in off-road riding situations, so the Ténéré 700 is equipped with a flat seat and slim body that allows maximum rider agility. The compact bodywork and narrow fuel tank also enable the rider to grip the tank with their knees whether sitting or standing, giving added confidence and control in every situation, whether riding on dirt or asphalt.
Aggressive rally-bred face with four LED headlights
The new Ténéré 700 comes equipped with a distinctive looking headlight assembly that is a direct spin-off from Yamaha’s latest factory rally bikes and the T7 concept machine. A total of four LED headlights project powerful beams of light that can illuminate the darkest wilderness. Stacked in a two-plus-two layout and protected by a clear nacelle, along with two LED position lights at the base, this strong face gives a purposeful look that matches this new Adventure Touring bike’s imposing character.
Adjustable long-travel 43mm upside down coil-spring forks
The Ténéré 700’s long travel forks are undeniable evidence that this is a serious Adventure Touring bike with class-leading off-road capabilities. The flex-resistant 43mm upside down coil-spring forks stay composed over the most extreme terrain to provide precise steering and smooth suspension action, while 210mm of suspension travel enables the rider to attack the most challenging off-road terrain with confidence.
Featuring full damping adjustment, these rally-specification front forks ensure high levels of comfort with lightweight handling performance when on the road, making the Ténéré 700 one of the most capable and enjoyable long-distance tourers.
Remotely adjustable rear shock absorber
The Ténéré 700 features a rally-bred link-type rear suspension system that provides smooth and progressive action for maximum riding comfort and enhanced levels of control. Featuring a lightweight aluminum swingarm for low un-sprung weight, this high specification rear end offers 200mm of travel which, like the front suspension system, is designed to handle the most severe off-road riding conditions while producing a comfortable ride on the road. Another significant feature is the remote preload adjuster that provides quick and easy adjustment to suit riding conditions.
Rally-style fairing and windscreen
The rally-styled faring and windscreen on the new Ténéré 700 exhibit pure Dakar character. The compact rally screen and nose fairing give you excellent protection from the wind while maintaining the slim and lightweight character of the bike, and the competition type tapered handlebars give a relaxed riding position whether you’re seated or standing.
21-inch front and 18-inch rear spoked wheels
Just like the high specification front and rear suspension, the spoked wheels demonstrate that this bike is built for serious off road riding. With their ability to efficiently absorb the continuous impacts experienced when riding in rough terrain, these lightweight wheels work with the long travel suspension to give the rider optimum handling performance and control. Because the Ténéré 700 features a competition type 21-inch front wheel/18-inch rear wheel combination, riders have the option to fit a wide range of tires to suit their requirements – ranging from a pure enduro pattern for predominantly off-road use, to dual sport pattern tires for on/off-road versatility.
Slim, long-range fuel tank with 4.2-gallon capacity
Throughout the development of this new generation Adventure Touring bike, Yamaha’s principal goal was to ensure that the Ténéré 700 would deliver class-leading off-road performance together with outstanding on-road capabilities and provide genuine long-range potential.
The slim design of the fuel tank belies its 4.2-gallon capacity, and its narrow rear section offers plenty of rider mobility and excellent knee grip. Whether sitting down or standing up, the compact dimensions of this long-range fuel tank enable the rider to shift their weight around effortlessly. Thanks to the excellent economy of the twin-cylinder engine, 4.2-gallons of fuel provides an approximate average 217-mile fuel range which gives the new Ténéré 700 a high level of all-terrain versatility.
I didn’t think they’d make us wait another 2 years, oh well time to move on. Maybe kawi will surprise with a new klr but I don’t want to get my hopes up.
I think Yamaha should change it’s plans and release this as a 2025 model… in 2024.
Then stupid people will then think its an early release. 😉
Dirt bikes change every year or so but it takes how long for this thing to come to pass?
Well, given the wheels and small tank and gestation period, I’ll pass too.
Nope.
I really like the looks and details, and the engine is well proven. Great throttle response and frugal too.
And it’s coming to my country early 2019!! ha ha!
I’d take this over a Transalp but then, oh wait, I can’t!
It sure is taking them a long time to finally develop bigger, uglier, and much heavier T7. I call it a miserable failure. Can the thing and go back to the T7.
I don’t understand how it takes these marques 4-5 years to develop what is essentially a big dirt bike, when they drop new street bikes nearly every year like nobody’s business. They’ve been teasing (well, first denying, then teasing) this thing for 2 years already, and it won’t be out for another 2? What gives?
> it takes these marques 4-5 years to develop what is essentially a big dirt bike, when they drop new street bikes nearly every year
This. New cruisers and bobbers every couple of months, ADVs though once a decade. Complete bs.
I don’t think it takes that long. It is more likely that they didn’t think the market size was big enough to make it worthwhile. Even the FZ07 had to be somewhat of an “experiement” in the US market, since the decent Kawasaki ER6n had recently failed here. The US market is coming back slowly, but dealerships are still on somewhat shaky ground.
I think they were going to phone it in, then KTM showed their concept. I can hear the engineers at Yamaha talking to the top brass, “but we are growers not showers”!
As everybody said, 2020 late in the year? By then KTM will have sucked up the whole market
Is Kawasaki sleeping? Here’s their opportunity for a new KLR. They got a ton of those parallel twins laying around…
So if I start saving up $700 a month for the next two years I’ll be able to afford this bike!
Oh wait, $16,199 is for the big over-sized model. Hopefully the 700 will be about half that. So $350 a month for the next two years…
A 4.2 gallon tank. Really?
Looks like tubes in them thar wheels. Really?
Not out until, what…mid 2020? Reeeeeeeeally?
I can’t think of any valid reason to wait around for this turd.
Really. Stupid. Yamaha.
I realize beauty is in the eye…but that sh!t is ugly.
Ugly is the new cool. It’s been that way for a while now.
Paper bag over the front will fix it!
Ugly is in Yamaha’s DNA
after a dt 175e, an xt 550j, and two xt 600ea, I still haven’t spent 16 grand.
I know, seriously!
Ténéré 700 is scheduled to arrive at U.S. dealerships in the second half of 2020…
Really?
Looks like it could be a really good bike with reasonable off-road ability, which is something the bigger, so-called, adventure bikes don’t have. The only disappointment so far is the low front fender which can be a big problem in sticky mud. But I guess that is necessary to allow air-flow to the centrally mounted radiator. Why not have two smaller radiators with a gap between them like on a dirt bike? Notice that the Moto Guzzi V85TT has a high fender, which they can do because it has no radiator.
21/18 wheelset. Check!
Decent fuel range. Check!
Big suspension travel. Check!
Good stuff. Except for that low fender.
I can’t imagine a curb weight much less than 440 lbs for this bike, so this will likely fill a void between the more extreme KTM 690 and the land occupied by the bigger 790 and BMW F850’s. Probably a good spot to occupy.
Full up wet weight spec is 452lbs (205kg)
Isn’t 452 lb wet pretty close to the new Moto Guzzi 850 Adventure bike, with shaft drive, tubeless tires, and a high front fender, and better looks? If yes, the 850 looks better and better.
But if you are going to ride out into the desert this will leave the Guzzi. This and the 790 Adventure are going to bring in a new era to Adventure bikes. Using paved roads to connect your Adventure. I am really contemplating a bike like this. I have a 3 bike rule, this could make that cut.
From everything I’ve read, the new V85 TT is around 500lbs wet.
It looks like a Ducati Multistrada 1260 S bit off its beak.
maybe the press release contains a misprint. could they have meant 2019? why would they bother to show a bike that wont be available for two years? it is ancient history before it even comes out
It’s like showing your hand in a poker game.
And we’ve only been asking for this bike since the 660Z was introduced, and before. They took too long IMO and they didn’t really deliver anyway. While much more offroad capable than the Guzzi V85, I wouldn’t take this coast to coast fully loaded. I’m out.
2 years from now in the US. This is a European show, so i may be released there a year earlier. Europe is a much bigger middleweight market as well. And one in the grip of Rally chic.
I have to echo the stupidity of such a late US availability. 2nd half of 2020? Really? Competitors will love that.
Uh-oh. This and the Guzzi V85TT appear to have welded-on subframes. OOPs. This is not a good thing for an ADV bike. It will be interesting to see if the bolt-on subframe makes it to the production bike. I guess model year 2020 is really only ~12 months away, so I can ride the super tenere for another year before deciding to make the switch.
But “mid-2020” announced release is 1 year 7 months away.
Point well taken. My daughter’s Duke 790 was originally not supposed to arrive until August 2019, and then we saw that they are beginning to arrive in November of 2018. Maybe i was just being optimistic, or this confirms i am not that bright.
I saw 205kg wet on the French website. So 452 lbs. I think this has been overhyped to death and I wouldn’t wait another 2 years for it here in good old ‘merica. Shame. Next year looks like a new bike year for me and I was hoping this would be the one. That Scrambler 1200 XE looks better and better everyday.
Boo.
Seriously ridiculous!
So what do they mean by lightweight? I want a number, I’ve been hearing speculation for years now. YEARS! Is it production ready or not? Why not sell it now before the next recession?
Lighter than a Vstrom 650.
I gambled and went ahead with a 2018 KTM 690 Enduro R, glad I did… I had the FZ-07 and loved the powerplant, it’ll be fantastic in this bike, two years can’t come fast enough.
Does anyone know the seat height of this bike? I hope it’s not 35″ or beyond, or Yamaha will leave out a bunch of short-inseam interested riders.
34.6 inches. So below 35″ if you are a glass-half-full kind of guy. Or rounds up to 35 inches if you are a glass-half-empty kind of guy.
Disappointing for sure. Yamaha ha ha ! The dangling carrot continues to grow. KTM increasing production.
Lots of 790 Adventure’rs will be sold by June 2020..
What a disappointment…Ugly ..low fender to clog up in the first farmers field…chain drive and not available….a y f k me!
In March of 1970 the first Ducati v twin was drawn on paper and in June of 1971 the first Ducati v twin rolled off the production line. There is no valid reason for Yamaha to tease about a new design for two years.
I hope it will come in a non purple color.
Amazing bike though. Great sharp boxy lines. Beautiful headlight, same style Honda had on their CRF250L Rally with the lights behind screen. Good look.
Purple??? LOL! Time to get a better monitor/phone/tablet… That’s Yamaha Blue.
Man these guys are moving at a glacial pace on this one. Come on Honda, shoehorn the CB500x motor into the CRF250L Rally chassis, add a bigger fuel tank and beat these guys to the punch. I love my Africa Twin, but a 500 at a 100lbs. lighter would be perfect…
“…a 500 at a 100lbs. lighter would be perfect…”
Why are the OEMs so dunce to this reality? I’ll take a stab at this. The OEM desire to cater to the smaller ratio of buyers with deep pockets. The more costly the bike the bigger the profit margin. The OEM marketing departments equate engine displacement with perceived value. Put those two together and you have OEM’s making ever larger displacement deluxe high end bikes with premium componentry.
I think the marketing departments are wrong on this point. If the performance is there, IMO buyers would pick the best performing bike for their intended use independent of engine displacement.
It’s possible the marketing departments are correct. A friend of mine is a wood craftsman of the highest order. For years he has been converting his rich brother in law’s huge house into a gorgeous craftsman home.
When his brother in law described the desired dimensions for the screen for the HT room with front projector, the brother in law said, “I don’t want to visit anyone else’s home and see a larger screen.”
Screen size + viewing distance requires a certain resolution threshold. Below the resolution threshold results in pixels being visible. IOW there’s such thing as too large a screen depending on several variables. At the time of this conversation the highest resolution projector was only 1080P.
Well you see, old 4-cylinder 250-500’s flopped in many markets, and new sporty ones too outside of countries with tiered licensing, so…
2 years to get this to the U.S.? Whoa, that’s one slow boat from Japan.
If this weighs less than 390 pounds and still has a 270 degree crank and does not cost $10k +, I’ll buy if I am not dead by then. Seat looks nice and flat.
Anybody know how to pronounce Tenere ”’ ?
Ténéré
Ten-er-A
Berber term for the most remote wilderness of the Sahara.
Moto-SLANG – Showing up for event 12 months late. “I heard Joe pulled a Ténéré and showed up a year late for a show and go.”
Thank you for both the pronunciation and a severely good laugh for your example. Been a fine day.
The new Tenere shall meet your weight spec dry (390#), but not wet. The street naked bike with this motor weighs about 407# wet. The frame, wheels, sub frame, suspension, etc. for an adventure version must be stronger and heavier. I estimate this Tenere’s full tank curb weight is 425#.
Boy, that’s a long lead time to actual release.
I’d prefer a front fender much higher than the one pictured. Beyond that, I suspect Yamaha quickly sells out once they arrive.
It DOES look d’bidness…
The wet weight spec is 205kg (452lbs) full of gas.
We’re finally getting the announcement (late) in the second half of 2018 that we’ll see this bike in the second half of 2020? After all that teasing it’s still that far away from hitting the streets in the US? Wow. I can’t describe how underwhelmed and disappointed I feel. A competitor might actually have time to beat Yamaha to the punch. Certainly, if this type of bike proves popular, Yamaha won’t have the niche to themselves for long.
Obviously Yamaha is taking a page from certain software development practices on product road map for new features.
What do you mean it pushed again….
Bitterly disappointed myself.