Yamaha Ténéré 700,
Lighter, more agile and more affordable, the most eagerly awaited adventure bike in years is finally here. Bike went to Spain to ride it
THERE’S ONE THING I love more than simply riding a bike. Riding with friends is raw, childlike fun. The sun is shining and the sky is that deep, rich blue of summer. The plants are still vibrant green from spring rains and beneath me is Yamaha’s long awaited Ténéré 700. A perfect, twisty dirt road is unfolding before us, weaving across the hills to the south west of Barcelona and I’m surrounded by great people. This is what adventure bikes were made for and the Ténéré 700 is a superb adventure bike…
After years of teasing and development, fiddling, fettling and tweaking Yamaha have finally released the new bike. Our first ride is in north eastern Spain – 300 miles of adventure riding on a mix of road and trails, over a day and a half. That says a lot about what they want the Ténéré to be seen as. The Japanese brand, spearheaded by their European development team, wanted to produce a bike that is, in their words: ‘a genuine off-road travel bike and not a soft-roader’.
By starting with the 689cc, 72bhp, 270° crankshaft engine from the MT-07 and an XSR700 Yamaha have a great base. It’s a fantastic motor, fruity and responsive and in the transition into the Ténéré 700, Yamaha changed not one of the engine components. The only alterations to engine performance and character come via a new airbox, to fit the Ténéré chassis, and engine management settings.
Repurposing engines often seems like a compromise, but the Ténéré doesn’t feel that way. The delicate balance of smoothness, low down torque and strength to run all-day at motorway speeds make it an ideal adventure bike power unit. On paper it is one of the least powerful adventure bikes, but it doesn’t care. It’s sat in a corner of the classroom alone, getting work done while the other kids mess around with power figures. What the engine is brilliant at is giving you control. Its progressive power curve has a beautiful smoothness to it. For riding in the dirt that makes it easy to be gentle, and that is a crucial trait. A tiny hiccup (literally) stops the Ténéré power delivery being perfect; the initial opening of the throttle is too abrupt. From zero throttle there’s a lurch that you need to work around. Consider it a little pot hole in an otherwise lovely road. Eventually our morning mountain dirt road gives way to high plains. Flatness, big straight roads and unpleasant cross winds. This is travel riding in a microcosm. In the space of a few miles our world has changed and I’m hunkering behind the screen, leaning left and weaving gently across the road to the tune of changing winds and the force of passing trucks.
At this moment the Ténéré pokes its head up to tell me that it really does have some adventure travel credibility.
At 80mph the 700 is stable and happy, despite the savage cross wind. It’s not having to work hard and is clearly geared for this very job.
The vibrations are low and the Ténéré feels like it’s good for a solid chunk more speed before it begins to feel stretched. Despite the feeling from the engine, there’s an impressive lack of vibration in the handlebars. They’re well damped and it makes the next 20 minutes of fast, monotonous riding, surprisingly relaxed. It’s a tiny detail that makes riding infinitely more pleasant and should allow the 3.5 gallon tank’s 170-190 mile range to be used in full.
Eventually the straight, monotonous roads end and we turn onto a tight, twisty back road. The mountains are in front of us again. The vision is good, the road clean and grip levels high in the warm afternoon sun. The Ténéré loves it, and I love it too. The Yamaha rolls through the bends with an effortless intuitiveness. It turns into the quick, flic-flac corners faultlessly, balancing quick handling and stability. At no point does the Ténéré feel like an effort to ride on the road. There is no fight to
it, no demand to ride a certain way and with that comes a delightful ease. A gentle input lays the bike over and there it stays. It doesn’t need heavy counter steering or an attacking riding style, even if you want it to go fast.
As the road begins to fall away into a steep descent the braking becomes heavier to make the tight corners comfortable. Because the Ténéré has to work off-road as well as on there is the expected long-travel suspension dive and wallow. There is a level of comfort to the suspension, but it’s important that comfort doesn’t outweigh performance. It feels like Yamaha have that balance about right. It’s stiffer than most adventure bikes without being harsh. The 700 is comfy in town, pleasant, easy and fast on twisty, bumpy back roads and still offers enough control to ride with enthusiasm when the tarmac gets that bit quicker.
When it comes to off-road the balance feels good too. Undoubtedly, the Yamaha will be compared with KTM’S (significantly more expensive) 790 Adventure models, but it’s a different beast. The set-up has been designed to work as well as possible everywhere, rather than focused on a single goal. Keen off-road riders may want a little more stiffness and the 210mm Kayaba fork and 200mm KYB shock are almost fully adjustable. Up front you’ll find compression and rebound adjusters and at the back it’s compression, rebound and preload.
The rear preload adjuster knob is noticeably easy to use and adding more to the mix improves the handling and the suspension balance all over. The damping clickers also work – those who like to fiddle will enjoy the new Ténéré experience.
As our ride comes to end and we amble into the town we started from nearly 300 miles earlier, my head is swirling with thoughts. Some of that could be mild dehydration in the warm Spanish sun but a lot of it is due to the Ténéré. It’s not perfect but it’s definitely a very, very good bike. There are some niggles, some subjective elements such as the 875mm standard seat height, the gentle front brake and the lack of electronics. But every time I think of that,
I circle back to price. It’s £8545otr for a pre-order and £8845otr in dealerships.
For context, the only vaguely similar bikes in that price bracket are the Suzuki
V-strom 650 XT, Kawasaki Versys 650 and the BMW F750GS, none of which can match the Ténéré’s on and off-road abilities. The truth of it is the 700 is competing with a lot of adventure bikes that are more powerful but also more expensive and heavier. It’s light, capable, nicely finished, well rounded and affordable. You could commute on it, ride it on the weekend, ride it to
Spain and ride off-road. It’s a winner.
‘It’s light, capable, nicely finished and affordable. You could commute on it, ride it on the weekend, ride it to Spain and ride off-road. It’s a winner’