DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
KTM’s 790 Adventure and Yamaha’s equally long-awaited Ténéré 700 took contrasting routes in search of middleweight adventure bike supremacy – so which one ended up ahead?
Bikes like these make plenty of sense. Open-class adventure bikes have sold in huge numbers of late, but as their performance and sophistication have increased, so too have their size, weight and cost – creating an obvious gap for smaller, lighter and less expensive alternatives.
A mid-capacity dual-purpose model has long seemed logical from KTM, whose multicylinder range began in 2003 with the Dakar racer-inspired Adventure 950. Since then the firm’s Adventure V-twins have grown to 1290cc, leaving a sizeable gap to the single-cylinder 690 Enduro R. The 790 Adventure splits the difference neatly.
Meanwhile, the obvious question for Yamaha is why did this latest in a long line of Ténérés take so long? The 689cc MT07 led Yamaha’s comeback in 2014, soon sparking retro and sportstouring spin-offs. But this latest Ténéré arrived five years behind, following an extensive and delayed development programme. The two firms reached very different answers to the key question of where in the road/off-road space to pitch their parallel-twin contenders? KTM decided that a single model would not suffice, partly because their Ready To Race philosophy demanded an ultra-capable off-roader. This became the Adventure R, allowing the standard 790 Adventure, tested here, to have more of a road-going focus.
By contrast Takushio Shiraishi, the Ténéré’s project leader, regarded making two separate models as “cheating”. Conscious of the Ténéré’s desert- race heritage, he decided to put his bike’s priority “maybe 80 per cent offroad and 20 per cent on-road”, even though he accepted that most riders will leave Tarmac only rarely.
The firms also took contrasting approaches to technology. KTM, always at the forefront with electronics, specified multiple riding modes and an Inertial Measurement Unit to allow cornering ABS and multi- level traction control. Yamaha continued with their MT-07 theme of simplicity and value for money, giving up glamour, but gaining a significant advantage in price. Before starting this test I’d expected to be able to pick a winner, but having ridden the two bikes back-to-back it’s clear that choosing one in isolation would be misleading. They are both excellent all-rounders; extremely good at what they do. But despite the obvious similarities they’re very different.
My ride to the photo session summed up the difference. For the morning run from Hertfordshire to the location near Peterborough I was aboard the Ténéré, and enjoyed its gentle charm and sumptuous ride quality as it lolloped down some local back roads then up the A1.
I found my eye drawn to every field entrance that I passed, tempted by the prospect of what adventure might lie beyond.
Aboard the KTM on the way home, it wasn’t gravel tracks that caught my eye, but every smaller road with the promise of bends and the potential to exploit the bike’s performance. Before long my patience had been exhausted, and I’d turned off the main road for a B-road thrash home that was less direct and infinitely more entertaining. Of course, the KTM would also have made an excellent job of tackling any dirt tracks and the Yamaha wouldn’t have been left far behind on a twisty road.
But the scenarios that appealed most highlighted their personalities. The 790 Adventure is happy to venture offroad if asked, but despite its name it’s almost more of a sports-tourer than an adventure bike.
The softer, less powerful and more relaxed Ténéré 700 is a genuine allrounder that can’t decide whether it prefers Tarmac or dirt.
There’s also a significant difference in price. The Ténéré’s relative simplicity and Yamaha’s shared platform policy have allowed a price of £8999, despite a £600 increase since the summer. With the Adventure costing £11,099 (the Adventure R is £11,999), that still gives the Yamaha a substantial advantage of £2100.
Arguably, this puts it in a different part of the market to the KTM. On the other hand, if you slid off the Ténéré on a greasy road because it didn’t have cornering ABS or traction control, you could do a lot more than two grand’s worth of damage… For me the choice would depend on whether this was to be an only machine. If so, unless I was planning heaps of off-road riding I’d pick the KTM, which is close to being all the streetbike I’d need, with the bonus of some ability on the dirt. If I owned a powerful roadster, the Yam would make a brilliant second machine for off-roading and much more.
It’s not a kop-out to conclude that either of these bikes is potentially the winner. Financial considerations aside, it’s down to you to decide what type of riding you enjoy and are likely to do. In contrast to the trail-riding first day that emphasised the Ténéré’s versatility, my time with the 790 Adventure was initially confusing. After the tall, slightly squashy Yamaha I’d become used to, the KTM felt low, firm and more like a conventional roadster than an adventure bike.
Immediately after setting off on the 790 I was aware – and appreciative – of its superior performance. Its 94bhp engine revved more freely, and every time I glanced at its speedo the bike seemed to be moving 10mph faster than the Yam would have been.
That ride was also slightly frustrating, because although the Adventure handled well on twisty roads, it didn’t steer with quite the ease I’d expected, let alone that of its relation, the 790 Duke.
Perhaps that was inevitable, given that it’s 15kg heavier than the Duke and has a 21-inch front wheel instead of a 17-incher. But I hadn’t expected the Adventure to feel slightly harsh, its firm rear shock passing on bumps that the Ténéré wouldn’t even have noticed.
On smooth roads the Adventure worked much better, and the more I rode it the more I appreciated its many attributes rather than worried about its few rough edges.
It certainly has a clear edge over the Yamaha on performance. Its dohc parallel-twin engine is detuned from Duke spec, but still has a 22bhp advantage, added to which the Austrian bike is over 10kg lighter.
At a standstill their differing sizes and shapes were striking. The
Adventure seemed shorter and wider, thanks to its pannier-tank design that sees fuel held on either side of the engine, lowering the centre of gravity and seat height (830-850mm).
From that seat the view is of a fairly slim screen, slightly raised one-piece bar with standard hand-guards, and a TFT dash that is more colourful and informative than the Yam’s. It shows which of the three riding modes (four if you add the optional Rally to the standard Street, Offroad and Rain) has been selected using the switch on the left handlebar.
The Adventure might not be a typical adventure bike, but it’s very much a KTM, feeling eager, free-revving and aggressive as it charges forward at every opportunity.
Low-rev delivery is crisp, there’s plenty of midrange, and enough power up top to make the 799cc twin feel like a properly fast streetbike by the standards of not so long ago. An accessory quick-shifter added to the entertainment.
It was fairly civilised, too, feeling smooth thanks to twin balancer shafts, and managing to have a pleasing parallel-twin character despite breathing quietly through its single silencer. The fairing and screen diverted roughly as much breeze as the Ténéré’s, but generated more turbulence for me. Shame the screen has only a feeble 40mm of adjustment, and unlike several previous Adventures’ screens, requires a Torx driver rather than a simple manual operation to use it.
Thankfully, most aspects of the 790’s chassis are much better. There’s nothing wrong with the tubular steel frame’s rigidity, or the power with which J-Juan’s radial four-pot front brake calipers bite the 320mm discs. The Avon Trailrider tyres grip reliably too, and are helped out when necessary by cornering ABS plus a similarly refined, IMU-governed traction control system.
But the Adventure’s WP suspension, or at least its rear shock, isn’t quite as sophisticated. As with the 790 Duke, KTM have kept costs down by specifying non-adjustable forks and a shock that can be tuned for preload only. That’s fine on smooth surfaces, but on bumpy B-roads the shock was too stiff for my 85kg weight, despite matching the Ténéré’s generous 200mm of travel.
Handling was very stable, but the Adventure’s 21-inch front wheel meant it wasn’t quite as agile as I’d hoped either, given the bike’s sporty character. Guess that’s the price you pay for its off-road capability.
Its firm suspension didn’t prevent the 790 from being enjoyably handy off-road, when I went back to retrace my Ténéré trip on as many local green lanes as I could remember. This Adventure can’t match its close relation, the 790 Adventure R, which gives 240mm of better damped and fully adjustable travel at each end and is undoubtedly the better option for serious off-roaders (albeit at a cost of £900 more plus a taller seat).
But with its mode switched to either Offroad or the optional Rally (which allows quick fine-tuning of the traction control, and costs £174) the KTM was huge fun, and had just enough grip, suspension and ground clearance to hop over a fallen tree on one woody path. The low centre of gravity helped make it easy to balance, and that flexible motor was a great ally on the dirt, finding grip with the aid of its sweet fuelling, and with Bosch’s classy electronic safety net in reserve just in case.
Back on Tarmac the KTM ticked most of the practicality boxes. That distinctive fuel tank holds 20 litres, enough for over 220 miles at an economical 55mpg or better.
The accessory heated grips were welcome although their control box, bolted to the handlebar, looked like a scruffy afterthought. There’s a 12V socket by the dash and storage room behind the sidepanels, as well as beneath the seat alongside the conveniently located air filter.
The seat is quite thin, but was sufficiently broad and well-padded to be comfortable. It also has much more pillion space than the Yamaha’s, along with grab-handles and a rack, but no bungee hooks.
Elder son Freddie confirmed that pillion accommodation is far better, and the KTM’s lower centre of gravity aided its rider’s control with a lanky load on board.
It adds up to a bike that initially threw me because it felt almost more like the 790 Duke GT that KTM will surely produce one day: a versatile roadster rather than a genuine adventure bike. But when you consider that most adventure bike owners leave Tarmac rarely, if ever, and that the Adventure R exists for serious off-road riders, the standard model makes plenty of sense.
This KTM middleweight isn’t the bargain that the 790 Duke was on its arrival and arguably still is, but it’s a fine all-rounder and a lot of motorbike for £11,099, even if that doesn’t include the £350 quick-shifter and other accessories that are likely to take most people’s spending well north of £12,000. If you’re not sure whether you’re ready for an adventure bike, the 790 Adventure might just be the ideal compromise.
My time with the Ténéré had the perfect introduction. After taking delivery of the Yamaha, I checked the local Trail Riders’ Fellowship website and discovered a ride the following day. Next morning, after a spirited road-going blast to warm up both rider and machine, I met three fellow TRFers for an enjoyable meander along some green lanes that gave the bike’s offroad ability an early test.
The Yamaha rose to the occasion, and was equally well suited to the hectic blast home, then a drone down the M1 to London, where it flitted through traffic with its high-seated visibility, slimness and lowspeed controlability making it very much at home.
Such a varied scenario is exactly what the Ténéré was created for, and for a humble middleweight it makes a very decent stab at being all the motorbike you’ll ever need.
One glance is enough to confirm the Yam’s off-road focus, especially when it’s parked next to the KTM, and seems to tower over it.
Much of that is due to the way the bodywork rises up at the front, with the tall rally-style screen, LED lights and oblong-shaped digital info panel, designed to mimic a rally road book. It’s a purposeful and good-looking bike, in either red, blue or black.
The Yam’s height is also partly due to its lanky suspension, which gives 210mm of travel up front and 200mm at the rear.
At 875mm, the seat is pretty high; up to 45mm taller than the KTM’s. But the Ténéré is reasonably narrow, and its rear end sinks sufficiently that most riders will feel secure once they’ve climbed aboard.
That tall seat allows plenty of legroom to go with the upright riding position dictated by the wide handlebar. On the road the Ten was well mannered and enjoyably quick, without quite matching the zip of the lighter MT-07 whose 72bhp paralleltwin engine it shares, let alone the more powerful Adventure. It felt like a big, friendly Golden Labrador of a motorbike – not outstandingly fast or strong, but energetic, easy on the eye, and a willing companion for whatever it encountered.
There are no alternative engine modes to think about, but that was fine because it’s low-rev fuelling was good, the torquey 270-degree crankshaft engine pulled strongly pretty much regardless of revs, and there was a respectably sweetchanging six-speed box to help out. When two-up with a hefty pillion it felt a little underpowered, but still held its own with the traffic and was always happy to rev a bit harder when requested.
Sitting at cruising speeds on main roads was effortless, and the Yam pulled reasonably keenly from there towards a top speed of about 120mph, without particularly encouraging such activity. More to the point, in colder
weather than on the Spanish launch I was just as impressed as I had been by the screen, which is slim and not adjustable, but diverted a useful amount of breeze. Some fine-tuning potential would definitely help, but the screen generated less turbulence than the Adventure and many others of its type.
Handling on the road was more than adequate, too. The Ten was stable at speed, steered its big 21inch front wheel where it was pointed without needing too much effort through the wide bars, and floated along main roads with its softish suspension making the surface seem improbably smooth. On minor roads there was a fair bit of pitching under braking and acceleration, but not so much that I was dissuaded from riding hard enough to make the decent Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres earn their keep.
Tyres would have been the Ten’s Achilles heel off-road had the weather been wet, as with any mostly road-biased rubber, but thankfully the local green lanes were dry and the Scorpions found plenty of grip. The route was neither long nor very demanding and the Yamaha itself was also untroubled, its gentle lowrev power delivery helping it trickle through the nadgery bits, and its lengthy suspension coming into its own on a few rougher sections, when I was glad to hear stones pinging off the respectably sturdy bash-plate.
Overall, the Ténéré was at home on every surface it found itself, and felt as though it would have a good go at whatever its rider asked. It has plenty of practical touches, from the unspectacular, but informative dashboard, whose main info can be toggled from the handlebar, to the handy pair of bungee hooks either side of the pillion seat. Mind you, that seat is far from spacious and my 6’3” tall son wasn’t impressed by the accommodation on a mercifully short ride. At least there’s a remote preload adjuster to crank up the shock.
I found the rider’s part of the seat fine for a couple of hours, but would want the accessory heated grips fitting for much of the year. But the Ténéré comes with hand-guards plus a 12V socket in the cockpit, and has a wide range of extras.
Its long-haul ability is boosted by the engine’s economy, with even hard use giving over 50mpg and a range of about 170 miles from the 16-litre tank, and more gentle riding returning 60mpg and nearer 200 miles.
Perhaps the Ténéré can’t match the Adventure’s performance or electronic sophistication, but its basics are impressive and its combination of versatility and everenthusiastic character is hugely appealing. Add to that a price that still scrapes below nine grand despite a recent rise, and it’s no surprise that Yamaha’s adventurer has proved so popular since its belated arrival.
The middleweight adventure class is arguably motorcycling’s most vibrant, and the 790 Adventure and Ténéré 700 are among its biggest stars. The Adventure sees KTM attach its dualsport values to the popular 790 Duke, while the Ténéré applies Yamaha’s desert-race heritage to the hugely successful MT-07.