Yamaha go further
New Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid gets 275-mile tanks and beefy off-road suspension
‘The Raid is aimed at owners heading where fuel can be scarce (Africa, Asia, northern France)’
This is Yamaha’s new Ténéré 700 World Raid, a beefed up version of the big-selling Ténéré 700 but with a 275-mile fuel range. Yamaha call it a ‘premium long distance motorcycle with excellent on and off-road capability’. The 70bhp parallel twin engine and steel tube frame remain the same, but the Raid gets several upgrades that owners of the standard bike have been begging for and one they definitely hadn’t…
1 Big fuel tank
The standard tank is 16 litres, which is fine for normal use as the parallel twin’s frugality means you can easily top 150 miles before filling up. But the Raid is aimed at owners heading where fuel can be scarce (Africa, Asia, northern France etc), so it comes with a 23-litre tank (like the BMW F850GS Adventure). That will push the range over 275 miles. The tank is split into two halves – like current KTM adventure bikes and Yamaha’s Dakar racers – and hangs down each side of the engine. Yamaha say this means the Raid’s centre of gravity is barely any higher than the standard bike’s, so agility isn’t compromised.
2 Better suspension
Bigger riders, and those who push hard on or off-road, complained that the standard bike’s rear suspension was too soft. The new Raid should fix this with a new rear linkage and shock which Yamaha say is ‘optimised to give a comfortable ride on the road together with the ability to take some hard hits off-road’.
3 Colour TFT dash
The standard bike’s LCD is replaced by a 5in colour telly with Bluetooth connectivity. However, despite the bike’s globe trotting ethos, you can’t link your phone’s sat nav – there is a
USB port though, so it’s easy enough to plug in your
Garmin.
4 Switchable ABS
The Raid has three ABS options: a) keep it all on, b) rear ABS switched off to allow skids, c) everything switched off to allow crashes.
5 Higher screen
The Raid gets a 15mm taller screen with removable side deflectors. The standard bike’s buffeting can get tiresome on long trips so here’s hoping this is better.
6 Flat seat
The seat height goes up by 11mm and the saddle is noticeably flatter. Yamaha say this is to let you move about more easily when sitting down off-road. The seat’s two-piece design means the rear section can be ditched to fit a rack and luggage.
7 New colours
The Raid comes in a blue inspired by the factory’s Dakar race bikes, or black for full stealth mode.
8 More expensive
It will cost £11,600 when it reaches showrooms in May (the standard bike is £9499 and BMW’S F850GS Adventure is £10,935).