Wheler76
Well-Known Member
The Yamaha Tenere 700 was much hyped in the year or so before it made production, and was just as hyped when it was released in 2019 (2020 in North America)
It sure is a mould breaking machine in the ADV class, with good looks, sweet motor (I know Mike won't agree with this part lol) Light Weight (ish) and very good handling both on and offroad...all with an attractive price to boot. In fact, offroad it becomes an outstanding middleweight ADV bike....but here's the rub. For Yamaha to achieve the price point, some parts of the T7 are basically parts bin and obviously at the lower end of the quality scale.
Some people that buy the bike and talk about it on forums seem to think that the T7 is an out of the box rally/enduro bike..... and it isn't. This is not in the built sheet spec, and ready to race Dakar fantasies should be directed at the other end of the price scale. However, with some decent mods and tweaking, it becomes good enough for most folks capabilities. Thought that I would share a few of the things I have done to mine if anyone is interested! Nothing bling, just functional....the scope was to make it ready for the T Railway this summer.
1. Rally skid plate - Yamaha accessory, and one of the few OEM accessories that is up there with the aftermarket accessories.
2. Crash Bars - The dealer had these in stock when bike was new, so put them on. Not the best as they bolt onto the frame and motor. Not totally comfortable with this as a big off could strip/snap motor mounts I think. In fairness, not many reports of this happening on the forums.
3. Akrapovic Muffler - love it, looks good, great quality, light, nice sound.
4. Barkbusters - Dropped the bike on both of them offroad...first thing to touch down, and no damage whatsoever. Fit good, essential IMO
5. TripleClamp alternator, clutch, water pump covers...bolt on, good protection for rocky terrain...untested!
6. Fork Sliders - Those bolts on the bottom of the fork guards are stainless steel, and shear off into the cast alloy lower fork legs and/or snap the fork lugs clean off in a crash. It's a poor design and well know on the T7. The Evotech sliders should prevent this during inevitable drops.
7. Rally Raid rear spring. As standard, the rear is horribly undersprung. If your anything over 75kg, it wallows even with max preload. This 90Nm is set up for my weight (102kg) and some light luggage. The difference is huge and now I can run 4 clicks off max preload and back off rear rebound and compression and get the sag right. I have also set up the front with better springs and rebound/compression adjustments. Again, bit improvement.
8. Double Take mirrors. Unbreakable (Apparently they will send you new ones free if you do) and fold out of the way in seconds for offroad riding. Has the benefit of not snapping the cast alloy mounts that hold the brake reservoir as well.
9. Adventure spec rack - Light, small and good grab handles for picking the bike off the deck....which I have tested!
10. Motoz ADV knobbies - waited 8 months for these....not tried them yet but they are supposed to be excellent.
You might notice how incredibly clean the bike looks. I put 4500 hard kms on it last season with a fair bit in the dirt. I just like to clean it up over winter, and a good coverage of ACF50 makes it look artificially slick in the pictures!
Now the hard part, my 2021 Yamaha Tenere 700 is currently up for sale. Really, really don't want to have to do this, but an impending overseas relocation is coming and I am looking at my options. I am still looking at shipping options, but it's not an easy route and the expense of it isn't making sense at the moment. I have fantasies of leaving the bike in Canada, and coming back for epic riding holidays, but the reality of that is probably low (And they do have motorcycle dealerships where I am going)
I also want to still use the T7 for what I intended to use it for....and ride the T Railway this summer with another very well know inmate.
Will see how everything pans out.
It sure is a mould breaking machine in the ADV class, with good looks, sweet motor (I know Mike won't agree with this part lol) Light Weight (ish) and very good handling both on and offroad...all with an attractive price to boot. In fact, offroad it becomes an outstanding middleweight ADV bike....but here's the rub. For Yamaha to achieve the price point, some parts of the T7 are basically parts bin and obviously at the lower end of the quality scale.
Some people that buy the bike and talk about it on forums seem to think that the T7 is an out of the box rally/enduro bike..... and it isn't. This is not in the built sheet spec, and ready to race Dakar fantasies should be directed at the other end of the price scale. However, with some decent mods and tweaking, it becomes good enough for most folks capabilities. Thought that I would share a few of the things I have done to mine if anyone is interested! Nothing bling, just functional....the scope was to make it ready for the T Railway this summer.
1. Rally skid plate - Yamaha accessory, and one of the few OEM accessories that is up there with the aftermarket accessories.
2. Crash Bars - The dealer had these in stock when bike was new, so put them on. Not the best as they bolt onto the frame and motor. Not totally comfortable with this as a big off could strip/snap motor mounts I think. In fairness, not many reports of this happening on the forums.
3. Akrapovic Muffler - love it, looks good, great quality, light, nice sound.
4. Barkbusters - Dropped the bike on both of them offroad...first thing to touch down, and no damage whatsoever. Fit good, essential IMO
5. TripleClamp alternator, clutch, water pump covers...bolt on, good protection for rocky terrain...untested!
6. Fork Sliders - Those bolts on the bottom of the fork guards are stainless steel, and shear off into the cast alloy lower fork legs and/or snap the fork lugs clean off in a crash. It's a poor design and well know on the T7. The Evotech sliders should prevent this during inevitable drops.
7. Rally Raid rear spring. As standard, the rear is horribly undersprung. If your anything over 75kg, it wallows even with max preload. This 90Nm is set up for my weight (102kg) and some light luggage. The difference is huge and now I can run 4 clicks off max preload and back off rear rebound and compression and get the sag right. I have also set up the front with better springs and rebound/compression adjustments. Again, bit improvement.
8. Double Take mirrors. Unbreakable (Apparently they will send you new ones free if you do) and fold out of the way in seconds for offroad riding. Has the benefit of not snapping the cast alloy mounts that hold the brake reservoir as well.
9. Adventure spec rack - Light, small and good grab handles for picking the bike off the deck....which I have tested!
10. Motoz ADV knobbies - waited 8 months for these....not tried them yet but they are supposed to be excellent.
You might notice how incredibly clean the bike looks. I put 4500 hard kms on it last season with a fair bit in the dirt. I just like to clean it up over winter, and a good coverage of ACF50 makes it look artificially slick in the pictures!
Now the hard part, my 2021 Yamaha Tenere 700 is currently up for sale. Really, really don't want to have to do this, but an impending overseas relocation is coming and I am looking at my options. I am still looking at shipping options, but it's not an easy route and the expense of it isn't making sense at the moment. I have fantasies of leaving the bike in Canada, and coming back for epic riding holidays, but the reality of that is probably low (And they do have motorcycle dealerships where I am going)
I also want to still use the T7 for what I intended to use it for....and ride the T Railway this summer with another very well know inmate.
Will see how everything pans out.
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