VOL. 55 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 6, 2018 P51
Y
ou know those times when you were
a kid and you knew your parents were
finally going to get you that present you
always wanted? That was the level of anticipa-
tion American ADV riders felt this morning as
they watched the world unveiling of the Yamaha
Tenere 700 adventure motorcycle, only to find
out the U.S. will not be seeing the motorcycle
until the second half of 2020!
It was the moment American ADV riders found
out Santa was not real.
Despite the disappointment of how long we'll
have to wait, the Tenere 700 still looks like it will
have the goods when it arrives. It's powered by
the 689cc CP2 parallel-twin engine currently
propelling the MT-07 and XSR700, with new
gear ratios better suited for off-road riding (read:
shorter gears down low, taller gears up top).
The 700 gets an all-new frame that claims 7.9
inches of ground clearance with the 21-inch front
and 18-inch spoked rear wheels, 43mm inverted
forks with 8.3 inches of travel and a monoshock
rear setup with 7.9 inches of wheel travel and
remote preload adjuster, full rally race styling with
a tall windscreen and a new LCD display, switch-
able ABS, and a 4.2-gallon tank that Yamaha
says will get you a 217-mile gas range.
The goods are there for the Tenere 700,
however, the fact we have to wait so long in the
U.S. while the rest of the world gets the ma-
chine a year before could mean Yamaha USA
will exhaust the last of the enthusiasm for the
machine before it arrives. This is a machine that,
on paper, should dominate the midsize ADV
market but we've got about two years yet to find
out just how good it can be. CN
2021 YAMAHA
TENERE 700
