YAMAHA TENERE 700
FIRST REVIEW
P92
We know you're growing impa-
tient, and we can't blame you.
We are, too! The Tenere 700
represents a lot of great potential
for the future of adventure land
wrapped in a dependable, afford-
able Yamaha blanket.
For us in North America, we
have it a lot worse than the rest of
the world. First, we never got to
buy the Yamaha Tenere 660 that
was completely new in 2008. So,
we essentially missed all things
mid-sized and Yamaha, as far as
adventure is concerned. Second,
we don't get this one until the
second quarter of 2020, at best,
as a 2021 model.
However, we did just return
from two days riding the Europe-
an 2020 model, and we can't wait
to tell you all about it.
We still don't know a lot of things
for sure yet. We expect this bike to
arrive in North America in the sec-
ond quarter of 2020. We expect
the bike to be in line with European
pricing putting it somewhere in the
$10-$11K range. We expect the
First
THE YAMAHA TENERE 700 IS NOT HERE YET, JUST TO BE
CLEAR.BUT WE WENT THERE TO RIDE IT
BY JESSE ZIEGLER
bike to be available in the same
color options we saw in Spain, and
we can expect to have the same
accessories and options available
to us. But none of that is for sure.
And we're nervous about get-
ting our hopes up. After all, we've
been teased by Yamaha with this
bike before.
What is the Yamaha
Tenere 700?
The Yamaha Tenere 700 is an
independent model. It doesn't
share a frame, suspension pack-
age, fuel tank, seat, footpeg,
exhaust or final engine configu-
ration with any other models we
know of or have seen just yet. It
has a tubular frame of high tensile
steel with a stoutly braced head-
stock and removable downtubes.
The downtubes do little for frame
support and are primarily bolted
on for engine coverage and are a
nice place to bolt a skid plate.
Suspension components are
KYB units front and rear inspired
by the Yamaha YZ and WR lineup
of off-road machinery. A 43mm