BIKE BUILD I AMPRO YAMAHA TENERE 700
P86
fit to the mix. I've since slapped
on a set to our stock bike after
this test. You can fine-tune your
bar height and bend with their op-
tions, and their integrated bar-end
threaded inserts make handguard
install permanent. Plus, you can
fine-tune the impact absorption
and rebound via varying-density
elastomers. They are cool and
very reliable in my experience.
I've rarely ridden a Flexx Bar-
equipped bike and have not been
happy. That holds true here, but
I prefer their shorter height bar
setup (which I put on our bike
back at the CN office).
Speaking of comfort and per-
formance. Another product I can
count on to always over-deliver
and make me happy is a Seat
Concepts seat. Here, AmPro
used Seat Concepts' one-piece
rally hard adventure seat. This
thing is comfortable, flat and
grippy—it really came in handy as
I dog-paddled up some ruts in
the snow! Plus, Seat Concepts
products just look amazing. It
adds a healthy dose of race style
with real, durable performance.
Fastway Adventure pegs
replaced the plain and dull
stock Tenere 700 pegs. A nice
upgrade. The Tenere 700 has a
protruding clutch lump that can
knock your shin/calf out away
from the bike while riding. A big,
wide footpeg platform is a way
to maintain leverage on this bike
and increase your feet's input
over the handling.
Most of the mods to the bike
are easily seen with a quick walk-
around, including the very shiny
D.I.D gold chain that I love. But
what you can't see is an ultra-
lightweight Antigravity lithium bat-
tery that drops about five pounds
off the stock battery weight.
Protection at the hands is
covered by Cycra wrap-around
shields offering plenty of protec-
tion, and on the underbelly of
the Tenere beast, Camel ADV
sent its massive skid plate to
fend off any terrain-level attacks,
and they also sent over a sleek
license plate frame and turn sig-
nal kit that took care of the awk-
ward stock components. That
really helps clean up the looks.
Speaking of looks, this bike is
dialed in on the graphics front;
clearly, AmPro race-inspired.
The team at SKDA built a taste-
fully sponsored look for the build
with a number-on adventure
bike look that I think is super
cool, even though some of my
friends don't. Motosport.com
takes the coveted largest-logo
prize here as the e-commerce
retail giant supports the AmPro
program. And they even saved
some space for a Cycle News
logo—sweet!
DREAM RIDE
This bike is ultra-cool, not over-
built, and it adds some flair to the
vanilla stock Yamaha Tenere 700
platform that makes it a worthy
AmPro model. But the real radical-
ness of any adventure is who
you ride with, and in this case, I
rode with a true legend, Randy
Hawkins. And even though we
froze almost every day, we still had
typical adventure riding fun.
CN
PARTS LIST
DUNLOP TIRES EN91
FRONT AND REAR
Retail: See your local dealer
FASST CO FLEXX HANDLEBARS
Retail: $399.00
CAMEL ADV HIGH EXHAUST
KIT/MUFFLER
Retail: $499
CAMEL ADV FORK PROTECTORS
Retail: $39.99
CAMEL ADV GUT GUARD SKID PLATE
Retail: $359
CAMEL ADV HEAVY
KICKSTAND SPRING
Retail: $12.99
CAMEL ADV TAIL TIDY KIT
Retail: $119.00
CAMEL ADV BLINKERS
Retail: $29
CAMEL ADV 1-FINGER CLUTCH
KIT (T7-1FC)
Retail: $69
CAMEL ADV ANTI-BOBBLE
HEAD DISPLAY KIT
Retail: $69.00
SEAT CONCEPTS RALLY SEAT
Retail: $389.99
CYCRA PRO BEND HAND GUARDS
Retail: $148.83
MX V2 ODI LOCKING GRIPS
Retail: $26.95
GARMIN ZUMO XT ADVENTURE GPS
Retail: $499
ANTI GRAVITY RESTART BATTERY
Retail: $129.00
D.I.D CHAIN
Retail: $190.45
FASTWAY ADVENTURE PEGS
Retail: $278.99
SKDA AMPRO GRAPHIC KIT
Retail: $220.00
