hand-adjustable preload knob,
and the shock is mounted
by some unique-looking link
arms to a redesigned swing-
arm. The shock's settings and
setup increase ground clear-
ance by about a half inch.
This also lifts the seat height
by the same amount, putting
the World Raid's seat right at
35 inches.
If you jump behind the
bars, you'll notice another big
addition: a massive frame-
mounted steering damper.
This unit has 16 clicks of
damping adjustment and
connects to the top triple
clamp by a simple linkage
located dead center of the
steering tube, right in front of
the fuel tanks.
If you look a little closer,
you'll see something I'm
personally very excited about:
a steel-braided brake line
leading to the front wheel.
While T7s have always come
equipped with Brembo brake
componentry, they have
never felt like Brembo brake
componentry, and braking
performance in general has
been an easy complaint tar
-
get with this bike in the past.
You'll also see a one-
piece rally-style seat that
complements this bike's
longer-distance capabilities.
One-piece seats are histori
-
cally more comfortable for
longer days and easier to get
comfortable on. Finally, if you
crawl around on the ground
a bit, you'll see a unique
three-piece aluminum engine
guard.
What you won't see is a lot.
And not because it's not there.
The Tenere 700 World Raid
now has an advanced six-axis
Inertial Measurement Unit
(IMU) with a G-sensor and
gyro to measure acceleration
and directional forces in real-
time. This technical addition
opens the door to integrat
-
ing more advanced rider-aid
systems into the bike. For the
World Raid, this includes lean-
sensitive Traction Control and
ABS systems, and Off-Road
modes for Traction Control
and Slide Control (think
drifting). You can also turn
everything off if you prefer full
analog mode, but it will turn
back on if you cycle the key
switch.
Now, before you freak out
and scream at Yamaha for
ruining the Tenere 700's sim
-
plicity by introducing unneces-
sary technology, you should
know that Yamaha kept the
ABS quick button on the dash.
So, if you turn the key off and
all your Off-Road settings
go back to Street settings,
simply push the button for a
few seconds. In my experi
-
ence, this not only resets the
ABS to "Off" or "Rear Off," but
it remembers every one of
my Traction Control and ABS
settings and resets them to
the last configuration. Very
convenient.
To wrap it up here, you're
also going to get integrated
cruise control. Nice! And Ya
-
maha Variable Speed Limiter
(YVSL), which basically sets
a maximum speed the bike
VOLUME ISSUE AUGUST , P105
