Cycle News

IN THE WIND P28 YAMAHA FZ-07 TENERE SPOTTED! Y amaha has been spotted testing what looks like an adventure version of their ultra- successful FZ-07 naked bike near its test facility in Italy. Easily recog- nized as using the FZ-07 parallel- twin four-stroke motor, this new machine in early prototype form is rumored to be heading for a 2018 model debut as a replacement to the XT660 Tenere single-cylinder machine, an adventure machine not imported to the U.S. but seen throughout the rest of the world, particularly in Asia and Europe. The FZ-07-based parallel twin Tenere will require further modi- fications to ensure it passes the blanket Euro 4 emissions targets that manufacturers will need to meet for new bikes starting Janu- ary 1, 2017, one of the reasons this is machine is more likely to be a 2018 model rather than 2017. Aside from that 75 horse- power lump, not much is shared between the street FZ and this off-road version. The test mule is sporting the preferred skinny 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear wheel of hard-core adventure rid- ers, there are inverted forks that have a far greater travel and offer more ground clearance than the street bike, and even though we cannot see the shock, expect that to have serious upgrades come production time to deal with some real off-road torture. Ditto that for some extra gas capacity. The FZ-07 Tenere is also seen here with Brembo front brakes, which could hint at the use of a Bosch ABS package. This test mule is devoid of any form of ABS but as part of Euro 4 this will be mandated for all new bikes in 2017. The bodywork is hidden behind black shrouds but will no doubt need to be of sturdy construc- tion—although we'd stop short of saying it will have aluminum side panels like the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro on cost reasons— the screen is all-new and what looks like non-adjustable; there's no hand guards but there is a solid aluminum bash plate and visible locating points for hard lug- gage at the rear of the bike. The FZ-07 Tenere is another facet of Yamaha's aggressive push with new bikes we have seen in the last few years. After the raging success of the FZ-09 and XSR three-cylinder bikes and the twin-cylinder FZ-07, a mid- sized adventure machine that can actually go into those far-away places has been longed wanted by U.S. adventure riders. There's a growing trend for smaller capac- ity off-road machines following the plethora of high-capacity world crossers like the BMW R 1200 GS, KTM 1190 Adventure, Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro, Triumph Explorer 1200, Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L and Yamaha's own ag- ing XT1200Z, and with KTM also gearing up to launch an 800cc version of their adventure range, expect the mid-size adventure market to really kick off over the coming years. CN PHOTOGRAPHY BY BMH-IMAGES.COM Yamaha's hugely successful FZ- 07 twin has always been aimed to spawn other machines and the new Tenere is the first.

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