Tenere 700- A once in a decade motorcycle?

[Kiwi43]

 

I must be getting older in mindset. I’ve ridden motorcycles for over 45 years now. I’ve owned over 35 bikes in that time, raced motocross, enduros, road raced in 250GP and 600 Supersports. Raced Supermotard. Ridden Harley-Davidsons across Austria and Germany, R1 across France, even ridden a YZR500 at Phillip Island - and done many miles on 1000cc superbikes touring around New Zealand. And after all that, I’ve ended up on a mildly powered 700cc twin with a 21’ front wheel and a very tame approach to life. And it's awesome.

 

It's too heavy to be a dirt bike and will hurt you with its weight in the rough stuff if you are not careful. It’s too slow to be a road bike. Plenty of cars will out accelerate it – not something I’m used to on a motorbike.  

 

Despite being an ‘adventure’ bike (aren’t all motorbikes adventure bikes?) it doesn’t have a great fuel range, and after two hours that seat gets uncomfortable (how??!! Its big and squishy and 5x thicker than a R1 seat yet somehow more uncomfortable! How??!). 

 

It doesn’t offer good wind protection – in fact without screen modifications to suit the rider, it’s noisy wind-wise. 

 

The rear brake is mushy and has no feel – weird given all major manufactures sorted that 30 years ago. 

 

It doesn’t have heated grips standard, and it has tubed tyres meaning you need to pack tyre levers, tubes and a compressor if you are serious about mile munching far away from civilization. And big tyre levers too. Getting a rear tyre off that has been designed for a 200+ KG bike on the side of the road is no mean feat when it comes to breaking the bead. 

 

It’s a bit top heavy with its fuel tank design too. Be careful of your knees in those silly little ‘nearly dropped it on wet grass slow-speed U turn’ moments!

 

But it’s a once in a decade motorbike. Like the 916 was. Or the Honda Super Cub, Triumph T120, BMW R80 GS, GSXR750 or the ’73 CR250 Elsinore. Why? Because it is one of those motorcycles that reinvigorates us all, reminding us why we got on a motorbike for the second time ever in our lives – IT’S FUN.

 

I love how it doesn’t have ‘ride modes’. I don’t want ride modes, and never did. That’s what a throttle is for. Want more power? Twist it more! Sure, riding a 260HP V4 superbike in the rain? Yep I’ll take the de-tuned map thanks – but- a normal motorbike with mild power – don’t hassle me with that rubbish. 

 

I love how it doesn’t have traction control (at all) and doesn't have multiple ABS modes – just on and off. I’d prefer if it remembered I turned the ABS off when I’m off road though – the fact that it forgets you switched ABS off when you are off pavement and stop for a break, leads to some hairy moments if you don’t remember to turn it off, again, on startup…

 

I love how simple it is overall. It’s not trying to be something it’s not, and yet somehow because of that it becomes something for everyone. It’s a genuine jack-of-all-trades. It will commute for years in the wind and the rain without complaint. It’ll take you to parts of your local area you’ve never seen before thanks to its off-road ability. It will take you across continents without missing a beat. It’ll even give your superbike mates a surprise on the tight and twisties (but not if the straights are more than 200m long) once you get used to tipping it in on the 21’ front wheel. 

 

What’s not to like? Being overly critical of it is like being critical of your highly skilled blue-collar neighbor – you know – the one who does his own plumbing, built his wife a new kitchen, taught his daughter how to fish and his son how to ride. The same guy that plays in the local over 40’s sports team and still scores goals, runs a small business employing 5 local families, enjoys a beer or two with his neighbors and will help you fix your roof – properly this time….

 

It's responsible for bringing motorcycling back into the lives of many people – people who thought their riding days were over and out of reach now their lives are full of work and kids and work and work and mortgages. It’s responsible for bringing new riders to our world with inspiring Pol Tarres videos (!) and other YouTubers recording their rides seeing the world - on a Tenere 700. 

 

It’s a once in a decade motorcycle.

Edited 3 hours ago by Kiwi43
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[thepointchris]

very well said - amen 

[Tenerider]

You nailed it mate! Awesome review.

[JB700]

Great review & agreed 

[prowlnS10]

You absolutely nailed it Kiwi43...if only we could get the World Raid in Canada & USA !  Here's my 3 year review that echoes many of your salient observations.

 

2021 Tenere 700: 3 year Review

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Yamaha Tenere 700, Yamaha Super Tenere 1200 ES, Ride Reviews

 

[maddog123]

that was poetry,

 

I liked the T7 as soon as I jump on it but yet it kept growing on me espicially in a twisty dirt road, I once described the T7 as such ''a predictable beast, easy to tame but command respect''  

Edited 13 hours ago by maddog123

[mcbrien]

It's a real UJM. Good for everyday life.

[Kiwi43]

12 hours ago, prowlnS10 said:

You absolutely nailed it Kiwi43...if only we could get the World Raid in Canada & USA !  Here's my 3 year review that echoes many of your salient observations.

 

2021 Tenere 700: 3 year Review

---

Yamaha Tenere 700, Yamaha Super Tenere 1200 ES, Ride Reviews

 

Great comprehensive review - we should start a magazine! I'll do the brief opinion pieces, you do the comprehensive detailed reviews that actually come with some science and useful advice