Rennie Scaysbrook | July 5, 2017
We now have a Yamaha Tenere 700 Review. We traveled to Spain and spent two days riding the European model that will be available there about a year ahead of the North American model.
The Bike We Have Been Waiting For Is Nearly Here–the Yamaha FZ-07 Ténéré
It’s not hard to see that when finished, this new Yamaha Tenere 700 is going to be awesome.
At the 2016 EICMA Show in Milan, Yamaha took the wraps off one of the bikes of the show, the T7 concept ADV machine and the production version has just been spotted in testing in Italy.
Based off the incredibly popular FZ-07, the T7 concept was Yamaha’s take on a proper Rally-style ADV bike for the masses, and the test mule here shares much of the features of the T7, but with the concessions the bike must make for production.
Yamaha has not officially designated the FZ-07 ADV machine to be a Ténéré, the name historically given to Yamaha’s hard-core ADV machines after the stretch of desert from northeastern Niger into western Chad and part of the infamous, original Paris-Dakar–but here’s hoping!
Shrouded in black clothing, it’s easy to see the Ténéré’s FZ-07 689cc parallel-twin four-stroke with a new longer muffler that does away with the underslung muffler of the road-going FZ-07. The FZ-07 makes about 72hp, which should be plenty of horsepower for a proper off-road machine, so long as the weight is kept down.
The base model Yamaha FZ-07. Yamaha will be using as many crossover parts as possible to keep development costs down.
Rolling on the ubiquitous off road 21in front and 18in rear wheels for serious off-roading, the chassis appears to have been modified with an extra downtube running at the front of the engine for crash protection, the swingarm has gone from the cast gull-type of the FZ-07 to a straight cast dual beam unit and operates a monoshock on a conventional linkage. The front suspension now consists of inverted forks rather than the 07’s conventional legs, hinting there could be some adjustability on the cards. The front brake calipers are different but the discs look like the ones on the 07.
21 inch front and 19 inch rear wheels plus extended ground clearance should enable this bike togo almost anywhere.
Up front it appears Yamaha has thankfully kept the stacked Rally-style headlight system, and it looks like the same digital dash will be used from the FZ-07. The concept T7 also had a single flat seat for hard core ADV riding, whereas this test mule comes with provisions for a passenger. It’s likely, however, that Yamaha will accessorize this thing to the skies so you can be a single seat and a center stand will be available. Dakar riders don’t ride with passengers, after all.
There’s still much to do on the FZ-07 Ténéré ADV machine and Yamaha is remaining extremely tight lipped about the machine, however a release at this year’s Milan Show in October would be realistic ahead of a 2018 model launch.
Photography by BMH Images
Click here for more Yamaha motorcycle news and reviews.
