Some of y'all already know.
This Adventure Bike Strikes The Perfect Balance Between Power And Versatility
This Adventure Bike Strikes The Perfect Balance Between Power And Versatility
700 Tenere.
- Thread starter Sierra1
- Start date
cyclemike4
Well-Known Member
I really enjoyed the T7s I have rode. Other than being top heavy I really liked the bike. I actually like bikes set up like dirt bikes. that works for me and I find it comfortable. Of course if I rode one for a few hours on the interstate I may change my mine fast! If something happens to my Super T I would definitely be looking at the T7 for my daily commuter. I feel like for 95 percent of my riding it would be great.
yen_powell
Well-Known Member
I bought the Extreme version a little while ago, only done 300 miles on it so far. I can only just touch the ground with my tip toes and that's on level ground only. I have never had a bike that tall before, I am half an inch under 6 feet tall. It's a lovely bike though. I don't want to lose all that extra suspension travel by changing links so I will be looking for a lower seat. 
The article talks about it not being the ideal long haul bike. I didn't know that Yamaha put the engine in the frame higher to increase the chain angle. That's probably why it feels top heavy.
Cycledude
Well-Known Member
To tall, lousy seat, and no cruise control are the three main reasons you won’t see me riding one.
RonTV
Member
The entire styling does not appeal to me. The 660 was a motorcycle that looked good, but not the 700. Of course chain drive, which most riders want. I don't. They could build a shaft drive 700 that has styling more along the lines of the 660 which looks much more comfortable. I suppose there is a reason for the flat hard seat, as it's on all off road motorcycle offerings regardless of brand.
whisperquiet
Well-Known Member
My neighbor owned the 660 Tuareg and if there was a dealer near by I would own one……hands down anytime over the Tenere 700 or Transalp as the Tuareg looks great, has tubeless wheels, and cruise control. I owned a ‘21 Tenere 700 for 21000 miles/30 months…….great engine, toooooo tall, and the most top heavy bike I’ve owned. My Super Tenere is more nimble than the Tenere 700 at walking speed.
I rode one for a day. Wrong seating angles for me compared to the Super T. Would have rather rode the ST on the trails we did. I thought the rear brake was terrible. I could live with a chain, but not tubeless tires or cruise.
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Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk
Cycledude
Well-Known Member
It does make me wonder why did they build it with tube type tires ? Seems like hardly anyone wants to deal with tubes these days.
blitz11
Well-Known Member
I have a t-700. It actually fits me better than the Super 10. I am tall (6'4"), and bought the Yamaha tall seat which seems to help with the fit.
I rode the bike 300 miles, changed the oil, then did a 3K trip from Bozeman to ride the Idaho Backroads Discovery Route. The bike was fine on the 400-mile ride from bozeman to the southern start of the IBDR. Worked great on double track/forest/rough gravel roads. Took a while to become accustomed to the weight (compared to my TM racing 300 two-stroke), but once i had a couple of days on it, it was great. We hustled on the BDR (did all seven stages in 7 days), then spent three days road riding around Idaho and NW Montana.
It's sort of werid to just hammer a 450-pound motorcycle into rocks and gulleys, but it works. I am not a great rider, so "hammer" should be taken with a grain of salt.
I found a set of plastics (see photo) for the bike which cost $210. I took off the stock plastics - the side shroud costs more than the entire plastic kit. Now i don't worry about dropping it. (The BMW sticker is a ruse. I have had that sticker since 1984 and finally found a use for it. (I had had a few airheads in the past.))
It is a bit top heavy, and the engine is pretty high (I think, mostly, to give good ground clearance with the deep sump that the engine has). The chain angle really helps with doing power-slides - you can spin the rear wheel at will in gravel. No traction control (no biggie), but the ABS can be turned off or just front wheel only. (Off road, i just turned it off.)
It's been recalled with a bad clutch, so unless the dealer capitulates and lets me do the recall myself (not a NHTSA recall), i take it in on May 5 for a new clutch. The parts would cost $168 to do it myself. Not sure that i trust the dealer who was unable to fix my neighbor's FJR1300 soft rear brake ( bled it incorrectly), but how hard can it be to change clutch plates? Maybe pretty hard, depending on the tech. I still might do it myself.
I was going to sell the 2013 S-10, but it would probably only bring $5K, so i am keeping it for road miles, and the tenere 700 for more off-roadish adventures.
Tube tires do suck, BUT if you're really doing off-road stuff (which I don't), the tubes can be better. Oh well, can't have everything.
I rode the bike 300 miles, changed the oil, then did a 3K trip from Bozeman to ride the Idaho Backroads Discovery Route. The bike was fine on the 400-mile ride from bozeman to the southern start of the IBDR. Worked great on double track/forest/rough gravel roads. Took a while to become accustomed to the weight (compared to my TM racing 300 two-stroke), but once i had a couple of days on it, it was great. We hustled on the BDR (did all seven stages in 7 days), then spent three days road riding around Idaho and NW Montana.
It's sort of werid to just hammer a 450-pound motorcycle into rocks and gulleys, but it works. I am not a great rider, so "hammer" should be taken with a grain of salt.
I found a set of plastics (see photo) for the bike which cost $210. I took off the stock plastics - the side shroud costs more than the entire plastic kit. Now i don't worry about dropping it. (The BMW sticker is a ruse. I have had that sticker since 1984 and finally found a use for it. (I had had a few airheads in the past.))
It is a bit top heavy, and the engine is pretty high (I think, mostly, to give good ground clearance with the deep sump that the engine has). The chain angle really helps with doing power-slides - you can spin the rear wheel at will in gravel. No traction control (no biggie), but the ABS can be turned off or just front wheel only. (Off road, i just turned it off.)
It's been recalled with a bad clutch, so unless the dealer capitulates and lets me do the recall myself (not a NHTSA recall), i take it in on May 5 for a new clutch. The parts would cost $168 to do it myself. Not sure that i trust the dealer who was unable to fix my neighbor's FJR1300 soft rear brake ( bled it incorrectly), but how hard can it be to change clutch plates? Maybe pretty hard, depending on the tech. I still might do it myself.
I was going to sell the 2013 S-10, but it would probably only bring $5K, so i am keeping it for road miles, and the tenere 700 for more off-roadish adventures.
Tube tires do suck, BUT if you're really doing off-road stuff (which I don't), the tubes can be better. Oh well, can't have everything.
Attachments
I think Yamaha did a nice job for ‘25 tweaking things I’d personally value as improvements: better suspension, ergonomics, slightly lower COG, slightly better fueling and low-end power, much better TFT, smoothed out engine cover protruding into your foot/ankle area. Some other little things I’m missing.
blitz11
Well-Known Member
I was sort of in a hurry - my buddies pressured me to get a more off-road bike to do BDRs. The KTMS were out (one of the buddies has bad cam journals), and the 2024 700 was priced right.
I've done K-tech suspension (really good - springs and valving), so i might be a bit closer to the 2025 there. Ergos are fine for me (I added a scotts damper which raised the bars a bit). Still, the 2025 would have been nice, but the 2024 isn't holding me back - it's my lack of skill. The better TFT would be nice, but the 2024 TFT compared to the 2013 S-10 is magnificent in comparison.
kasheed
Member
I rode a T7 at a demo event over the weekend. Not the right bike for me/the type of riding that I mostly do, primarily due to seat comfort and lack of cruise control, but a friend who was with me liked it more than I did. It felt very capable, and as I consider how I'm going to learn how to ride offroad after a decade+ of only riding bigger, heavy road bikes (trophy 1200, R1200C, ST), the T7 will occupy space in my head. I avoided tinkering with the TFT display while I was demoing, but the information that I needed was immediately obvious when I wanted it, and even in direct sunlight it was easy to read.
Hope I don't annoy anyone with this follow up comment since it's a very different bike, but later in the day we visited a Triumph demo event and the Scrambler 1200XE had me cackling like a child. Torque for days, extremely nimble, and lots of suspension travel (listed as 250mm). Not something I expect would be as comfortable on a long ride, but if I lived in the mountains of North GA it would be an absolute blast.
Hope I don't annoy anyone with this follow up comment since it's a very different bike, but later in the day we visited a Triumph demo event and the Scrambler 1200XE had me cackling like a child. Torque for days, extremely nimble, and lots of suspension travel (listed as 250mm). Not something I expect would be as comfortable on a long ride, but if I lived in the mountains of North GA it would be an absolute blast.
cyclemike4
Well-Known Member
I would love to try one of those scramblers. I drool everytime i see one!
Silver Badger
Well-Known Member
Yamaha needs to do to the 700 what Suzuki did with the Vstrom 800DE. Build a road touring 700 with lower suspension and tubeless 19/17 tires.
cyclemike4
Well-Known Member
One of the demo rides I did on the Yamaha Tenere 700 they had lowered bikes in the fleet if you wanted one. I don't know if that is an option Yamaha can do for customers or if they just did that for the demos. I didn't want to ride one of those and I forgot to ask if that was a Yamaha option.
From what I've read, the motor was placed higher in the frame to get the right chain angle. And the chain angle is supposed to be the key to its off road athleticism. I would ass-sume that they lowered the demo bikes to make the ride easier. And on demo rides, the steeper chain angle isn't needed.
cyclemike4
Well-Known Member
I have not rode a 25 model but the first generation T7 I got along with really well. I thought it handled great and rode great for the things I would be doing on it. I am not going to get crazy on a bike that tall and heavy. I find the 250 two stroke dirt bikes more fun for serious off road. Yea I am old and need light weight! haha.