If you’re excited about the US finally getting Yamaha’s Ténéré 700, you’re not alone. With an MSRP of just under $10K in the US, it’s incredibly well-priced for what you get. Still, if you’re envisioning off-roading on this thing, you may still have some very pertinent questions on your mind.
Get Ready:
As promising as the Ténéré 700 is, it’s not equipped for super-heavy-duty adventuring. Suspension travel is 8.3inches in front and 7.9 in the rear, and the tank holds just 4.2 gallons of fuel. Neither of these things is awful, but they’re perhaps not as adventure-focused as some riders might like.
In an interview with Motociclismo, Ténéré 700 project leader Takushiro Shiraishi said that Yamaha might consider making a more ADV-biased version of the bike if enough riders expressed interest in it. He added that some people within Yamaha already think this might appeal to a certain rider segment.
With the news that the Ténéré 700 is already head of the middleweight ADV pack in Germany, the hype about Yamaha’s lightweight, nimble, well-balanced competitor in the segment seems to be very real. Keeping that in mind, it’d be more surprising if there wasn’t a huge outcry amongst fans for additional off-road capabilities from the factory.
We know this is all rather vague and nebulous at this point in time, but it’s also comforting to know that this discussion is very much alive and well at Yamaha. More importantly, it’s not something that the development team has explicitly ruled out. That has to count for something, right? The math also checks out. If the regular Ténéré 700 can do so well against BMW’s GS, what could a purely theoretical Tén7A do against a GSA?
Since the Tén7 hasn’t reached our shores yet, we can only speculate that it will probably sell well once it does get here. Taking that already light and nimble platform and making it even more off-road capable seems like a no-brainer if it takes off as well in other markets as it already has in Germany.
Source: Motociclismo