Anybody got a Yamaha Tenere 700? Just picked one up. Just. Wow.

[oldGSfan]

I found a 2022 Yamaha Tenere 700 with 96 miles and snagged it at a great price. My son quickly outgrew the CRF250L, which is fun but underpowered.

I yanked off the lowering link and shorter kickstand. It has a lower seat too, hoping to barter / sell finagle a rally seat, as this one's a bit firm and I don't need it low.

It's for my son really but we will share. It also has a Rekluse clutch - still debating if I want it or not, but as I use more and more it's sorta cool. Heated grips, 'crash' bars, pretty high zoot LED fog/driving lights. I'm stoked. It is a really good bike just a joy to throw around, hit the dirt, go on a tour etc. My son is crazy over it. I'm debating if I want to get one myself now, can keep riding this and make up my mind .

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Love it. Congrats.

[steve murdoch]

Cool ride, GS.
Just read a couple of glowing reviews.
What i especially like is...my son outgrows his CRF but WE get new bikes.

[GS1150Pilot]

They are amazing. I keep reading about them and definitely want one, but a DR650 might be more practical as a fourth bike.

[oldGSfan]

They are amazing. I keep reading about them and definitely want one, but a DR650 might be more practical as a fourth bike.

Depends on the mix of bikes. I'd say this is ideal if you own just one or two bikes, and want to ride a mix of road and trail on one of them. Perhaps the other a classic Suzuki GS (or Norton in my case). I have the XR650L and it's fun for shorter rides to more challenging trails. This is a legit daily driver that you can set up for a 200-300 mile day, camp, and explore at the desert, mountain fire road (and a bit rougher) level very comfortably and capably. Which is my plan. My XR650L is on borrowed time as I am thinking I want one of these for my own.

I have ridden >1L big 4 standards mostly over the years due to their price/capability, but now I'm really enjoying the ergos and lesser weight of the mid-size bikes. Power is sufficient.

This is a good review by Zack.

[GS1150Pilot]

I have the Harley, and am slowly tweaking the R1100R for gravel roadworthiness, plus the old CB900f to keep a foot in the I4 classic Jap stuff. I think a DR650 or even a DRZ400 would be less overlap for me, but man, do I like those Ten-7s

[Nessism]

I think the Tenere is just awesome. My kid has an MT-07, which I've ridden some, and the engine is a real gem. The new Honda Transalp is looking great too; it's got about 10 hp more, and about the same weight. The new Suzuki 800 is also nice, but it's 50 lbs heavier. Shame on Suzuki. The engine is class leading from what I've read, but Suzuki seems to have forgotten about the 1986 GSXR750, and what made it great!.

[oldGSfan]

I think the Tenere is just awesome. My kid has an MT-07, which I've ridden some, and the engine is a real gem. The new Honda Transalp is looking great too; it's got about 10 hp more, and about the same weight. The new Suzuki 800 is also nice, but it's 50 lbs heavier. Shame on Suzuki. The engine is class leading from what I've read, but Suzuki seems to have forgotten about the 1986 GSXR750, and what made it great!.

Agree, Suzuki has a great engine but missed the mark. I was hoping they'd do better.

[LAB3]

I'm probably going to be looking for a smaller and lighter bike sometime in the next couple of years and the Tenere and Transalp both look good as does the MT09 and Bonnie. Too many choices for someone who's in a position to own only one bike at a time!

[trevor]

A buddy has had one for a few years and loves it. He lives in Banff AB.....he rode it to Ontario and back with us in the summer of 2022 and this May he is coming to California with us ....he also rides a lot off road with it

[Jedz123]

Man I really like that Transalp!


Looks more tour than adventure. Which I think the new Vstrom-800 is geared for where the T7 is more the other way, more adventure and less tour.

As for the Yamaha; The CP2 engine is quite impressive, 270' crank offers that similar power pulse of a single but can be spun up still for great linear power. I know the T7 was a brand new bike, built from the ground up and they nailed it. Yamaha sometimes cheeps out IMHO like the Tracer 900 (FJ-09) you can tell it's just a MT-09 with a fairing. The geometry wasn't great and suspension was poor out of the box, I was hoping for something similar to my Gen 1 FZ1 and it failed to make that mark.. I wasn't overly impressed with mine so I moved on and am back on my Modern Bonneville T120. IMHO as an avid Universal ( Japanese or British) Motorcycle rider, the T120 the best thing on the market that nails all the needs one would have from the offering. Oh and it too has a (larger) 270' twin. An absolute beast in the twistys but will get mid to high 50's MPG when on tour.

Adventure based bikes are all the rage right now. Which is great because the larger displacement variants are great mile munching machines. I think I ride too many docile roads to have an opinion on the topic. I do go dirt road often with my T120 and when I do thrum down a dirt road at the speed limit, the T120 pulses nicely along and rarely over whelms the rear sport touring radial unless I ask it too.

I was an I-4 guy for quite along time but after getting my 270' I-2 I'm sold on the compact design, weight distribution, the center of gravity, economy, smoothness and overall power the twin delivers from 1800RPM to 7K RPM.

My 2 cents.

[Nessism]

Excellent comparison here between Tenere and Transalp. The reviewer strikes me as very credible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR9bOZ7o8ZQ

[Rich82GS750TZ]

If you want to see what an insane, crazy person, with riding skills/talent on loan from God apparently, can do on a Tenere, here you go. Don't try this at home, folks.

[GS1150Pilot]

I've watched all his vids. Became a fan after watching Danny McCaskill doing trials stuff on bicycles, and this guy has taken it even further on both bicycles and motors.

[oldGSfan]

I agree that the Transalp offers more for the $. I don't care about the seat height or overall tallness, nor does my son but lots do and lower the Tenere as mine had already been. There is a more comfortable rally seat that I will get. My (err, my son's) bike was lowered 3" or so, with links, a 3/4" very short and firm seat, a shorter kickstand. They are up for sale and should cover the cost of the rally seat. The original links and kickstand are back on, and I just need to drop the forks back down an inch in the yokes to standard. Looks? Not so important to me but I find the Honda sort of dowdy, and the Yamaha spot on. I find the Tenere a blast on the road, really direct and confidence-inspiring, so kudos to Honda if the Transalp outdoes it.

This one had many add-ons, and I just couldn't pass up a 96-mile 2022 for under $9K. The Honda undercuts the Tenere by $800 at $9,999, so it's a great value given it has more tech tricks up its sleeve. But $9,999 is just the start of things. One time I saw a Honda VFR800 leftover model priced in an online 'trader' at a super price, and I went for a look. They threw setup and transportation fees at me and jacked it up 2K. That was a bit much for me. It turned me off from considering talking to a MC dealer ever again.

I took the bike out to the local mountains and could only do a few miles offroad, due to flood closures on the trails, but it felt great. The Rekluse clutch really makes sense offroad or in a large parking lot with lots of stops. Leave in 2nd and ignore the clutch. I'm getting to like it. I don't think I'd have spent $830 for it but I'm not gonna yank it out and try to sell it either.

Oh - I think that Yamaha could have put a wide ratio gearbox in, but they just changed final drive ratio from what I heard on the other review by Zack. That would have been nice, maybe one tooth up on the countershaft will be better for longer distances and not affect the offroading too much. It's a $13 gamble to see.