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This entry is part 12 of 18 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #52

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It’s very early days for Adventure Rider Magazine’s new Yamaha Ténéré 700 but development is well under way.

The first thing on the agenda for any new bike is to ride it.

It sounds like a funny state-ment, but the number of times we hear people say they’ve bought a new bike and spent a gazillion dollars on suspension or accessories before they’ve even ridden it is astonishing.

How do they know what modificationthe suspension needs, or whether particular accessories suit, if they don’t know what the bike is like standard?

We wish we were so clever, but we’re not. We grabbed the bike, told The Boss we were off to do something terribly important and ran a few trails to see what we had to start with.

It was interesting.

A STEDI light bar under the headlight highlights close in front of the front wheel.

First things first

The suspension on this particular Ténéré 700 is really good. As we reported last issue, we couldn’t believe it was stock, despite Yamaha’s assurance that was the case. It actually doesn’t matter a damn to us whether it was bone stock and worn out or stolen from a factory racer. However it came to be, the suspension needs no attention as far as we’re concerned.

It’s really good.

There are Teknik stickers on both shock and fork legs, and sure enough, when ad man Mitch phoned, Nick at Teknik confirmed he’d done a thorough set up when the bike was first put into commission with Destination Yamaha.

The result is front and rear are both firm but compliant, and we’re pretty fricken rapt with it just the way it is.

On the road the engine is smooth and there’s little vibration of any kind.

It’s well capable of devouring long stretches of bitumen, seemingly with no effort at all. Cruise control would be a huge bonus, and we see MC Cruise has a unit on offer. We’re very tempted, but we have a few more pressing things we need to get sorted first.

After a bit of a blat around some forestry trails we thought the bike in general handled offroad really well, although the feel from the front isn’t quite right. We suspect the front tyre doesn’t suit the bike and will look at that situation ASAP.

The bike’s pretty much bare bones and as a priority we needed some way of carrying the tools and luggage which are an integral part of nearly all our rides.

SW-Motech’s GPS mount is a neat unit.

RideADV

Pannier racks were our first port of call, and after a great deal of research we opted for the units made by tour company RideADV.

We’d featured Greg Yager’s Ténéré 700 in issue #50, and one of things that caught our eye was the way his own pannier racks stayed snug and close to the bike. We gave Greg a call and he said to bring the bike to RideADV head-quarters and he’d fit us up a pair.

So we did.

Greg’s workshop was about 300km away down the highway, and that gave us a chance to see how the bike would handle a bitumen slog. It did it easily.

There and back in a day, piece of cake.

Effortless.

Fitting the racks took all of about 10 minutes. Greg grabbed a cordless-screw-driver-thing, went braap! Braaap! Braaaaaap! and the pillion ’pegs and little strap knobs behind the seat were gone and the racks bolted in place.

Done.

They’re strong and fit really close.

We like them a lot.

Greg Yager himself fitted the pannier racks. They went on in a few minutes.
Supplied with all necessary hardware.

SW-Motech

Another high priority for us is a GPS mount.

The editor’s been using Garmin Montana 650Ts for a lot of years, and just upgraded – at long fricken last – to a Zumo XT, another piece of equipment he spied on RideADV’s bikes. The Ténéré has a 12mm bar above the LCD dash which is ideal for a GPS, but the RAM-type mount supplied with the Garmin is for handlebar mounting. There were no fittings for the Yamaha bar.

Motorrad Garage had the answer with an SW-Motech unit that clamps neatly to the above-dash bar and doesn’t stick out or flap around. It bolted on in a minute or two and is very unobtrusive.

Excellent!

While we talking to Motorrad Garage, it emerged SW-Motech has a stack of gear for the Ténéré 700 and we were offered quite a range of accessories to try out.

The one we were really keen on was the ‘EXTENSION FOR BRAKE PEDAL’ – that’s what it’s called on the box if you’re looking for it on the Motorrad Garage website.

It’s actually in this issue’s Checkout, so you can get all the info there, but it’s basically a stepped brake pedal. It allows the rider to swap between the higher and lower section of the step when standing or sitting without having to change anything on the pedal itself.

Flash, or what!

It’s a beautifully made unit and fits really nicely. We had to fiddle around getting the height of the pedal just right, but once we had it we were sold. It’s a great accessory.

The RideADV pannier racks are tough, look good, and don’t stick out like an American footballer’s shoulder guards.

So much to do

So much to do, and yet not so much, either.

The bike, as we received it, is a pretty bloody good adventure bike, as we knew. Reliability is always our biggest requirement and the motor on the Ténéré 700 has done service in several Yamaha models over quite a few years and is known to be rock-solid reliable and trouble-free. Performance isn’t eye-popping, but it’s far more engine than our humble riding talents can seriously use, so that’ll stay pretty much as it is.

We still need to look at carrying extra fuel for long trips, tyres, and we think a rack behind the seat would get plenty of use.

We fitted a STEDI light bar under the headlight to highlight in front of the front wheel. The standard lighting on the bike is really good, but for those odd times we’re caught out off-road after dark, we really want to see what’s right in front of the front wheel, and the light bar throws an extra beam right in the middle and up close. It fits in a really nicely made pair of mounts from ADV ENG – that’s what it says on them – and the bloke was really good to deal with. Look him up on the web if you’re chasing a set.

For now we’ll run with what we have and see what develops.

The pillion ’pegs had to go to fit the pannier racks.
It allows the rider to swap between the two heights for sitting or standing with no adjustment. It’s neat and very effective.