TWIN PEAKS

There’s now two Ténéré 700s to choose from, which one you should choose is the big question

Words Pete Vorst · Photography Motohead

After years of watching Scooby-Doo cartoons and reruns of Gilligan’s Island, I genuinely thought quicksand would be more of a struggle in life than it has been in my 49 years on this planet. I’d started to think the stuff didn’t really exist—until I found myself roaring with exhaustion, sweating like a Melbourne Cup nag, and using a whole new range of colourful language as I tried to drag Yamaha’s Ténéré 700 World Raid out of the sucking sand of the Colo River, northwest of Sydney. Punting a 200-kilogram adventure bike through a sandy river seemed like a good idea at the time, and I almost made it—right up until the rear tyre lost its hopeless struggle for traction in the soft, quicksand-like riverbed and bogged the World Raid down to and past the bashplate.

Flooding a bike isn’t fun. Extracting water from an engine is one thing, but trying to drain water from a fizzing electronics system while the heated seat boils the surrounding water—and the ABS, traction control, and radar-assisted active cruise control systems throw a barrage of fault codes onto your 400-inch TFT dash—is another kettle of mud crabs entirely.

And that’s why I love Yamaha’s Ténéré—and probably why it’s such a popular rig. There’s something downright refreshing about hopping on an adventure bike that doesn’t require a postgraduate degree in electronics to operate. Just thumb the starter, click it into gear, and bugger off to explore. And if things do go pear-shaped on some dusty track in the middle of nowhere, you’ve got a fighting chance of figuring it out and getting back on the road.

The Ténéré 700 ticks all those boxes.

Yamaha has expanded the family, and we now have two models to choose from: the standard Ténéré 700, which I will refer to as the T7 from here on, and the new Ténéré 700 World Raid, which I will refer to as the World Raid going forward. They both share the same bones—a fuel-injected 689cc parallel-twin engine committed to a tough-as-nails steel frame—but the World Raid is truly a very different beast.

The T7 has received its most significant update since its release in 2024, and of course, the World Raid sports the following changes as well. The first thing to catch the eye is the new vertical 5-inch TFT dash, which gives the Ténéré cockpits a cool rally look. There’s a choice of two screen themes, plus Yamaha has added Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to connect your phone via the Yamaha MyRide app. This feature enables you to see notifications for calls, emails, and texts right there on the screen. You can also track your ride, monitor distance, acceleration, top speed, and elevation changes—more than enough data to keep you entertained.

“You can also track your ride, monitor distance, acceleration, top speed, and elevation changes.”

Both Ténérés also feature an improved 3-mode ABS system, giving you the choice of switching the ABS on at both ends (default), front only, or off at both ends.

Then there are some less glamorous updates that are just as handy in the real world. Yamaha has swapped the old-school 12-volt durry-lighter-style charging port for a USB port, and the Ténérés are now pre-wired for Yamaha’s optional quickshifter.

The World Raid, of course, inherits these new features, but there’s a smorgasbord of other elements that set it apart. Let’s start with the twin fuel tanks, which expand the World Raid’s fuel capacity to 23 litres—seven litres more than the T7’s 16-litre tank. That difference might not seem enormous, but when you’re out there counting kilometres and wondering when you’ll next see a roadhouse, all while carrying old coke bottles full of fuel in your backpack, it’s a game-changer.

The World Raid also features an upgraded suspension package that offers an extra 20mm of travel at each end. The new KYB fork is fully adjustable for compression, rebound, and preload, with a Kashima coating that reduces internal friction. At the rear is a fully adjustable shock with damping, spring rate, and linkage ratios all tuned to handle the extra fuel payload.

Additionally, there’s an adjustable Öhlins steering damper offering 18 clicks of adjustment, larger pegs with removable rubber inserts, a three-piece aluminium engine guard, a radiator grille, and a fuel pump protector.

There are enough differences to be interesting, but they are still, on paper at least, quite similar. So, with the World Raid carrying a price tag that is over $5,500 more than the T7, you may be thinking, “Is it worth the extra bucks?”

There has been some criticism of the T7’s suspension since its release—nothing that can’t be tuned out, but it is the main bugbear of most T7 owners, especially regarding the rear shock. With the updated T7, not much has changed. The T7’s suspension is perfectly fine if you’re taking it easy off-road or cruising the highways, but it’s noticeably softer than the World Raid’s. Once you pick up the pace, the difference in suspension between the two models becomes acutely obvious. When pushing over big obstacles, tackling rough off-road terrain, or launching it off a drainage ditch, both ends bottom out sooner on the T7. It’s also simply not as composed off-road overall, and even on-road, especially when you have your luggage loaded, the World Raid’s suspension is just a step above—a significant step above!

The World Raid’s front end is superb, especially over rough terrain. The Kashima-coated forks track beautifully, no doubt assisted by the Öhlins damper, while the KYB shock provides a solid and compliant ride. The rear isn’t as sweet as the front end, but where the T7 can feel a little uncomposed in the rough stuff, the World Raid’s rear soaks up everything in a far more civilised and controlled manner.

Where the suspension differences between the two are really thrown into stark relief is when landing a jump. The T7 requires a more managed approach to the jump in question—planning the launch, picking the landing spot with care, and bracing yourself for the harsh landing as you inevitably bottom out at both ends. The World Raid, by contrast, is a far better flying machine. Point it, fly it, and land it! It takes far more effort to bottom out the World Raid, resulting in a much plusher landing—consequently, the World Raid puts the fun back into jumping your Ténéré. It’s no MX bike, obviously, but it’s a pleasure to play on.

That’s not to say that the World Raid’s suspension is without fault out of the box. If I owned a T7, I’d be straight to my local suspension tuner to get the boingers tuned to suit me, and that’s no different with the World Raid.

Now, as you would expect, the other hugely noticeable difference—both visually and in terms of performance—is the different tank sizes. The T7 is noticeably narrower, and you might think that would pay dividends when you hit the dirt, but you’d be wrong. While a slimmer profile is nicer for the most part, the T7 carries its fuel higher, giving it a heavier top-end feel than the World Raid. The World Raid’s twin tanks carry the fuel lower, and you can clearly see that the T7’s tank sits higher. This equates to the World Raid being far better in terms of balance when you’re up on the pegs and picking a line on a slow, technical trail. Both bikes are easy to move around on, but I didn’t feel hindered at all by the World Raid’s larger tank; in fact, it aids the World Raid, making it a better off-road machine because of it.

Both machines are powered by the same 54kW, 68Nm 689cc CP2 parallel twin. Yamaha has been refining this engine for years, not just in the Ténéré but also in its MT-07 and R7 road machines, and it shows. It’s a highlight of both bikes: smooth, eager, and tractable, constantly providing consistent and predictable motion to the rear wheel.
No, it’s not the most powerful twin in the mid-capacity range, and yes, if you line up against a KTM 890 or even the Aprilia Tuareg 660, you’ll get hosed. But adventure riding isn’t about winning drag races; the CP2 donk is torquey and peppy, with enough poke to get you in and out of trouble. Off-road, I didn’t long for more power or torque; on the highway, however, it would be nice to have more of both, especially when you load up with luggage or a pillion. This longing is eased by the fact that you have, between your legs, one of the most reliable engines you’ll find in a modern adventure bike.
Check the forums, check the Facebook pages, and you’ll struggle to find any stories of unreliable Ténéré powerplants or Ténérés in general, for that matter.

Both Ténéré flavours share the same braking package, and there isn’t too much to say here. Both ends are adequate without being brilliant—they simply can’t compare to the Brembo-shod Euro bikes. You’ll get an immediate improvement in power and feel as soon as you get your Ténéré home, dispose of the rubbish rubber brake lines that the Japanese manufacturers still insist on putting on their bikes, and replace them with a set of braided lines.

The ABS system works well; it’s always best to flick it off when off-road, and that brings up one annoyance I have with the system. I nearly always turn ABS off completely when on the dirt, but if it’s not too challenging, I’ll just shut the rear off. By default, ABS is on at both ends, and if you switch the bike off to grab a drink, check your route, or take a leak, the ABS will be back on when you fire the bike up again. This can be rather interesting if you forget and then grab a fistful of brakes going into a corner, and the ABS has a conniption in the rough stuff. So, remember to reset the ABS before you get going again.

Comfort-wise, both bikes feel quite similar for long hauls. The seat on the World Raid, however, feels a touch comfier. Maybe that’s just me, but on long rides, my backside certainly seemed to prefer it. Wind protection is reasonable, and all in all, both are just fine for hitting the highway and banging out the ks.

It would be nice to have some extra farkles like cruise control and heated grips, but then you’re messing with the simplicity of the machines, which is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, drawcards of Ténéré ownership, is it not?

So, if you’re still wondering which of the two Ténérés is best straight out of the box, I’d have to say that the World Raid is an easy winner—it’s the Ténéré I’d put my money down on.
But is the World Raid worth the extra $5,550 ride-away price? Well, no, but at the same time, yes. Aside from the improved suspension performance, which I’ll touch on in a moment, the biggest reason to go with the World Raid is the extra 7 litres of fuel capacity that it offers.
However, $875 keenly spent with Safari Fuel Tanks will get you a 25-litre tank—a two-litre improvement over the World Raid. If you just can’t get enough seat time in the remotest parts of the bush, then Safari Tanks will sell you a tank that can carry a whopping 45 litres of go-juice. This silo-sized tank will set you back an equally whopping $3,300!

On the suspension front, yes, the World Raid’s pogo-sticks perform better, but if you’re looking for suspension performance that suits your speed, weight, and riding preferences, you’ll be taking either Ténéré to the suspension doctor for a nip and tuck anyway. As for the extra 20 mm at each end, well, I’ll leave that for you to decide whether it is important to you.

I will concede that the bigger tank on the World Raid looks far better than the offerings from Safari Tanks, and those tanks do appear to carry their extra fuel quite high, but looks, at least, are of course subjective.

If you’re the type of rider who will commit to proper suspension setup and fuel range isn’t a big consideration, then the T7 will do you just fine, and the savings can buy you a lot of bling and hot-up parts for your T7. However, if you want the best handling and composed Ténéré out of the box, and you want extra fuel range from a tank that doesn’t look like an afterthought, then the World Raid is king.

Whichever way you go, there is one big thing to remember about both: if you buy a Ténéré of any persuasion, you’ll be purchasing one of the most capable and reliable adventure bikes the segment has ever seen, and that is always the most important thing when you’re in the middle of the desert, riding a mountain range, or sitting on a sandy riverbank sweating your guts out and swearing like a trooper.