2021 Tenere 700 First Ride review

[roy826]

I owned one for 9 months and it was one of the first ones stateside June 2020. Nice bike but had an offer for what I paid for it and I took the money to the bank. I do miss it but they are crazy expensive right now used or new. Supply and demand thing. It was very good off road the few times I used mine.

[sandman900]

Did the handling of the 21" front wheel surprise you on the highway? I rode an Africa Twin this spring, and didn't like the wandering and vague, loose feel of 21/18's above 50mph. Depends on what kind of riding you do most of, and I went for the Tracer and it's 17" wheels for street majority use. Tenere 700 looks to be a nice capable trail machine, and weighs 50 pounds less than the Honda.

I wonder if the length and mounting point of that aluminum side stand would fit Tracers? Tracer is 10"= 255mm length. Guessing Tenere's is a bit longer due to frame height and suspension. Could we be so lucky?

Edited September 14, 2021 by sandman900

[Wintersdark]

12 hours ago, sandman900 said:

Did the handling of the 21" front wheel surprise you on the highway? I rode an Africa Twin this spring, and didn't like the wandering and vague, loose feel of 21/18's above 50mph. Depends on what kind of riding you do most of, and I went for the Tracer and it's 17" wheels for street majority use. Tenere 700 looks to be a nice capable trail machine, and weighs 50 pounds less than the Honda.

I wonder if the length and mounting point of that aluminum side stand would fit Tracers? Tracer is 10"= 255mm length. Guessing Tenere's is a bit longer due to frame height and suspension. Could we be so lucky?

Tenere's is way longer, due to the significantly increased ground clearance.

I can't speak to the Africa twin, but the T7 is extremely stable and tracks like it's on rails.  In that I was *extremely* surprised.  With my throttle lock on I spent 5km with my hands off the bars at 120kph/75mph without any concern at all, corners, straights, bumps, the works.

Its no Tracer - it's a wildly different machine - but it's extremely competent on road.  Arguably better at low speed cornering, even.  I wouldn't want to ride it like I ride my Tracer, but there's definitely no vagueness at all or sketchy feeling at speed.

Bonus: at night, the headlights light the edges of the windscreen!

 

[hardrivn]

On 9/12/2021 at 3:39 PM, whisperquiet said:

I don’t see any problem with long distance if you ride between 55-75 mph.  I have an an adjustable Moto pumps windshield bracket that helps.  I am also 6’4” with a 35” inseam and installed SW Motech Ion 15mm lower foot pegs plus I was able to buy one of the rare 41 mm taller Yamaha rally one piece seats. The two piece stock seat had me sitting on the seam which was not good.  My picture shows the Tusk side and tail racks plus I have an Ogio tail bag and small tank bag.  I installed Bikemaster heated grips and run a heated jacket when needed.  The only things I wish the T7 had was tubeless wheels and electronic cruise control.  BTW, my T7 runs flawless …… I think you will like yours.

I use my Super Tenere for big trips, my Tracer GT for all around riding and short trips, and the T7 for back road exploring.

 

Wow do you work for Yamaha or just their biggest fan? I’d mix brands if I had room for more bikes.

[whisperquiet]

1 hour ago, hardrivn said:

Wow do you work for Yamaha or just their biggest fan? I’d mix brands if I had room for more bikes.

This is the first time in my riding career that all of the Yamaha stars have aligned and I have an all Yamaha motorcycle fleet in my garage.  I like low maintenance, reliable, reasonably priced motorcycles as I ride 20,000+ miles a year.

Edited September 14, 2021 by whisperquiet

[knyte]

2 hours ago, hardrivn said:

I’d mix brands if I had room for more bikes

I'm mildly interested in a T7, too, but it has nothing to do with brand loyalty (although it helps a wee bit, I suppose - one sort of knows what to expect from one model to another for fit and finish, quality control, how well - or poorly - the switches work and such).

It has far more to do with the right bike for the type of riding I want to do.

The T7 is interesting because 1) it's a small-ish twin 2) simple 3) tall 4) capable 5) inexpensive for what you get aka the value seems to be there

That said, a Honda 250/300 is more what I'd actually be after.

[Wintersdark]

4 hours ago, knyte said:

I'm mildly interested in a T7, too, but it has nothing to do with brand loyalty (although it helps a wee bit, I suppose - one sort of knows what to expect from one model to another for fit and finish, quality control, how well - or poorly - the switches work and such).

It has far more to do with the right bike for the type of riding I want to do.

The T7 is interesting because 1) it's a small-ish twin 2) simple 3) tall 4) capable 5) inexpensive for what you get aka the value seems to be there

That said, a Honda 250/300 is more what I'd actually be after.

The T7 is pretty unique in its place too, particularly once you account for value/price.  Like the Tracer in its niche, really there's not a lot of serious competition in the space (more offroad focused dual sport/adventure) at that price. 

The new CRF250L looks pretty sweet too, but I couldn't see taking that on highways.  Still, it's a neat bike and probably loads of fun offroad.

[piotrek]

Congrats @Wintersdark... nice bike. I threw my leg over the T7 at the Toronto show before the plague. A tad tall for me, even the lowered version 😒. Enjoy a new type of riding. The T7 should work well in the muck of winter too (??).

[Wintersdark]

6 hours ago, hardrivn said:

Wow do you work for Yamaha or just their biggest fan? I’d mix brands if I had room for more bikes.

Hah I mean, I'm kind of there now too.  I've owned pretty much everything over the years. Well, each of the big 4, and Harley, but my "buying new bikes instead of whatever used ones where available" period over the last 4 years or so has been all Yamaha. 

Simply put, best value proposition and class leading products.  Also the most reliable, but admittedly only a little vs the other Japanese makes.  MT07 trumped the sv650, cbr650, and z700.  Tracer had practically no real competition for what it is/price point it's at.  The Tenere definitely doesn't.  

At this point the fact that I'm intimately familiar with working on these bikes and that there's so many shared parts (and even whole engines) really contributes too.

What it's not though is "loyalty".  If the Tenere was a Honda, I'd have bought a Honda.  

Some cool European bikes I'd love to try but they're wildly more expensive.  A new Multistrada would be something I'd drop my Tracer in a heartbeat for.

 

[Wintersdark]

15 minutes ago, piotrek said:

Congrats @Wintersdark... nice bike. I threw my leg over the T7 at the Toronto show before the plague. A tad tall for me, even the lowered version 😒. Enjoy a new type of riding. The T7 should work well in the muck of winter too (??).

That's the goal - and was a major reason to justify the expense vs getting a DR650 or some such.  Fuel injection is WAY easier to deal with at -25c than an old carbed bike.  

Gotta find somewhere selling studs at a reasonable price, or maybe buy some used tires and try my hand at DIY studs - then I'd have the T7 for snowy days and the Tracer for clear cold days.  Couldnt justify studding the tires on an only bike as it'd degrade clear road performance too much.

[Wintersdark]

On 9/13/2021 at 2:31 PM, sandman900 said:

Did the handling of the 21" front wheel surprise you on the highway? I rode an Africa Twin this spring, and didn't like the wandering and vague, loose feel of 21/18's above 50mph. Depends on what kind of riding you do most of, and I went for the Tracer and it's 17" wheels for street majority use. Tenere 700 looks to be a nice capable trail machine, and weighs 50 pounds less than the Honda.

So, some extra data today on this note.  Did a bit of windy roads on the Tenere, and holding 160kph/100mph+, it's still very, very easy to handle.  Definite unpleasant vibration at that point, though.  Handles the speed fine, leans well, easy to be very confident in twisties, but at high speeds the vibration is annoying.  

It's curious - I suppose due to the tire size and or geometry - that early lean tends to be very steady but after about 40 degrees it gets suddenly much easier to lean more, feels kind of like it wants to fall into corners.  Not bad if you're counterleaning, but if you're leaned over on the bike it's a bit alarming until you get used to it.

[sandman900]

The update is appreciated. I asked because my use would by necessity be at least 90% street, due to location. It wasn't designed to be a 100 mph street ride. That FortNine video is outstanding and really helps understand the design, and what the bike is capable of.

Do I need one? No, but it'd be great to have both a touring set up Tracer and a T7.  I sure would like to try one now. Just wish it could have weighed around 400 lbs wet- that'd be ideal.

Edited September 18, 2021 by sandman900

[Wintersdark]

It's not far from there, though.  Pull the passenger pegs, install a full exhaust system (I know from personal experience the Black Widow systems sound awesome on the CP2) and you get it down to some 435ish.  

But I'm genuinely surprised at how capable it is on road, with the stock Pirelli Scorpions.  It definitely gets some vibration happening at triple digit speeds, but no more than my Tracer does.  It's windshield (laughably, if I'm being honest) works better than the Tracer windshield too.

Of course, that aside it's not even remotely comparable in a sport touring role, but it IS a great street bike stock, and you could opt to drop a tooth or two on the rear sprocket to lower highway RPM's - but to be completely honest I feel that's wholly unnecessary.  Maybe if you really want to hold 100+mph for a long time.

However, something to keep in mind is while the T7 is insanely fuel efficient for most riding, that falls off very quickly after about 140kph/85mph.  The T7 has a reasonably size tank so even at speed it's not too bad for range, but if you don't push past 85mph it'll go WAY further.  Or get the aftermarket tank and go hog wild.  Whatever

 

For me though, all that was important was that it be serviceable on asphalt, and that it's actually very good there is just pure gravy.  

[Wintersdark]

Big, much more technical ride today, well outside of my skill level. Started down TransAlta Rd, then down a cliff into a dried riverbed.  Crashed once in here, as the riverbed was filled with deep gravel - all sizes, but mostly 2-3" rocks and some big rocks - just got overconfident and failed:

Ironically, I crashed it in the flat portion, but had no trouble with 2' deep crosscuts from more recent rivers and more broken and uneven parts.  

Overconfidence.

Anyways, then followed the riverbed for half an hour or so and stopped on what was an island:

Then back, up the cliff again. Herein was crash #2, and let me tell you: there is no technique that makes picking up a bike that is tank down, wheels up in a deep rut half way up a steep, long incline easy.  Even with two of us, it was damn hard.  No pics here, it was dark and super difficult, just wanted to get up the hill.  The rest of the ride back was uneventful.

No injuries to me, and the crash protection did its job well, but the worries about the stock exhaust on right side crashes are well founded: both times, I had to bend the muffler back out to clear the swingarm.  

Ordering a Huzar high mount exhaust today.

However, going back to the purpose of the thread:

Even at this point, with two crashes, the bike performed admirably and really helped me ride well outside my skill level.  It can only do so much of course, but really it's MUCH more like a dirt bike than a big adventure bike.  So easy to ride, even in crazy stuff.  Also, it took the abuse like a champ.  It went down *hard*, particularly the second time, and nothing broke - not even the cheap looking plastic handguards. Turns out they can deform quite a lot and spring back into shape.  Forks are horribly out of alignment though, gonna have a wonderful time straightening the front end tomorrow.  Rode home with wildly canted handlebars.

 

I can see the advantage of something like a drz400, but I wouldn't want to give up my asphalt performance to get it.  I did *not* envy my buddy on his Super Tenere (pictured) or the third guy on a older BMW (also had to pick his bike up twice, and holy hell was it heavy).  Watching him struggle to maneuver his 600+ lb beast around even with several years more offroad experience than me really helped me appreciate how number the T7 is.

 

Also: tail bag has to go, gotta get a tank bag instead.  Need to be able to get back over the rear seat for more rear wheel traction at times, and the bag really got in the way.  

[piotrek]

Thanks @Wintersdark for honest words on your ride. You and T7 are now properly acquainted. I might try my luck at something like this with a used XT250 or some such. Looks like fun.