If you missed out on buying a new Yamaha Tenere 700 model, don’t get upset—now, you can just keep saving your money for the new Rally Edition model, with Dakar-style graphics and other add-ons.
The Tenere 700 has been a long time coming to Canada, and Yamaha’s been selling them quickly once the machine actually arrived. Based on the FZ-07’s parallel twin engine, this is Yamaha’s modern-day answer to the 650-class duallies that are slowly dying off. You can’t buy a 2020 KLR650, and Yamaha figures this machine is the perfect replacement.
Almost every adventure bike manufacturer is making lots of money off up-spec’d machines, with engine upgrades, beefed-up suspension and other farkles added on at the factory (Honda’s Africa Twin Adventure Sports and BMW’s Adventure versions of the GS line are perfect examples here). Yamaha’s going for that same market, but less enthusiastically.
The Tenere 700 Rally Edition has paint that harks back to Yamaha’s dune-busting glory days at the Dakar Rally in the early 1980s, something the press release makes much ballyhoo about … and there’s a tough-looking aluminum skid plate, chain guard and rad guard, and a funky set of LED flashers and four-pot headlight. There’s a new, taller seat (!) and an Akrapovič slip-on muffler. Yamaha also put some rubber knee grips on the tank, and some offroad-style handgrips. And, that’s it. No big-bore engine, no trick suspension, no massive fuel tank, no advanced electronic modes.
Most of this stuff was already available from Yamaha’s accessory catalogue, so basically, Yamaha’s just doing some assembly work for you.
How much will the machine cost in Canada, and when will it be here? We don’t know the answer to either question, but we understand the bike will be available in the US market, so we do expect it here as well, maybe for early 2021.
I have talked with Yamaha Canada…..no rally version for now, as of Oct 8. But, they are planning
a press release next week so fingers crossed that North America will see the rally version in 21. Hurry before Honda and Kawasaki come out with their mid size ADV ….news/tease.