Yamaha’s revised the Tenere 700 to come up with another variation on the mid-weight ADV. Now, we get the Tenere 700 World Raid, a bike that appears ready out-of-the-box for rally raid competition, as well as long-distance traveling.
To be clear: The World Raid is not a full-on Dakar bike (nor would it be legal there, as the Dakar rules restrict machines to 450 cc engines, or smaller). Instead, it’s intended for the enthusiasts who want an up-spec adventure bike from the factory, capable of handling harder offroad riding and perhaps even an event like the Swank Sardinia Rally or other enthusiast-oriented race events.
So, what’s upgraded? Perhaps the biggest update is the 26-litre split fuel tank, which wraps lower around the bike than standard T7’s tank. Yamaha says the World Raid should get up to 500 kilometres of fuel range per tank, depending on riding condition, and that the split design prevents fuel from shifting around and negatively influencing handling.
There’s also a new fork and shock, with 20 mm more suspension travel front and rear. The KYB fork adds spring preload adjustment, and Yamaha says it has lightened internals to improve handling. As for the shock, there’s a remote reservoir to prevent cavitation and the aluminum body is supposed to better dissipate heat.
The electronic features are also updated to be more offroad-friendly. Yamaha put a three-mode ABS system on the World Raid; there’s your usual standard ABS mode, with antilock brakes at front wheel and rear wheel. A second mode offers ABS at the front wheel, and the rear wheel without antilock brakes. There’s a third mode with no ABS front or rear. Yamaha says it’s easy to shift the bike back into standard front-and-rear ABS with a button the gauge, whether the bike is moving or not.
There’s also a new 5-inch TFT screen with three layouts, including a rally-style mode that should make it function as a race tripmeter: The ‘Explorer’ screen layout features a modern digital design that provides all of the machine’s key running data in a contemporary and easy to read style. The ‘Street’ screen features a tachometer with a circular dial and needle that give a more conventional look from the analogue era, and the ‘Raid’ screen is inspired by a typical rally racing roadbook and features two independent countdown tripmeters that enable the rider to see the distance to the next waypoint.
Cool! There’s also a new metal crashbar fitted around the engine, and a new radiator grille, which we imagine is intended for superior offroad protection. Yamaha also included a new set of offroad-style footpegs with removable rubber inserts for comfort.
So when will it come to Canada? Uh, we don’t know; for now, Yamaha has only confirmed this bike for Europe, with deliveries expected in May. Remember that Europe’s T7 pipeline is different than ours, so just because they’re getting the bike there this spring, there’s no guarantee we’ll see it here this year, or even next year.
