Yamaha Ténéré 700 on tour

Yamaha Motor Australia's Trans-Tasman Ténéré Tour has been sweeping its way around the country, allowing Ténéré fans – past, present and future – to inspect the mid-size Ténéré 700 ahead of its arrival in Australian dealerships in December.

Several examples of the bike along with three lovingly restored original '80s Ténérés have been making their way south down Australia's eastern coast, as part of travelling roadshow that anyone can register to attend.

The rolling showcase kicked off in the Queensland city of Mackay on July 8, before hitting Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne. From Melbourne the roadshow will head to Hobart, Adelaide and Perth, before jumping the Tasman for a whistle-stop tour of New Zealand taking in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. For more information and to register for the remaining stops, click here.

Yamaha's Trans-Tasman Ténéré Tour is free to attend but registration is essential, with numbers capped at around 110 people per event.

Related reading:
Tenere 700: Dec. arrival, $15,499 plus ORC
2018 EICMA: Yamaha Tenere 700
Tenere 700 World Raid starts in Oz

Bikesales was in attendance at the Melbourne event (July 17) and was fully immersed in the Ténéré legend, as explained by Yamaha Dakar Rally racer and off-road legend Rodney Faggotter, 'Mr Motocross' Stephen Gall, and Ténéré Tragics club founder Andrew Clubb.

Three examples of the new model were on hand, each fitted with a range of genuine accessories, as was Faggotter's Dakar race bike.

Rodney is well qualified to speak on the Ténéré 700's attributes, having ridden a prototype of the bike on the Australian leg of last year's Ténéré World Raid.

That development and promotional ride saw the model ridden for thousands of kilometres through some of the most testing environments on earth, with legs conducted in Australia, South America, and Africa. The prototype was piloted by Faggotter in Australia, along with other Yamaha off-road luminaries like Stephane Peterhansel and Adrien van Beveren, among others, in other countries.

Faggotter also owns an original 1983 XT600Z Ténéré, along with a more recent XTZ660 Ténéré.

"I've got a 660 but the Ténéré 700 is a lot more advanced than the 660 in every way," he said.

"It's got a heap more power, better brakes, better suspension – it's good fun. The 660, she's a bit of a handful – she's a bit hard to pop the front end up over washouts and stuff, but this thing's a different matter. I'll keep the 660, but I'll get one of these things too!"

It's the first time Yamaha has adopted this travelling showcase strategy since the launch of the Yamaha VMAX in 2008. According to Yamaha Motor Australia Communications Coordinator, Chris Dobie, the Yamaha Ténéré 700 has been warmly received.

"I think Yamaha knows this is going to be a winner for us and that's why we're doing the Ténéré Tour. This tour isn't a cheap exercise by any stretch of the imagination, but we know it's going to be a real winner for us and that's why we're getting it out there and showing everyone.

"Everywhere we go there's a massive amount of interest in it; everyone seems to love this bike.

"We don't this this for all our new releases; this is how passionate we are about this bike. We've been along for the ride right from the beginning in terms of its development, having Rod [Faggotter] on the Ténéré 700 World Raid."

The Yamaha Ténéré 700 should have a bright future in Australia, being well suited to exploring this vast continent while maintaining a level of agility and manageability larger litre-plus-class adventure bikes will struggle to match.

Powered by a retuned version of the 'CP2' engine currently found in Yamaha's MT-07HO naked bike – a 698cc parallel-twin producing 72hp at 9000rpm and 68Nm at 6500rpm – the Yamaha Ténéré 700 tips the scales at just 187kg dry, or 204kg wet.

The standard seat height is 870mm, but a low seat option reduces this by 20mm, and a low suspension option further reduces seat height by a further 15mm.

Main stand $454.80
Adventure footpegs $279.00
LED fog light kit $830.04
Fog light bracket $123.60 (engine guard), $121.70 (headlight)
Handlebar riser $114.40
Grip heater $321.48
Grip heater connector cable $22.74
Aluminium adventure panniers (pair) $1410.90
Aluminium top case $665.10
Luggage stay set $560.60
Luggage lock set $43.08
Waterproof pannier bags (pair) $145.97
Waterproof tank bag $192.60
Akrapovic titanium slip-on $1149.00
Engine guard $424.40
Skid plate $466.50
Headlight guard $172.70
Radiator protector $196.80
Low seat $280.10
Rally seat $596.30
Passenger comfort seat $343.70
Lowering kit $162.70
*See your nearest Yamaha dealer for a complete accessories list

The Yamaha Ténéré 700 serves as a replacement for the single-cylinder Ténéré XT660Z, which first went on sale in Australia in 2009. The new model will be available in three colours: Ceramic Ice, Competition White, and Tech Black.

Priced at $15,499 plus on-road costs, the first shipment of Yamaha Terere 700s will reach Australian dealerships in December.

"We know that pre-orders are going to account for that first shipment, so if you want to grab one when they first arrive you'll need to pre-order, or wait a little bit longer for subsequent stock," said Dobie.