Yamaha Tenere 700 Rally Edition Is Here

It comes with a new paint scheme, a higher seat and off-road components

Yamaha launched a new version of their Tenere 700 model dubbed Rally Edition. It marks 40 years of heritage and comes equipped with heritage rally colours and a higher standard specification. The middleweight adventure motorcycle pays tribute to the factory bikes raced by Dakar Rally riders Jean-Claude Olivier and Serge Bacou. 

 

Yamaha Tenere 700 Rally Edition features a blue and yellow racing livery just like in the good old days when the paint scheme was used on early Tenere models racing the Dakar. Based on these early Dakar colours also the very first production XT 600 Ténéré of 1983 featured this colour combination. Also, the motorcycle’s fitted with speedblock graphics and gold rims. And that’s not all. The middleweight adventure motorcycle has a new specially-developed one-piece rally seat which is 20mm higher than the standard seat bringing the seat height at 895mm. This gives the rider a higher and more upright riding position that makes it easier to shift the body weight and stand up on the pegs on dirt tracks.

Like any other Rally Raid inspired bike, it needs to sound good. So, the bike features an Akrapovič slip-on muffler. It’s street legal and includes a carbon heat shield, a silencer clamp and non-removable Db killer.

Other premium components include a heavy-duty 4mm thick skid plate that gives extra frame and engine protection in tough terrain, as well as a radiator protector and laser-cut chain guard that protects the radiator from small stones and twigs. Yamaha offers as optional a toolbox which can be added using the mounting points on this skid plate. A pair of LED headlights, grip pads and off-road handgrips complete the package.

From a technical side, the Tenere 700 Rally Edition is equipped with the 689cc 4-stroke CP2 engine making 72 hp and 68Nm of torque at 6,500 rpm. The engine is mounted on a lightweight double cradle tubular steel frame.

Suspension wise, the Yamaha Tenere 700 Rally Edition has an upside-down telescopic fork with 210mm of travel while on the rear it’s fitted with a monoshock that offers 200mm of travel. The braking system features hydraulic dual 282mm discs on the front and a single 245mm disc on the rear. The middleweight adventure motorcycle is fitted with spoked wheels, 21-inch on the front and 18-inch on the rear, equipped with Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires. The wet weight sits at 204 kg (including oil and the maximum fuel tank capacity of 16 liters).
We have to say it looks great and also the Yamaha adventure motorcycle comes with a price – €11,572 on the European motorcycle market.

Although KTM won the last 18 Dakar Rally titles, except this year when American rider Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team) stopped their winning streak, the first generation model helped Yamaha become one of the most successful brands in the Dakar Rally, with XT models taking 18 podiums in the first six editions of one of the world’s toughest races.

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