Yamaha had showcased its mid-weight adventure concept last year and called it the ‘T7 concept’. It was then we knew that the Japanese guys are coming up with a winner in the adventure class for the next year. Then, the brand showcased the ’Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid’ at last year’s EICMA, but for all our dismay, was still a prototype since they had yet to turn a few knobs more.

Fast forward to today, we have confirmation from the beautiful city of Milan that the 700 Tenere will hit showrooms soon. Heavily camouflaged or rather disguised in full black body panels, the test mule is a million miles away from home to taste the readiness of the bike in the Italian terrains.

Covered in heavy matte black panels, folks at the prototyping department have rather done a decent job at concealing the final design, features and specs of the production model. On the cobbled streets of Milan, the Japanese Blue Team is thoroughly testing their mid-weight adventure model to cover all kinds of terrain.

It all started when Yamaha made a few Dakar champions like the original Yamaha XT600Z Ténéré that opened up a slew of possibilities for them to think of making a few for the adventure folks. They soon became some of Yamaha’s best-selling motorcycles, and now the same guys will be making one now using the credentials of the MT-07 (FZ-07 previously) naked series.

The Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid showcased last year gave us a glimpse of what we can expect as the final specifications of the production model that is touted to hit the showroom floors in 2019. The rugged rally-inspired character oozes out of this lightweight adventure bike that comes with a sleek chassis and a potent powerplant.

Seen on this spy pic, the Ténéré 700 gets a lower seat height to make it accessible to a wider range of riders. Yamaha claims that the lightweight fuel tank on this one has enough capacity to take the bike beyond any competition can and is contoured to give excellent ergonomics.

Mechanically, the Ténéré 700 will run on the same 698cc parallel-twin “Crossplane Concept” engine that powers the 2018 MT-07 naked belting out close to 74 hp and 92 lb-ft of torque. This, of course, will be tuned to suit the harshness on the tarmac and dirt, while its mass-centralized layout and low weight contribute to the bike’s agile handling characteristics.

USD forks and rear monoshocks will be top-spec, and the front cowl is equipped with a Dakar-esque 4-projector headlight assembly. Tucked in behind that will be a state-of-the-art instrumentation with a mounting bracket to hold your GPS and/or smartphone.

Hopefully, we will still be excited just as much as now when the 2019 model year rolls around, and we will still make saliva bubbles seeing it in the flesh. Until then, stay tuned with us while we keep updating you with more spy pics and revealed information up unit the 2018 EICMA, where we believe Yamaha will put up the final 2019 production model on stands.

If you live in any of these continents: America, Australia, Africa and Europe, you might just get a chance to see, feel and hear this motorcycle as Yamaha will be taking the Ténéré 700 World Raid prototype on a challenging trip across the world throughout 2018.