Yamaha's Ténéré line expanded down into the mid-range with the all-new-in-2021 Ténéré 700 (XTZ700). The “700” brings solid dual-sport capability to the adventure-touring range with an off-road bent that definitely favors soft terrain. Yamaha's CP2 engine delivers the goods with a transmission and chassis tuned specifically for trips off the beaten path, much more so than its bigger brothers in the Super Ténéré family. After a race to the top, this model marks a new front in the battle for market supremacy as the factory seeks to fill in under the 1,200 cc units.

Yamaha Ténéré 700 Performance and Capability

Yamaha draws from its MT-07 program and powers the 700 with its CP2 “Crossplane Crankshaft Concept” engine that features twin 80 mm bores with a 68.6 mm stroke for a 689 cc total displacement. The 11.5-to-1 compression ratio is a necessary evil to develop the full 72 horsepower and 50 pounds o' grunt, and it'll have you at the premium fuel hook, but it is what it is folks.

Dual over-head cams time the 8-valve head, and a water jacket and radiator carry off waste heat and go a long way toward mitigating the heat wash when you come to a stop or are in dead-slow traffic. A standard clutch couples engine power to the six-speed transmission, and it sends power to the rear wheel via a tough chain drive.

It's not necessarily a technological marvel as far as higher electronics are concerned. There's no traction control or power modes with this ride, just raw control and honest feedback, so the lump is every bit as pragmatic as the rest of the machine. The overall drivetrain is kept fairly short overall by a “stacked” transmission that carries its shafts in more of an over-under arrangement than a tandem one, and that helps with load balance between the two axles.

Design

The Ténéré name invokes images of hostile riding environments such as the Dakar rally and other far-flung endurance races. The Ténéré 700 starts off with laced wheels and street-knobbies that make for confident handling and traction. The front fender comes with splashguard-style uprights that are quite tall to accommodate the great suspension stroke of the usd front forks. That alone speaks volumes for how the factory intends the 700 to be used.

Since the fender is mounted to the lower fork-ends, it leaves the face with a snub-nose not entirely unlike Honda's Africa Twin. A clear plate covers the rally-style quartet of LED headlights that are much more resistant to damage from vibration and shock than their filament-style counterparts, just the thing for traipsing across Hell's Half Acre in some God-forsaken desert or another.

Up top, a vented, rally-style screen punches a hole in the wind for a little protection for the rider's upper torso, and the cheek fairings flare out rather abruptly to create leg pockets for your stems. This attention to comfort-related detail extends to the handlebar in the form of stock handguards that'll protect your meathooks from weather and terrain/foliage strikes.

In profile, the 700 presents a fairly genre-typical silhouette, allowing for that snub-nose front end, of course. The flyline tumbles down the backside of the 4.2-gallon fuel tank to a narrow waist where tank and saddle meet. A smooth, upswept bench seat allows you to shift your position fore-and-aft as you negotiate rough terrain, and it creates a nice, long lever to help you finagle the front end.

A compact taillight rides tucked away at the juncture of subframe and mudguard -- well out of harm's way -- with the rear blinkers and tagholder bolted up on the mudguard itself. I'm a little surprised at the lack of a hugger on that rear wheel, but if you look closely, the underside of the subframe is all sealed up to resist and repel the rear-wheel fling.

Finally, the upswept exhaust pipe gives the muffler plenty of ground clearance to avoid terrain strikes. It certainly adds to the overall off-road-tastic panache the 700 brings to the table.

Chassis

The factory designed a brand-new, purpose-built frame for the 700 with weight saving as one of the front-burner considerations, and overall, the Ténéré presents a 452-pound curb weight which puts it at the lighter end of the range for a mid-displacement machine. This is good news for folks who are headed for dirt-tastic adventures as well as anyone who manages to drop the thing and has to stand it back up solo.

The saddle rides at 34.4 inches off the deck which is appropriate for the genre, and the layout of the bars and foot controls is just right for a relaxed, upright riding posture when sitting or standing. Wheelbase measures out at 62.6-inches long, and ground clearance is generous at 9.5 inches. If you still manage to get a terrain strike on the engine section, there's a vented bash plate that covers the bottom of the double-downtubes and most of the cradle, so you've got good protection for your plant.

Inverted, 43 mm forks support the front end on 8.3 inches of travel, and it comes with the full trinity of adjustments while out back, the monoshock delivers 7.9 inches of travel with adjustable preload and rebound damping only. Dual, twin-piston Brembo calipers grab 282 mm, wave-cut front discs for the bulk of the stopping power with a single-piston anchor and 245 mm disc out back and switchable ABS protection all around.

Serious off-road riders still prefer laced/spoked wheels, and the 700 delivers with a 90/90-21 Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR hoop up front followed by a 150/70-18. Those tires come with generous street flats separated by deep grooves for traction on both black and brown, and the factory explicitly states these hoops are built for traction on soft/loose surfaces, stability at speed, and wet-weather performance due to a high silica content in the rubber composition.

Yamaha Ténéré 700 Pricing

MSRP for 2022 is $10,299 for any color you choose. Yamaha offers the Ténéré 700 on Team Yamaha Blue or Raven this year.

Competitors

It's easy to just roll with one of Yamaha's domestic foes, but I wanted to go to the other side of the world for Triumph's Tiger 800 XCx for my head-to-head just to get something a little bit different.

Triumph Tiger 800 XCx

The “Tiger” rocks a proper bird's-beak fairing over a secondary front fender for ample spray control, and it also sports a vented windshield that protects the upper torso and allows for a smooth ride with a reduced head-buffet effect. In profile, the two have similar flylines, but that's to be expected. Typically British, the Tiger has something of an industrial flavor that instantly gives away its country of origin, probably because of the exposed Trellis frame.

WP products hold the Trumpet up with adjustable rebound and compression damping up front, and a hydraulic preload adjuster out back to fall behind the Ténéré a skosh. The brakes are comparable with dual discs up front and switchable ABS all around, so neither gain an advantage here. That changes in the engine department.

Trumpet shoehorns in a few extra cubes with an 800 cc lump that churns out 95-ponies and 58 pound-feet, and it gets some tech points for the switchable traction control feature and five-pack of riding modes. The Ténéré lacks traction control and rider modes, but that is reflected in the price. Triumph lets loose of the Tiger 800 XCx for $14,450, and that's significantly pricier than $10.3k for the Ténéré 700.

He Said

“I was confident that the Tuning Fork Company is going to beat the price on that Brit when price was announced. That aside, it seems the factory hit all the pertinent high notes, though there's room for improvement, in the electronics suite especially. I can't get my head wrapped around why Yamaha would tease us like this with a projected production date so far out. I guess, eventually, we'll see the method behind the madness.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “I don't want to be a downer, but I just don't see what all the hype has been about. Yamaha teased us forever and they're unveiling it way ahead of production, but without any real 'wow' factor in sight. It's a nice bike. It looks the part and has nice off-road features, but making us wait almost two years for the U.S. release, I don't see anything worth waiting for. The KTM had its 790 Adventure here way ahead of this release so there was no reason to wait for the Ténéré 700.”

Further Reading

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