Yamaha T700 Tenere owners thread

There is one sitting on the floor at Freedom Powersports in Canton, GA. I was surprised it didn't sell over the weekend.

Thought some here might find this interesting. Woodys Wheels!

https://www.facebook.com/98703276635/posts/10158812351151636/

^^None in Central Florida yet. The long slow rollout has been a real buzz kill (for me). Sold my GS/LC and bought a DR650 as a bandaid. While still waiting, I've become aware of a TRAVEL version which sounds more suited to my intended mild adventure touring usage - bigger tank, etc. I live in hope.

You won't hear me complaining. Initially I thought the suspension was harsh, but lowering the air pressure a bit and some further break in miles make me a true believer. I also lowered the bike for $114; added a rack for $100; put on a throttle rest. The motor will go up the steepest roughly paved road in my area at 60mph in top gear at about 4k rpm... pull smoothly on a much steeper stand on the pegs gravel hill at 2k rpm in 2nd gear. The bike is everything I hoped for to replace my KLR; gets about 5-10 mpg better, not that I care much. An easy 200 miles between fills.

My only major bitch is the suspension. Works okay on the slab and big rolling bumps but in high speed rough terrain (think washboard, pothole strewn, big embedded stone sort of roads) I found it unbearably harsh...feels like it’s rattling itself to pieces. I’m halfway to fixing it...stiffer springs and some valving tweaks to the forks completely transformed the way it works on that kind of terrain. No more jackhammering to the hands, holds a line through choppy corners, hell I can even send it into erosion bars and jump off the backside with total confidence now just like a dirt bike. Shock is still harsh but I’ll get that sorted out soon enough.

Other than that it’s just minor comfort niggles really. Bar bend has too much sweep for my taste, grips are like cheese graters, foot pegs lack grip, seat gets uncomfortable after a few hours. Rear brake felt weak at first but it got much better, just takes awhile for the pads to wear in I guess. Some owners can’t stand the shaking display and the fuel gauge issue, but these don’t bother me. Others will complain about the lack of tubeless and the lack of cruise control and the “tiny” 16L fuel tank and the fact that the centre stand doesn’t fit with their preferred 1-inch thick full coverage armour plating that allows them to drive over landmines. Those guys are missing the point if you ask me...if that’s what you want there are plenty of other options out there, you’re spoiled for choice really. What Yamaha has given us with the T7 is basically a road legal 2-cylinder dirt bike with a windscreen and a 300km range. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but exactly what I was hoping for

You mean one like this https://www.mxstore.com.au/p/Motion...kPNUNwBfcwpNK3mr87RB8LVjJ8ZeybWgaAqCHEALw_wcB

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I don't own a T7 yet...still waiting on the call. However for me after test riding I fell in love with it imediatly. I felt it was the perfect replacement for my KLR. The KLR is a great bike but it had some limitations. The T7 fixes all those for me. I already have a big ADV bike ( Super Tenere) for long trips on the slab with some dirt. This bike will be for trips like the BDR. Its all what you are looking to get out of the bike. Two things sold me right away, the test ride and Yamaha reliability.

yup that would be a perfect combo for a tool set with maybe a needle nose vise grips and tire supplies call it good!

I’d expect to upgrade ergos seat, pegs, bars. Everything I’m reading says to have the suspension resprung. Sad to hear it’s that harsh. Probably need a steering stabilizer in the process.
Easy way to drop a couple grand to get it right. Heck I did that much in my WR250R.
But it seems to be a perfect platform without any major needs...

Lots of people are happy with the stock suspension once they take the time to dial it in correctly for their weight.

FF to around 7:30 to hear Jimmy Lewis' take on it.



He goes into the settings in this article.

https://dirtbiketest.com/fresh-dirt/2021-yamaha-tenere-700-first-impression-video-ride/

Well I like what I’m hearing from the Lewis’...

The suspension feels fine to me and I'm a fat ass. 4 clicks from max on preload and left everything else factory settings. I'm also a big dumb animal that just rides a fuckton, with no regard for how shit is supposed to feel though, so YMMV.

It’s easy to like what you hear when someone is telling you what you WANT to hear. I dont really care what some guy on YouTube says (however knowledgeable he may be), if I feel like it sucks, then it sucks. Be objective about it, ride the bike yourself, and then make up your mind.

I felt the suspension was pretty harsh when new , With 5000 km's of rocks and logging road potholes it's feeling better and better . I'm not sure what your objective on this bikes suspension is . Most bikes on this type of terrain that I have road at a slower pace require a couple ADVIL , this one doesn't . Thats my observance .

It does not NEED suspension work. Many folks fail to fully adjust the stock suspension. Some people may want an upgrade but most folks will be perfectly fine with properly adjusted stock suspension. It works just fine.

I’ll never change from the stock 17-21 wheels on my DR. It handles very well as is

if you do end up getting wheels made, tell Chris I sent you!

This german set goes under my seat of whichever bike I'm riding.

https://www.amazon.com/Wera-056490-...heck+plus&qid=1603220706&sprefix=wera+&sr=8-2


Great bit of kit.

Well everyone’s expectation is different I can certainly understand that. My objective is to get it as close to my beloved old BRP (XR650R) as possible...after some suspension work with that bike I could absolutely blast through chopped up logging roads, it didn’t matter how big the holes were I could ride right through anything at triple-digit speeds with absolute confidence. Hell even my ‘12 KTM 690, famed throughout the riding community as being quite harsh, felt like a Cadillac on such terrain compared to the stock T7. If I’m coming through a Big sweeping turn at speed (80+ km/h) and I have start correcting mid-corner to dodge potholes because if I hit one it’s going to violently jar me off line, or slam on the brakes when I come up on an unexpected erosion bar because it’s going to bottom on takeoff and do god knows what in the air, then it’s not good enough for me. Composed and predictable at speed over rough ground is what I want. You can say I don’t know what I’m taking about all you like, but I’ve made my observations, made some changes to the setup, and it is 100% working better. If the stock stuff works for you, great, but it doesn’t work for me and the way I ride. I’m not sure why everyone has to take such observations personally...it’s not like I’m saying the bike is garbage and you’re an idiot for buying one?

got to say i aggree the suspension out of the shop is pretty dam poor when asked any questions on harpack rocky stuff .i warned me mate before he bought his the forks were crap ....hes a full competition rider # fast boy ..first time out he said it wernt that bad stop being a fanny and ride faster ...... next time out where stuff got more rocky and faster he then said yup these are shit and had the same furrowed brow as me a few weeks before ...i said slow down ...tony doesnt do slow down so they duely binned him ..... so last i heard he were off to the suspension shop ..i never expected them to be as good as me full travel dirtbike forks of course but i also never expected them to be so poor ..short travel i can live with but they are so poorly valved its a lottery on slippy rocks ..some guys seem to ride around the problems ..but i simply dont trust them of anything that repeats at speed