Yamaha T700 Tenere owners thread

Oxford "adventure" heated grips, a Shad sh39 topbox ordered from a retailer in Germany (cheap!) and a set of Anakee Wilds.

I'm gonna be a busy guy.

Anyone mount a steering damper yet?
Definitely thing about adding one after today’s ride. Doing about 30-40 mph up a pretty rutted and rocky 2 track and had the front deflect hard off a what I’m assuming to be a rock jutting out that I didn’t see. It was a big enough deflection that the bars turned enough that it felt like the front tucked a bit before it came back. Felt like I got lucky that I didn’t go down and go down hard.
First time in 2k miles of 50/50 riding this bike that I’ve thought that having a damper might be a good thing.

Before getting a steering damper, make sure sag front and rear is correct, and sort the forks out, most of the front end problems are caused by the stock forks having too little Preload and they blow through their stroke too easily, causing the front to dive and deflect

I have a WR 450 that gets 25mpg, THE STOCK 2.1 gln tank wasn't for shit, I needed more range and went 3.4, but if you ride a bit foggy on the T7, it will go thru the juice too!

“A bit foggy”.....
Help a brother out here....
I can tell by the context, meaning smash the throttle, but I’d not heard it.
Not even at the Britbike meets

"froggy" is the term I'm used to hearing.


The other option is a reference to the "red mist"

So, this might not be the proper venue for this question, but here goes:

Have any of you new T700 owners made the transition from a big-bore thumper to the T700? I'm coming from a TE610 (or, I might be when it sells), and the T7 is on my short list. Curious if anyone here can comment on that. Cheers

I've only put 1100 miles on my t7, probably a third on dirt roads, no trails yet. However, I also have a te610 (that I will be selling next year) and so far, the t7 is feeling good. A tad heavier until it starts rolling, great power, really rides quite a bit like the 610 with a bit more zip. Disclaimer . . . Stock tires suck in gravel, sand, anything wet, but are pretty great on asphalt.

Well, you're just the guy I didn't know I was looking for, apparently.

Have there been any situations so far on your T7 where you've thought "Crikey, really wish I had the TE610 here now!" Or, times when you've been riding your TE where you've thought "Y'know, why did I buy that T7 after all?"

I should note: My TE610 has the 26L Safari tank, so I've got quite a bit more fuel weight than a standard TE610. I figure that kinda moves my TE a bit closer to the T7, as far as weight and balance, than most thumpers might be otherwise. I realize I still have about 100-odd less pounds, of course.

The biggest difference so far for me, I dont have any crash bars on the t7 yet so i try not to drop it doing something dumb, the te just soaked up the drops and smiled back at me. I have the oversize tank on the te also, (mine is a 2006), plus racks. I honestly think you will love the t7, my only dislike is that I hate to imagine what it will look like after I treat it like the te. Will it live?

Good point. My Safari tank eliminated the cladding on the TE, so the tank pretty much soaks up the punishment and the tree branches (minimal, but still).

Winter here means no riding for awhile, so I've got time to do my research, and sell my TE. The price of a new T700 is so attractive to me. Hard to look at a 790 R or 1090 R, or even an Africa Twin, when the T700 is just so "reasonably priced." I wouldn't dare call it "cheap".

I agree, not cheap but very reasonable in the market. It also doesnt look like a 790 r which I personally find repulsive. The at was my first choice, until they added more electronics and jacked the price up.

If I went the AT route, it would be an 2018-19, with less electronics and thus more comparable to the T7, near as can be. I went to a local dealer yesterday and sat on a 2019. It was smaller than I expected, and felt lighter than I expected, albeit just standing still. A T700 with 50 less pounds would be even better.

Did you ride an AT and a T7 before you bought the T7?

No, unfortunately no dealers with several hours of me "give test rides" of the AT and I didnt even care by the time I found a t7 available. My test ride was 215 miles home from the dealership. I do agree with the 18 - 19 models, there are some good prices on used ones with low miles out there.

Ok so I got lucky and found one a couple days ago and it's in my basement now. Being sawed off at birth the first order of business is lowering links.
I don't need much I'm used to being short on taller bikes but would like to be able to put a little bit more than a tippy tippy toe down at a stop. I've been scrolling through this thread and scouring the intraweb but can't find a description of actual height reduction numbers on any products. I know it's been discussed and apologize profusely for not being able to find this info but I'm not asking about tires or which direction to loosen a bolt so any specs or recommendations would help me out considerably. Thanks in advance, JD

Height reduction with links here. also with the lower seat option.

https://shopyamaha.com/product/details/lowering-kit-bw3

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/parts/rally-raid-products-lowering-links-p

The yamaha set describes the height reduction as an 1 1/2" when used with the low seat. The rally raid at rm doesn't say how much reduction. I'd like to get about an inch.

https://www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk/yamaha-t7-tenere-lowering-link-20mm

https://www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk/yamaha-t7-tenere-lowering-link-40mm

I believe the 20mm and 40mm description of the RR links is the amount of height reduction.


I have a 29" inseam, stock I could only get the ball of one foot at a time down. With the 20mm RR link, I can get the balls of both feet down at once. Still a stretch, but at least if I have to put a foot down in a sketchy situation, the bike won't be past the point of no return.

I have a higher seat height on my KLX250/351, but it's 150 lbs lighter, so I can lean it further if things go wrong.

As i intent to use the T700 for BDRs, etc, it will be carrying more gear and weight.