Motorcycle description sheet Yamaha700 Ténéré 2025 The way to the horizon

When it arrived on the market, the Ténéré 700 brought a breath of fresh air to the trails category. At last, a descendant of its adventurous lineage, where the scent of sand is not just a lure. Hooray for a machine that's not afraid of sidewalks and rocks, when most SUVs shudder at the thought of crossing a branch. With Yamaha holding a beautiful nugget in its hands, it's time to give it a few marbles to maintain its envious position.

At the crossroads

It's not unusual to come across a T7, whether on an avenue or between two stone reefs. The Yam knows how to show its versatility, and maintains that little piece of sandy dreamland every time you step over it. A fragrance that Yamaha sprinkles with a little more modernity with this new version.

Since 2019, it had changed only in terms of color and not at all in terms of plastic. It's rather nice to see that Yam is touching up the styling sparingly and without falling into the nebulo-Sinok ways of certain productions. The Ténéré retains its mainstream rally-raid profile, with a few subtle tweaks: revised rear flanks, slimmer fairing panels, a redesigned hoof, more prominent handguards; and the most remarkable feature is undoubtedly the modernized headlamp unit. The 4 photon monocles are still there, but in a more hype rectangular format, supported by an alumunium plate. The T7 passes a milestone without being battered by the gusts of fashion.

It also gets a new seat, the footrests of the World Rally version (10 mm wider), a repositioned kickstand switch, reinforced luggage rack mounting points, a modified clutch housing, a forward-mounted fuel tank for better weight distribution and a few other trinkets.

Technological inflation under control

The T7's first battle-horse was to include as little electronics as possible, so as to leave the rider in control of all developments. Over time, it gave in to the siren calls of technology, but kept its foot on the brake.

• aBS was on or off. Since 2023, it offers three possibilities: active everywhere, only on the front wheel, or not at all. No cornering function, and that's how it stays on the new model.
• Traction control debuts on the T7 in 2025. But Yam' keeps it simple: active or not. So there's no headache. What's more, you can easily switch it off at the same time as ABS, just by pressing and holding the ABS button on the left of the dashboard. However, we doubt the usefulness of Traction Control - the old T7 didn't need it.
  
• Driving Modes also arrive, thanks to the now ride-by-wire throttle (YCC-T as they say at Yam'). Here, too, we've kept the debauchery to a minimum. Only two engine characters for the CP2 engine. A "Sport" to enjoy the joy of the twin-cylinder, and an "Explorer" with softer handling. A far cry from the 7 Riding Modes of a Harley Pan-America
  
• The cockpit boasts a new, larger TFT panel than the one introduced in 2023. From 5 inches, the display is now 6.3 inches, still in vertical format. The different themes (Street or Explorer) reflect a real sense of practicality and enjoyment, with no show-off effects.

At the same time, the Ténéré's man-machine interface benefits from new, more complete commodos, a USB-C port and smartphone connectivity to control the bazaar (calls, messages, music, navigation)

Forget the phone. It's not the phone that's going to make the bike go, but that good old 689 cm3 twin - more than 10 years old on the MT-07. An opportunity to give it more watts? No, just a few improvements: Euro5+ compatibility, a modified air intake for more low-end torque, a revised clutch, and modified gearbox components for better shifting.
Enthusiasts will be delighted to rediscover this smooth, progressive and playful engine, at ease with its 73 hp and particularly complementary to the T7's size and missions.

More settings

One of them is to go everywhere, on nice or rough roads. That's what the suspension is designed for. The new T7 features preload adjustment on its 43 mm upside-down forks, allowing everything to be adjusted at the front.
For the rear, a new linkage increases travel. Combined with a revised, and this time fully adjustable, monoshock, this kinematics system should make riding more progressive and comfortable. Aside from these changes, the equipment features the same typical off-road characteristics: 210 mm and 200 mm of travel (front and rear), 240 mm of ground clearance, 21" and 18" spoked wheels with thin, studded tires, a consistent seat height of 875 mm and an aluminum hoof.

New fork crowns reinforce the front end. As for the tubular steel frame and its aluminum swingarm, they remain unchanged.

The Ténéré 700 also thinks in terms of accessibility on several levels. For example, it's available in A2 and, new for 2025, there's the option of choosing suspension with shorter travel. The "lowered seat" version revises the suspension travel to 190 and 180 mm, bringing the seat 86 cm off the ground. As a result, you'll have slightly less ground clearance.

From one T7 to the next, from one generation to the next, the changes aren't obvious, but they do allow us to make some relevant changes without altering the trail. After all, it's a real trail bike, always ready to eat clods of earth as well as dented asphalt (pleonasm, in our country).

M.B - Manufacturer's photos