Has Yamaha Launched The Tenere 900?!

Published July 22, 2025
Views : 1389
2 min read

Well no, this one’s actually a heavily modified Yamaha MT-09 converted to an ADV!

Yamaha MT-09 Modified To Yamaha Tenere 900 Adventure Bike

The Yamaha Tenere 700 has always been revered for being an extremely capable adventure motorcycle. While the motorcycle has been in production for quite some time now, we have never got to see a larger and more powerful version of it. This is exactly what an Australian custom workshop, Purpose Built Moto (PBM), sought out to do.

Enter the reimagined Yamaha MT-09 as a fully-blown rally-style adventure bike — something Yamaha wishes it made. The result is a machine that blends the MT-09’s raw performance with proper off-road capability, giving us a taste of what a "T9 Tenere" could have been.

The Dream Build

The idea isn’t far-fetched. Yamaha already built the Tenere 700, a 90PS twin-cylinder adventure bike that is based on the MT-07 platform. It’s a solid midweight machine that has proven itself off-road. So a more powerful sibling using the 115PS triple-cylinder from the MT-09 seems like the next logical step. The MT-09, after all, is not only lighter than the Tenere 700 at 188kg and packs significantly more power. Add some off-road hardware, longer-travel suspension, bigger wheels, and a rally fairing - lo and behold! You’ve got something truly special.

Some Serious Equipment

The first step was converting the suspension and wheels. It gets a set of retuned fork from the KTM 1190 Adventure, a custom monoshock, new shock linkages and 21/18-inch spoked wheels. The dual front disc setup remained the same. To make sure the bike is actually capable enough to go off-road, the chassis was re-engineered. The bike comes with a twin under-tail exhaust setup, using a pair of Yoshimura cans.

The changes do not stop here: it gets mid-set off-road footpegs, and the handlebar was swapped out for a high-bend tapered bar to allow better control of the bike. The rally tower comes in next - a pre-made tower kit from an Italian supplier, originally intended for the Tenere 700. The tower includes dual headlights and a tall windscreen, giving the bike its signature rally look.

With completely redesigned and custom bodywork, the motorcycle looks like it’s actually ready to hit some serious trails. Final touches include the classic Yamaha blue-and-yellow livery, inspired by Dakar race bikes of the past era. We love that they kept the minimalist LCD console intact and added a phone holder to keep the geeks happy.

Final Words

The finished build — dubbed unofficially as the Tenere 900, showcases what could have been if Yamaha had explored an inline-three-powered adventure bike. That said, we do know that Yamaha plans to launch its big bikes in India, and we just hope that the T7 Tenere is one of the upcoming motorcycles for India.

Was this article helpful

Yes No