Yamaha Tenere 700 Might Come To India. But Will It Be Priced Right?

The rumour mill has been abuzz about Yamaha launching their highly capable adventure bike, the Tenere 700 in India for the last few years. But sadly, that hasn’t come true, yet. In a recent visit to Yamaha’s factory in Hamamatsu, Japan, some casual conversations with company officials did hint that the company is at least considering the possibility of launching the Tenere 700 in India. If that has got you all hot and bothered, then we would recommend a quick cold shower, because Yamaha hasn’t confirmed this at all.

But let’s assume that Yamaha India isn’t one to dash our hopes and dreams, and the Tenere 700 does land in India sometime in 2025. Then comes the larger question. What would this delectable adventure bike be priced at? If history is any indication, pricing CBU (Completely Built Unit) bikes is one aspect Yamaha India has struggled with. Back at the 2016 Auto Expo, we got the MT-09 at a then eye-watering price of about Rs 10.2 lakh (ex-showroom). And let’s not forget the pricing disasters that were the recently launched MT-03 and R3. Both great bikes in their own right, but stumbled right out the gate with their insane prices of Rs 4.59 lakh and Rs 4.34 lakh (ex-showroom).

There is a method to this madness though. You see, the MT-03 and R3 are imported to India from Yamaha’s factory in Indonesia - a country with which we don’t have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), hence attracting more taxation than usual. If Yamaha were to have a factory in Thailand, and these bikes came from there, they would be priced much more competitively. That, or if the Indian government were to strike up an FTA with Indonesia, Yamaha fans in India would be overjoyed. 

Now the reason I bring up the MT-03 and R3 here is that the Tenere also has a similar problem. It’s manufactured only in Japan and France, which means if, or when, it does land on Indian shores, expect it to be rather expensive. The Tenere starts at about 1,270,000 YEN in Japan (approx 7.35 lakh rupees). If it were to be imported to India from Japan, expect that price to at least double thanks to our 100+ percent import duty on vehicles. So you’re looking at a price of about Rs 14-15 lakh (ex-showroom), if not more.

So will the Tenere 700 make sense at this price? Well, that’s a difficult question to answer. We ran a poll on Instagram and our viewers are almost split down the middle. 57 percent think that this price would work well, while 43 percent didn’t. And we can understand the points of view of the naysayers. The Triumph Tiger 900 range is priced between Rs 14.15 to 16.25 lakh in India. While we certainly don’t condone comparing the abilities of two motorcycles on paper specs alone, there are those who will argue that with the Tiger, you’re getting an 888cc inline-3 engine that makes 108PS and 90Nm. The Tenere on the other hand only makes 73.4PS and 68Nm from its 689cc parallel twin engine. What will only go to bolster this argument further is that two other middle-weight Japanese ADV bikes which we already get in India - the Honda XL750 Transalp and Suzuki V-Storm DE, are more powerful and are both priced under Rs 11 lakh (ex-showroom).

That said, paper specs are for armchair riders. In the real world, the Tenere 700 has proven to be a far more capable off-reader than most of its competitors. But will Indian buyers be able to see past the (expected) sticker shock and give the Tenere 700 the love it deserves by opening up their hearts, and their wallets? That, only time will tell. But first, Yamaha, if you’re listening, throw your hat in the ring… please!