Here’s Your First Look At The Roadgoing Yamaha Tenere Raid 700

After the launch of the much-hyped Yamaha Tenere 700 in 2019, Yamaha dialled it further up a notch with the rally-ready Tenere 700 Raid Prototype, unveiled at EICMA in November last year. Now, the patent images of the production version of the same have surfaced online.  

Compared to the Raid Prototype, the production-spec motorcycle gets a more mellow bodywork, which in fact doesn't look too different from the existing Tenere 700 Rally Edition. It gets the stock Tenere 700 headlight but features a slightly wider nose and wind deflector on both sides. This one also gets a twin fuel tank setup, as compared to the single 16-litre tank on the standard bike. The new tank setup (each tank gets its own filler cap) sits in front of the rider and seems to be wider than the stock. The split setup should ensure better weight distribution.

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Other additions to the production Tenere Raid 700 include a longer seat that occupies a larger portion of the fuel tank, which should make it more convenient while off-roading, new bear claw footpegs, and a much longer fairing extending down to the new sump guard, along with the side crash guards, both similar to the one seen on the prototype model. 

The Raid Prototype of the Tenere 700 got a more aggressive bodywork, longer-travel suspension, some tweaks to the engine for extra power and race-oriented bolt-on parts from the Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing (GYTR). On the other hand, the patented Raid 700 seems to have missed out on most of these modifications as its underpinnings are unchanged. Its suspension remains the same as the stock Tenere 700, and along with that, the brakes, exhaust and wheels too are stock. We hope Yamaha tunes the stock 73.4PS, 68Nm 689cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled engine for better grunt to suit its rally-style demeanour.

Interestingly, the instrument panel seems to be a TFT unit, which should offer better features than the current LCD console. We hope it gets smartphone connectivity too. 

Overall, the production-spec Tenere 700 Raid still shows a lot of promise. However, us enthusiasts in India will only have to keep dreaming as Yamaha is currently focussing more on its small-capacity offerings. That said, we do hope the Japanese bikemaker introduces some of its big bikes in the near future. Until then, you have other middleweight advs such as the Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT, and the Kawasaki Versys 650 to choose from.