RUST Magazine: RUST #43

Yamaha Ténéré 700
THE ECONOMICS
Yamaha has been keen to stress the
wallet-pampering modesty of the
new Ténéré. The CP2 engine has been
around a while now in various road
bikes (and comes to the Ténéré with
not much more than a change of final
drive gearing) but in its time it has built
a reputation for rock-solid reliability.
It’s also good on servicing, with oil
changes every 6000 miles (10,000km)
and valve timing adjustment at 26,000
miles (40,000km).
Fuel consumption is generous.
Yamaha claims 23.9km/litre (67mpg)
which means with a 16 litre tank a
theoretical range of 382km (237 miles).
From RUST’s fuel receipts we note we
achieved almost exactly that – 66mpg
– in a mix of off-road and road riding.
We refueled when the last bar started to
flash on the fuel gauge, but each time
still had five litres left in the tank (the
Ténéré comes with an odd cheapish
fuel cap by the way), so the gauge is a
little pessimistic.
into the duality of roles that Yamaha
sees in the Ténéré’s life to come. It
looks well positioned to slide into either
function. You can accessorise it in
the hardcore direction and go rally, or
add luggage and comfort items to go
adventure touring (curiously there is a
comfort saddle option for the pillion,
but not for the rider). And with 43
listings in their accessories list they’re
close to matching KTM’s hard parts for
customer-pleasing bolt-ons. It’s kind
of clever (by either their engineers
or marketeers) for they’re hitting two
market segments at once, with the
one bike. And the way we see it, both
sets of riders are going to find a lot of
happiness.
THAT PRICE
Whatever country you’re living in
the price is still the talking point. It’s
cheap! Given the rampant inflation
in adventure bike prices this is very
welcome right now.
Of course to make it that cheap you
have to expect a few compromises. You
can see this in items like the front brake
and clutch lever, even the front brake
master cylinder – all of which wouldn’t
look out of place on a 1980s RD road
bike. You see it in the footpegs, which
while nifty, what with removable rubber
inserts, are smallish and visibly budget.
There’s no computer with a selection
of the now regular ‘modes’, no traction
control. There’s precious little saddle
w
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