2020 Yamaha Ténéré 700 Review Daily Rider
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00:00Good day, two-wheeled brothers and sisters, Zach Kortz here with RevZilla and welcome
00:04to another episode of Daily Rider.
00:06Let's jump right into it, shall we?
00:08Our guest today has been a long time coming, both to Daily Rider and to the world of motorcycles.
00:13That is Yamaha's Tenere 700.
00:15So that is a 689cc engine taken from the MT-07, eight inches of suspension travel, all for
00:22about $10,000.
00:23So reasonably priced, reasonably sized, seems like it's going to be a pretty reasonable
00:27daily rider.
00:29Wonder no longer, everybody.
00:30It's time to find out.
00:31Okay, everybody, Tenere 700.
00:43Here she be.
00:44Brembo calipers, which is kind of nice, but they're very small, little two-piston calipers.
00:49And I don't remember the size of the disc off the top of my head, 282, something like
00:53that.
00:54So they're kind of small rotors.
00:56And of course they look small because of the 21-inch front wheel.
00:59Big gap here, sort of this Dakar styling, this wacky headlight, which I actually think
01:05looks awesome.
01:06Pulled a lot of sort of Dakar styling cues to this bike, which I think is cool.
01:12MT-07 engine here, the sort of standard issue parallel twin.
01:19Big flat seat, keep that in mind, we'll sort of talk about the seat and how the flatness
01:24comes into play.
01:26I think that's just about it.
01:27Let's fire it up here.
01:29Switch key on, we get a look at that two-color dash, very simple, kind of a cool vertical
01:35styling.
01:36Talk about that as well.
01:38And there it is.
01:39Little 270 crank, parallel twin, firing around in there.
01:47I just think it's so good looking.
01:49Excellent.
01:50Okay.
01:51Let's hit the road, shall we?
01:54Okay.
01:55Yeah.
01:56I feel a little bit Dakar getting on this thing.
02:00Here he goes, off on stage one.
02:06So specs, I mentioned that 689cc parallel twin, that's the same one from the MT-07.
02:14And that pumps out, I believe, claimed 72 horsepower, so you know about 70 horsepower.
02:23And I think it's like 50 foot-pounds of torque.
02:26Specs are in the description, as usual.
02:30And the general size of the T7 is kind of a tall seat, 34.4-inch seat.
02:37Of course, that's unladen, and when you sit on it, it squats down a little bit.
02:43And total weight, I think, is around 450 pounds with a full tank of 4.2 gallons, so that's
02:52a basic rundown of the specs, and like I said, 10 grand.
02:59One thing, now that we're stuck at a red light, I don't like about the gas tank.
03:014.2 gallons is pretty decent, I think, as we'll talk about.
03:05It's an okay size for a bike this size.
03:09Of course, you could always use more fuel, you know.
03:12But it does this, when you take it out and then the gas cap's in your hand, I really,
03:16I don't know.
03:17It's kind of a pet peeve of mine.
03:18If it doesn't bother you, great.
03:20But I like a hinged cap so that it can't fall or whatever, I don't know, it just seems more
03:24secure that way.
03:26Just throwing it out there.
03:27So back to the size of the bike, to a certain extent.
03:32Like I said, 34.4-inch seat height, which is pretty tall, but at that red light there,
03:36I was basically flat-footed.
03:38And I am 6'2", so I'm maybe a little bit taller than the average bear, as they say, but yeah,
03:45it's surprisingly approachable, I think, considering it's a tall bike.
03:50In part because the rear suspension is not super stiff, so it squats down a little bit
03:57when you sit on it.
03:58And it's fairly narrow, despite being a parallel twin instead of a V-twin, which would be a
04:04little bit narrower.
04:05I don't think it's bad at all.
04:07It's, yeah, I don't know.
04:11It's appropriate and un-intimidating, in my opinion, both to sit on and to ride, as we
04:17will discuss.
04:19Not exactly a wheelie monster, this bike.
04:27Hey-oh, look out, a biker coming through.
04:31In general, T7's pretty comfortable to sit on.
04:33This is a classic adventure bike riding position, just feet kind of right below your body and
04:40hands out in front of you.
04:41Yeah, it's a really, really agreeable place to sit, in my opinion, a really kind of comfortable
04:49riding position.
04:50It's meant for spending long hours in the saddle and, or, you know, riding around town
04:54like we're doing.
04:55But either way, this is why the adventure bike has become so popular, the SUV of motorcycles,
05:03if you will.
05:04Oh-hey-oh, look at that, trike with a trailer.
05:09Not, not, not exactly a motorcycle, if I'm honest, but, you know, they got their, they
05:17got their hair in the breeze.
05:19Not literally, they have their thighs in the breeze, that's what I can tell, they're wearing
05:21shorts, which I really, I don't know, I don't subscribe to that, to the shorts on motorcycle
05:27lifestyle.
05:28Certainly not on 405 in California.
05:31But hey, to each their own, I suppose, I was about to say, here we go out onto the
05:36freeway where we're going to talk about riding this bike at high speed, but freeway had other
05:41plans today, everybody.
05:42Trying to get over to the fast lane either way.
05:46My goodness, what happened?
05:49All right, all right, now we're going just about freeway speed here, almost 65.
05:56It does feel small in a way that's not necessarily good on the freeway.
06:01It, you know, it still feels narrow, but it does feel just a little bit less substantial
06:07than a full-size touring bike, which of course is a huge asset to the T7.
06:12That's one of the things that makes it good, but it's not like it's unstable or anything
06:17like that, but it's just a little bit more susceptible to crosswinds and stuff like that.
06:21In general though, I mean, holy crap, you could ride this bike anywhere in the world
06:24tomorrow and you'd be totally comfortable.
06:26Maybe the seat wouldn't be perfect for you, maybe the height of the windscreen wouldn't
06:30be perfect for you, but it's just a terrific bike.
06:35My one complaint with the T7 is I would just gear it up a little bit, I'd change the sprocket.
06:41As you know, people who watch this show know I often say that I would change the sprocket
06:45on the bike, whether it's geared up or geared down.
06:48I find it geared a little bit short.
06:49I think if I could get it to rest around, I don't know, a little closer to 4,000 RPM
06:54at freeway speeds instead of 5 or 55 or something like that, I think it would, yeah, it might
07:02improve the economy a little bit, I suppose, but in general, just make it a little bit
07:06more comfortable.
07:07It has a good roll on power at 70 miles an hour because it's spinning up, but yeah, like
07:14I said, I'd probably just make that tweak a little bit.
07:17On the topic of gearing though, Yamaha had a tricky decision to make, right?
07:22Because they want the bike to be geared low enough that it's reasonable to use off-road,
07:25you know?
07:26You want first gear to be low enough that it makes sense to use.
07:30So they got a big spread to cover, and that's a little bit of a tricky business, and they're
07:36probably not going to, you know, rebuild an entire transmission just for a spin-off model,
07:43unless they did.
07:44Did they?
07:45Does anybody know?
07:46I don't think they did.
07:47I feel pretty confident in saying that.
07:48Oh yeah, hitting potholes.
07:49I'm just like aiming for the potholes on this bike.
07:52Cross the train tracks, aim for the real bumpy part, oh, it's terrific.
07:57It's really, really balanced, it's really nice.
08:02Not technically 8 inches of suspension travel exactly.
08:05I think it's 8.3 inches in the front and 7.9 in the back, something like that.
08:13But the point is, a lot of suspension travel, whether it's city roads or country roads.
08:18I like having a little bit more suspension travel than you need.
08:25Port of L.A.
08:26Look at all those containers, an ocean of containers, sort of literally.
08:31I always thought it'd be fun, now that we're on an adventure bike, it makes me think, T7
08:36Destination Challenge, you just like throw a baseball or whatever into that pile of containers
08:42over there, and whichever one it hits, you have to go where that container came from,
08:47and you gotta ride there, on a T7, that'd be a fun thing to do, right?
08:51I don't know.
08:52It would be China, wouldn't it?
08:53Yeah, it would be China.
08:54Good point.
08:55So, you know, maybe that's not as fun a game as I imagined it to be.
09:00The point is, I'm just sort of intoxicated with this T7, I just, I always feel kind of
09:05affected by the bikes that I ride.
09:07Like I rode that BMW R18 and I was like, man, I want to go to like Sunset Boulevard and
09:11just kind of chug along at 25 miles an hour, because that's what it feels like the bike
09:15wants to do.
09:16I'm just like, man, head for the hills, get me some dirt roads and some rough and tumble.
09:22That's what I feel like I should be doing.
09:24Fuel mileage I've got on this bike, between 45 and 50 is what I've seen, basically.
09:28I think I had a 49, maybe there was a 47 in there, which is pretty darn good.
09:34Yeah.
09:35So this is where I end up having to do range calculation in my head, 4.2 gallons, 49 miles
09:43a gallon, 200 miles, 206 miles.
09:49I don't know, something like that.
09:52We're getting better than 50 miles a gallon right now, though, I bet we're in top gear.
09:55Chug along here at 35, 3800 RPM, since we're stuck behind these T-Rucks, actually in this
10:03T-Rucks blind spot, trying to stay in the guy's mirror because I'm a little bit stuck.
10:10There we go.
10:13Anyhow, decent fuel mileage.
10:15Whoops, sorry, fella.
10:16I apologize to the trucker.
10:19Truckers in my opinion, typically the best drivers on the road.
10:22They got a lot more responsibility than most people.
10:26Anyway, in general, good fuel economy, good range.
10:29I think obviously with a bike like this, if you had a six gallon tank and you got 50 miles
10:33a gallon, that would be even better, but I don't have any complaints about it.
10:38I think with the radius as large as this bike, you have to sort of make compromises
10:44at some point with capacity and range, but I think it's set to do exactly what it's supposed
10:51to do.
10:52Speaking of fuel mileage, I wonder if there's a way to calculate, here we go.
10:55So this is a trip meter, 81 degrees, that can't be right.
10:58It doesn't feel like 81.
11:01Average, so this says 47.8 miles per gallon, so that falls into my, there we go, it's live.
11:08So we can see what kind of mileage we're getting going down this hill, 94 evidently.
11:14I was going to check when we're behind the trucks to see what kind of mileage we're getting.
11:18Anyway, enough about fuel mileage, Zach, tell me about the mirrors.
11:21Okay, okay, already.
11:23Nothing super special to say about these mirrors.
11:25They're a little bit smoother than I was expecting them to be, to be honest.
11:29I don't know, the bike, you feel a little vibe through the handlebar and through the
11:37pegs to a certain extent, but the mirrors are pretty darn smooth.
11:41So yeah, no complaints, no complaints there.
11:50Righty, trundling through the hood.
11:53One stop sign cleared.
11:54I like this little patch of sand these days.
11:57You can spin tire.
11:59No TC on the T7, which I think is appropriate.
12:04I don't think, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
12:06Thank you kindly.
12:08I think it's appropriate not to have TC though.
12:10I don't think it really needs it.
12:12I don't know.
12:13It would be safer on a rainy night to have TC, but just don't ham fest it, you know?
12:19Be gentle, be careful.
12:2170 horsepower is a perfectly reasonable amount of horsepower to be in charge of.
12:27Ooh, just about got through that stop sign without touching feet.
12:32I think in general, the T7 City Manors are quite nice.
12:36It's really neutral and balanced and easy to ride at low speed, which of course is a
12:41trait of an adventure bike as well for, you know, the sort of trail riding kind of thing.
12:46Oh yeah, good footless stop there.
12:49And obviously a reasonable amount of balance at zero miles per hour.
12:54I don't know, it just, it feels direct, which I like about the bike.
12:59It's not, um, I don't know.
13:02Yeah, it just, it doesn't feel like there's a lot between the rider and the roadie.
13:07I just feel connected to the contact patches and to the actions that I need to take to
13:12maintain control of the bike, which I appreciate.
13:15Oh man, I don't know.
13:17Maybe I'm just having a good day, but I'm finding it quite easy to do these footless stops.
13:24Yep, I screwed that one up.
13:28It is tall, I will say that.
13:30Had to dab my foot there, and you know, I'm having trouble reaching the ground, but it's
13:36arguably a little bit farther away than I was expecting.
13:41That's what you're going to get with a bike like this.
13:43You know, you get long suspension, it's going to be a little bit farther from the ground.
13:48That's the deal, people.
13:52Might as well talk about the dash, I think, now that we're here.
13:56It's lit nicely.
13:58There it is.
14:00Kind of a basic two-color dash.
14:03I like that they mounted it, you know, they mounted it vertically, which again is kind
14:08of like a nod to Dakar styling.
14:11So it's got the tachometer runs up the side here, and then along the top if you rev it
14:15high enough, but I don't think I've actually ever revved it above 8 grand.
14:18I don't see why you would, frankly.
14:21Yeah, and then miles per hour here, time, gear position indicator, and then information
14:27at the bottom here, trip meters, the stuff we just went through, air temp, that kind
14:32of thing.
14:34I like this dash.
14:35I think it's similar to the MT-10.
14:39Am I remembering that correctly?
14:41All the information you need to see, no other weird menus and that kind of thing.
14:46It's not too busy.
14:47You know what to look at, you know?
14:48You have all the information you need.
14:49And of course, fuel gauge right here.
14:51Well done, Yamaha.
14:53Okay, just about ready for a green light now.
14:55Thank you very much.
14:58And away we go.
15:01There we go, revved it up to 8 grand.
15:04Felt like I didn't need to go any higher than that.
15:06Why bother?
15:09I'm not sure how well you can hear the bike, but it is quiet.
15:13And I hate to say this.
15:14Every time I say this, I hate to say it because I'm not necessarily a loud pipe save lives
15:20kind of guy.
15:21But this engine, every time I hear a hood rat MT-07 go by with a Yosh Pipeline or something,
15:28it sounds awfully good.
15:30I think uncorking it a little bit would be nice.
15:32I don't want the ear splitting business, and you don't either, especially when you're on
15:35the freeway or something.
15:37But yeah, in general, I could go over a little more sound.
15:41Such a nice sound.
15:47So polite.
15:48Such a friendly bike.
15:50I hesitate to call it little.
15:52I keep thinking I want to say, nice little bike.
15:54Not really little.
15:56450 pounds.
15:57It's a full-size motorcycle.
15:59But man, adventure bikes, they've just trained us.
16:01If anything is less than 550 pounds or something, you're like, oh, I feel so small.
16:08Weird.
16:10Okay, cruising down Lover's Lane, as we call it, and talk about passenger accommodations.
16:14I do have a bunch of passenger feedback this time around, actually.
16:19Not from my lady friend, sadly.
16:23My colleague's lady friend.
16:25I know, scandal, right?
16:26She was riding in the back with him, but she gave me lots of feedback on the bike, which
16:29I thought was super helpful.
16:31One of the things she said which I thought was most interesting was that flat seat.
16:34Remember we talked about that flat seat?
16:36She said sometimes when there's a bisectional seat and there's a platform for her to sit on,
16:40she feels pressure to sit on that platform, whereas really she wants to scoot a little
16:44bit farther forward and be closer to the rider, or perhaps farther away.
16:47In the case of this, she could scoot forward, scoot back, as she pleased.
16:51Of course, that means the passenger has less of a view over the rider's shoulder, if your
16:55passenger is shorter than you are, or short in general.
16:59So that's something to consider.
17:01She also said she noticed that the foot pegs do not have rubber padding, and it seemed
17:06a little bit slippery to her, which obviously is a little counterintuitive for ADV riders,
17:11because sometimes you want those metal pegs.
17:15But the passenger pegs on the T7 are just kind of cast, and yeah, they look a little
17:22bit slippery.
17:23The last bit of feedback she had was that there's no grab handles back there, and that's
17:27something to consider.
17:28I don't think there's going to be a ton of passenger mileage on T7s necessarily.
17:34It's not a bike that was designed for the passenger, but it should be able to, yeah,
17:40it should be able to carry a couple folks down the road if they want to go camping together
17:44or something like that.
17:45So hopefully that passenger feedback helps.
17:48And shout out to K-Dog, as she's known.
17:52Thanks for that.
17:54Just like that, we're onto our twisty road here.
17:57I've said it before, and I guess I'll say it every time I ride an adventure bike on
18:02this twisty road, it's just so pleasant.
18:04It's such a nice position to be in.
18:06You don't feel any pressure to have any body language or anything.
18:11The bike just sort of falls in and out of corners.
18:15It's really nice.
18:17For a nice street pace, and just sort of trundling along as we are, it's really, really excellent,
18:24I think, whether it's a Versys 650 with 17-inch wheels, or it's this thing with a 21-inch
18:29wheel, or Africa Twin, or, you know, whatever, Multistrada GS with 19-inch front wheels.
18:36The riding position and the way that manufacturers design these bikes now, they're so pleasant
18:42to ride on roads like this.
18:43Now, yes, if you really bear down and try to lean on the tires and go all canyon carver
18:51and drag your knee or whatever, eventually it's going to feel a little bit soft and spindly
18:56because it's tall, and it doesn't have high-performance road tires on it, and when things are long
19:05and skinny, whether it's wheels or suspension or whatever, then it starts to flex, and that
19:09will happen.
19:10But I spent hours and hours on this bike, and it's great.
19:15I don't think that I really need anything else as far as cruising through a set of curves.
19:22If anything, I think what people will say is that the T7 suspension is soft, whether
19:30that's for sport touring or for off-road, and yeah, that's fair, especially if you're
19:35a larger rider like myself, probably 200 pounds.
19:42So, yeah, that's definitely something that, you know, and if you want spring stiffer shocks
19:48and like that, then yeah, go ahead, do it.
19:50I think it would only improve the bike to make it suit you, but as far as just the general
19:56balance of a general showroom adventure bike, especially one for this price point, I just
20:03think it works quite nicely.
20:12I know where all the coppers are going.
20:14We can do all the willies we want.
20:18Just kidding, everybody.
20:19All right, approaching this red light.
20:21Let's talk about brakes.
20:23Brakes are fine.
20:26They're just fine.
20:29We took a look at them before.
20:31There's 280-something millimeter rotors with sort of simple calipers, and yeah, I could
20:41probably use a little more punch in the brakes, but I know that some people have really leaned
20:47into the fact that the brakes are bad.
20:50I just don't think they're bad.
20:51I think they're fine, and I think small calipers and small rotors in part is, you know, to
20:58suit the attitude of the bike.
21:01You obviously want enough power to stop in a panic situation and engage the ABS and feel
21:05like you have enough stopping power, and they do do that.
21:09If you had, you know, whatever, you had Brembo Stylema brakes from a Panigale and 330-millimeter
21:15rotors, and you grabbed a handful, it would probably twist the chassis up something fierce.
21:19It would just be a little too sharp for what the bike is.
21:23So I think that's an important thing to remember, that even if sometimes hardware seems like
21:30it's sort of, I don't know, underengineered or underpowered, sometimes it might be to
21:36suit the attitude and demeanor of the bike.
21:40I mean, they're Brembo calipers, after all.
21:42It could be worse.
21:43I was hitting a button on the dash.
21:45There's a select, but I forgot about this.
21:47You can cycle through it with this, too.
21:49What an idiot.
21:51Green light.
21:52All right, here we go.
21:54Down Vermont Street.
21:55Sometimes they give a little honk on Vermont Street.
22:00Shout out to the 802.
22:02Yep.
22:10Oh, there's a big old Hemi.
22:13Yeah.
22:14Showed that Hemi what's up.
22:16A tiny little MT-07 engine.
22:19So, actually, that brings up a good point, right?
22:21The engine on this machine had that same MT-07 engine.
22:27So, I mean, this engine, I think from the get-go, people were hoping that this would
22:31turn into an adventure bike, because the engine is really well-suited to that.
22:41But it's also just a great, versatile engine.
22:45It's so good.
22:46I mean, I've raced this engine in FZ-07R, so an MT-07 prepped for road racing, essentially.
22:53R6 front end on it, all that jazz.
22:55And really excellent machine.
22:58And here it is in an adventure bike.
23:01It just goes to show the versatility of the platform and the sort of modern take on what
23:11riders want.
23:12And this is a great balance of practicality while being really playful and fun to use.
23:24Oh, cheese, Louise, and cheese.
23:29Got to walk out for the peds there.
23:36Nice.
23:37Nice balance at the stop sign.
23:39Okay, here we go.
23:40Approaching the off-road section of the daily rider route.
23:46Been looking forward to this on the T7, as you can imagine, I am sure.
23:50I'm going to stop.
23:51I'm going to hold down this button right here, and that's going to switch off the anti-lock
23:56brakes.
23:57It's going to say off-road in big Gunnar Ball's letters there, which is fun.
24:03All right.
24:06Yeah.
24:07Big ol' woolly.
24:08Oh, construction-owned crew.
24:11Hi, guys.
24:12Oh, jeez.
24:13This is a little tricky, huh?
24:15I can't really boost my jump.
24:17I can hit this little one here.
24:22Totally excellent, as you would expect.
24:25How's it going?
24:26They don't seem to care, really.
24:28Just going to go over this lump.
24:30Very nice.
24:32Let's do a little more dirt, shall we?
24:35Just keep it going.
24:37I don't know what's down here.
24:39I've never been down here before.
24:41Maybe there's more jumps.
24:43There's a Christmas tree in September.
24:45Oh, maybe it's not a Christmas tree.
24:48Oh.
24:49Engine's real dynamic.
24:50Slides nicely.
24:52You can lock up the front wheel.
24:55You can lock up the back wheel.
24:57Do a little stand-up U-turn here.
25:04Terrific.
25:09Should have just explored train tracks in Los Angeles all day, couldn't you?
25:15Honda T7 just loves this stuff.
25:21All right, away we go.
25:23See if we can get a wheelie out of this sucker.
25:25Alley-up.
25:27Oh, yeah.
25:31I mean, it's got the heart of an MT-07.
25:35Of course it can do wheelies.
25:37Maybe we can turn ABS back on.
25:39Can we do that on the fly?
25:40I don't actually know.
25:41Doesn't look like it.
25:43Okay, back to the task at hand.
25:45Sometimes we talk about competition and price right around now.
25:49And there's a lot of stuff to unpack about this bike, right?
25:54Everyone wants to know how it compares to KTM 790 Adventure.
25:57Which, of course, is $1,307.
26:01Something like that, maybe.
26:03So quite a bit more money.
26:05A few thousand bucks more.
26:07Which at this price point is, what, 30%?
26:11Not nothing.
26:13Other competition in that area would be Triumph Tiger 900, right?
26:18Something like that, which I think is $1,215.
26:21BMW GS, which is a confusing pricing thing because a base bike is $1,302.
26:26But by the time you have the one you want, it's $1,700.
26:28Base Honda Africa Twin, which I think is $1,400 and change.
26:31So Yamaha did an interesting thing, right?
26:33Of course, it's a smaller engine.
26:34It's less complicated.
26:36And it's cheaper.
26:37And I think that that's an attractive stance to take.
26:43Smart thing to do on their part.
26:46Another bike you could talk about is the Honda CB500X.
26:50First of all, 19-inch front wheel Honda Adventure bike.
26:54And that's sort of like another step or half step down.
26:59And I think the T7 falls so nicely into this ecosystem of adventure bikes that we have now.
27:08Because it is less powerful, less complex than offerings from KTM and from Triumph.
27:20And it falls right between the offerings from Honda.
27:25And I think it's excellent for all those reasons.
27:29I just think it's terrific.
27:31It's a great little bike.
27:32Oop, green light.
27:33I'm going to turn EVS back on.
27:37So you've probably been able to tell that I like this bike.
27:41This little bike.
27:42This bike.
27:43I think it's terrific.
27:45So we'll answer some of your Instagram questions in a minute here.
27:48Once we trot down the freeway.
27:50And of course, we will put it on the Daily Rider leaderboard.
27:53So bear with me.
27:55Peeling off the freeway.
27:56Yes.
27:5760 mile an hour sweeper.
27:58Pretty good.
28:00It's pretty good.
28:02Right, here we go.
28:06Excellent.
28:07Good one.
28:09So motorcycles are fun.
28:13That's what we've learned.
28:15Big surprise, Zach.
28:17Thanks for all the info.
28:19There you go.
28:20T7.
28:22And there's that
28:25nice sounding
28:28you know
28:30cross-plane parallel twin there, you know?
28:32The irregular fire noise sounds like a little baby V-twin.
28:35Very cool.
28:37Very, very cool.
28:40Alright, jumping into Instagram questions.
28:43The big one, of course, we're going to start with Simon PX who asked,
28:46compared to the 790 question mark,
28:48budget ADV for multi-purpose riding slash traveling.
28:51Okay, so that's the reference to the KTM 790 Adventure, of course.
28:55And that's the one everyone wants to compare this bike to,
28:58which makes sense.
28:59The engine size is comparable.
29:02I don't know.
29:03I guess I just feel like
29:05I just feel like the KTM is just more.
29:07It's just more.
29:08It's more powerful.
29:09The seat's a little bit taller.
29:10It has, it's much more complex.
29:12It has more options.
29:13It has more whiz-bangs and doodads and thingamajigs.
29:16I would go with this.
29:17And budget.
29:18I mean, you save 30%.
29:19$3,000 cheaper right off the bat.
29:21Also, it's so much better looking, isn't it?
29:24Look at it.
29:25It looks like it's ready for the Dakar Rally.
29:27Moving right along.
29:28Robert Moto asks,
29:36Yeah, I think so, Robert.
29:37I got a friend who rode this bike.
29:40He also owns a GS, so he's used to a tall bike.
29:42But he's about that size.
29:44And he said it was totally fine.
29:46So, if you're confident with the size, with the weight,
29:48then, yeah, you shouldn't be intimidated by a bike like this.
29:50I would encourage you to try it.
29:52I think it's probably a little bit less intimidating
29:54than you might think it is.
29:56Next question.
30:05Good question.
30:06Here's the deal.
30:07Africa Twin Adventure Sports is huge and heavy.
30:09It has a huge gas tank.
30:10It's very complicated.
30:11It's very large.
30:12If someone said they're going to ride from Seattle to Key West
30:15and they're going to take highways most of the way,
30:17which bike should they get?
30:18Africa Twin Adventure Sports.
30:19Absolutely.
30:20It's a great sport touring bike.
30:21But it is massive.
30:23For a daily commuter,
30:24you're pushing it in and out of your garage every day.
30:26You're parking it every day.
30:27You're hopping on and off it every day.
30:28I go with this one.
30:29Absolutely.
30:30All the way.
30:31The base Africa Twin is a split between the two.
30:34It is bigger and more complicated than this bike.
30:36It's also quite good.
30:38It's sort of six of one, half of the other,
30:41depending on what you want for your commuter.
30:43But I would lean in the direction of the Tenere
30:46just because I love how simple it is.
30:48And it's just more compact, smaller,
30:50a little bit easier to handle.
30:57Yeah, cool.
30:58Good question there, kimcruise.me.
31:00The CB500X is sort of as much a step down from this
31:04as this is from an Africa Twin.
31:06I think, in my mind,
31:08the Tenere 700 kind of falls right in the middle
31:10sort of size-wise, displacement-wise.
31:13CB500X is not as capable off-road as this bike either.
31:16It has a 19-inch front wheel.
31:17It has less suspension.
31:18It's just a little bit more polite, docile,
31:20round-town kind of adventure bike.
31:22This one is actually, you know,
31:24you could be more confident plowing into stuff with the T7.
31:29So I hope that answers your question.
31:30I think that both bikes are great.
31:32In fact, one would be great to graduate from the other.
31:35If you went to a T7 after a CB500X,
31:37I think you'd be really happy
31:39and excited about what you found.
31:41Next question, Eska Lonely.
31:48Ah, yeah, right.
31:49I wanted to talk about this.
31:50Good question, Eska Lonely.
31:51So this is the piece in question here.
31:54The plastic piece comes up to cover part of the engine,
31:59I guess, to keep your boot from scuffing it
32:01and also to protect the clutch pushrod here,
32:04the clutch pivot.
32:05Yeah, your right shin hits it a little bit.
32:07That's definitely a thing that happens.
32:10It's not a reason for me not to own this bike.
32:13I think it's, you know,
32:14it's just something to think about,
32:15especially if you're going to wear big ADV boots
32:17that might run into this.
32:18That is something to note.
32:20I don't think it's a huge deal,
32:21but I'm glad that Eska Lonely brought it up.
32:23So something to think about.
32:24Bloodworth and Co. said,
32:26I know you aren't reviewing,
32:27oh, this is from a previous post on Instagram
32:29where I said I was not reviewing this bike,
32:30but I lied and now I'm reviewing it.
32:33Anyway, asking about the brakes.
32:34Are they the Achilles heel?
32:36I don't think so.
32:37No, they are not fabulous, excellent brakes.
32:40Compared to a BMW R1250GS,
32:43these brakes are not that good.
32:44But if anyone tells you that these brakes are actually bad,
32:47they've never ridden a bike with actual bad brakes.
32:50You know, old disc brakes
32:52or old drum brakes from who knows when.
32:54I mean, these brakes are fine.
32:56They're really just good.
32:59They're good brakes.
33:00They're not a problem for the bike.
33:01They don't need to be replaced.
33:02There's nothing wrong with them.
33:03They're just not ultra, ultra high-end and sharp.
33:06So I hope that helps.
33:08Okay, last question is actually a comment from DualSportADV,
33:12which is a self-explanatory Instagram account, I think,
33:14that commented and said,
33:15I think it's such a great platform,
33:16this is the T7,
33:17for the ADV scene.
33:18A simple bike, but an awesome bike at the same time.
33:20And I saved that, obviously not a question, like I said,
33:22but I think that that goes to show
33:24that the ADV community is welcoming of a machine like this.
33:28You know, Yamaha found a,
33:29they found a little hole in the ADV market
33:31where there was some capability to be had
33:35and some excitement to pull out of people.
33:38And I like what they've done.
33:40And it seems that DualSportADV likes it as well.
33:43So yeah, that's the questions.
33:46That's the comments.
33:47Stick with me.
33:48We're going to rip this sucker
33:49on the old Daily Rider leaderboard.
33:51Give me a minute and we'll be right with you.
33:54Hey everybody, here we are.
33:55You know the drill.
33:56Back at HQ with the Daily Rider leaderboard, of course.
33:59Before we jump into the T7 rankings here
34:03on the leaderboard and on the chart here,
34:07we've made some adjustments.
34:08I suggested this was going to happen last time.
34:10Africa Twin used to be around here.
34:12It moved down the cool scale a little bit
34:14because I realized adventure bikes
34:17are inherently a little bit pocket protectory, right?
34:20I don't know.
34:21It's cool that they have the capability and everything.
34:23And that was why the Africa Twin was up there.
34:25But is an Africa Twin cooler than a 1000cc Supermoto?
34:30Probably not, right?
34:31Also probably not cooler than a Street Fighter V4.
34:34I'll admit when something's wrong.
34:36I know this opens up a real hornet's nest
34:39of people complaining about the leaderboard
34:41just to get it changed.
34:42But we're making some adjustments as we go.
34:44We're learning.
34:45I'm ready to do this with you guys.
34:47More to the point.
34:48Yamaha Tenere 700AKA T7.
34:52More expensive than a Versys 650.
34:54Just by a little bit, though.
34:56Definitely cooler than a Versys 650.
34:58No question about that.
34:59Is it cooler than an Africa Twin?
35:01Eh, I think so.
35:02It's better looking, I think, than an Africa Twin.
35:04It might not age as well.
35:05I was talking about this with one of my colleagues.
35:07Africa Twin's got sort of that classic beauty thing.
35:09T7, just that, I don't know,
35:11those Dakar looks kind of get to me.
35:14Anyway, I think we're going to drop it right there.
35:16It's reasonably priced.
35:19Pretty darn cool.
35:20I'm going to give the cool nod to my personal Supermoto.
35:23Sorry about that.
35:24I don't know, maybe that's just me,
35:26but I think T7 is darn cool,
35:28but maybe not Supermoto cool, if we're honest.
35:31All right, we got it on there.
35:33We got to jot the name down.
35:34Here we go.
35:36Yamaha T7.
35:38And so it lives on the board.
35:40Okie doke.
35:41Big kahuna.
35:42It's an adventure bike.
35:43It's comfortable.
35:44It's going to be pretty high up there, right?
35:46Is it better than the Kawasaki Versys 650 LT?
35:49Is it, people?
35:51More exciting?
35:52More fun?
35:53Playful?
35:54Better looking?
35:55It's definitely better looking.
35:56But it's not really,
35:57the leaderboard's not really about better looking, is it?
36:00No, it's not.
36:02It's not better than a Versys 650 LT.
36:05Sorry, everyone.
36:07The king is alive.
36:09The 650 Versys stays at the top of the leaderboard.
36:12However, Tenere 700, very, very good daily rider.
36:15Impressed.
36:16Like that bike.
36:17I like it a lot.
36:18It's basically the Versys 650,
36:20if you want something rugged,
36:21ready to take on more terrain,
36:23and not look like a pocket protector.
36:26So, there you have it.
36:28Another bike ridden.
36:29Another bike ranked.
36:30I hope you learned something.
36:31I hope you had fun.
36:32And I will see you next time on Daily Rider.
36:38Even the vents open.
36:40Getting warm already.
36:43Holy Moses.
36:45That's a lot of stuff in one truck.
36:47Congratulations, friend.
36:50Woo.