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ADV NewsMeet Trials Champ Pol Tarres’ New Yamaha Tenere 700 Bike Build

Meet Trials Champ Pol Tarres’ New Yamaha Tenere 700 Bike Build

We get the scoop on Pol’s freshly-built T7 and his exciting plans for it.

Published on 06.02.2021
Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

Pol Tarres is a magician on a motorcycle. His magic, of course, is pure, hard-earned skill and passion. And nowhere has that mastery been better documented than in last summer’s stirring and artfully-shot short film The Seeker, produced by the Echevarría Brothers, also known as The Who. In the video we spend a mesmerizing day following the trials champion and extreme enduro rider as he travels across his home region of Catalonia, Spain, performing impossible stunts on the Tenere. 

Except for some custom suspension preparation, the hard-ridden Yamaha from The Seeker was stock, making the feats seem even more impossible. Even more impressive, Javi Echevarría, who co-produced the video and photographs most of Pol’s projects and adventures, says the Yamaha was still in perfect condition after “seven days of crazy riding to the limit.”

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

For 2021, Pol and his newly-formed Trece Racing Society, a collective of riders, crew and collaborators he refers to as family, are building a fresh Tenere 700, or maybe we should say unbuilding, since the ultimate goal is to do away with everything unnecessary and swap heavy parts with lighter versions in an effort to make the bike as “skinny” as possible. So far his team has been able to shave nearly 30 pounds off the bike, much of the loss achieved by removing things a rider like Pol has little use for, like the bike’s ABS system.

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build
Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

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Weight was also jettisoned by swapping the stock exhaust with the titanium Akrapovič slip-on unit shown in the photos, which has since been complimented by a prototype titanium header pipe to match. Outback Motortek was thrilled to be a part of the new project and created a custom aluminum skid plate with linkage protection and a steel rear bracket for Pol, while his T7’s crash bar system is a standard part from the international adventure bike outfitter. 

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build
Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

This new T7 looks far more serious than the stock machine with its aggressive Mitas knobbies (Terra Force EF/EF-07), rally seat, Magura levers and Rtech hand guards, but it’s the graphics kit that really ties together the bike’s ready-for-battle look. Like it? You can actually buy the Pol Tarres replica graphics kit for your own T7 via the Barcelona-based Living This Bike Life bike skin designer for around $225 (€185). 

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build
Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

As with the Tenere 700 from The Seeker, Pol’s so-far stock suspension has been prepared by master tuner Eric Augé, and runs with more oil in the fork for a stiffer, more stunt-proof ride. The team hinted at more changes to come, things like trading many of the bike’s bolts for titanium, and even swapping in a KYB MX fork. Ultimately they’d like to jettison another 25-30 pounds.

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build
Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

Pol told ADV Pulse he’s a fan of the stock Yamaha T7, but wants to build it into an even better motorcycle, something more like a competitive middleweight enduro bike. “With the improvement on the suspension setup and weight, we already have a result that is much better than stock…a bike we can push to a riding level closer to an enduro bike.” What’s more, Pol and his team envision a new officially recognized challenge for these ADV machines. “We know some other riders are copying or trying to do the same with Hondas or KTMs, but this is great for the industry. We would love to see Extreme Adventure as a new competitive world tour.”

A Spanish Legend

Already a trials legend, 27-year-old Pol Tarres is now consistently finishing in the top ten in the WESS World Enduro Championship series, in which he pilots a HEWC Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke. He’s a rare breed of pro rider to be able to move fluidly from trials and enduro, to incorporating extreme adventure bike riding into his repertoire. 

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

How does he do it? Yes, he started riding young. Pol was only four when his father got him on his first bike. It also counts that Pol’s uncle is seven-time World Trials Champion, Jordi Tarres. But what Pol seems to have that some other pro riders don’t is an infectious passion for play. When you follow @poltarres13 on Instagram (and you should), it seems like every day he’s out there trying new stunts or just riding crazy trails with his buddies and having way too much fun. 

These days you’ll find him most often playing aboard this new T7. For example, the last video up on his YouTube channel is titled: Is It Possible To Do Extreme Enduro On The Yamaha Téneré 700? Brace yourself for the viewing, as this is 33 minutes of bashing through some gnarly singletrack, unless you’re Pol Tarres, who pretty much kills it, and laughs the whole way.  

The Seeker 2 Movie Coming!

The future of this latest Pol Tarres T7 is shrouded in some secrecy. There are hints it might show up at one or more of the upcoming Hard Enduro races, which would be a hoot. What we know for certain is there will be a Seeker 2 movie out this summer. While Covid has made location scouting and selection complicated (The Who’s 1st choice for filming is Morocco), it will be happening soon…most likely in Portugal, or once again in beautiful Catalonia.  

Pol Tarres Yamaha Tenere 700 bike build

In the meantime, keep your eyes on Pol Tarres and his multifaceted bag of tricks. Sometimes magic isn’t sleight of hand (or “photoshop” as some have claimed). It can also be an athlete with hard-won skills, an awesome motorcycle, good humor and yup, some major cojones! 

Photos: Javi Echevarria

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.

Author: Jamie Elvidge
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Meet Trials Champ Pol Tarres’ New Yamaha Tenere 700 Bike Build - ADVENTURE & OVERLAND MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL
June 2, 2021 10:53 am

[…] post Meet Trials Champ Pol Tarres’ New Yamaha Tenere 700 Bike Build appeared first on ADV […]

Dean de st. Croix
Dean de st. Croix
June 2, 2021 1:25 pm

While Im a Yamaha man through and through… and Im a fan of Pol having grown up riding trials… the claim that the bike was perfect and suffered no issues after the week of shooting seems to be a stretch. Check “The Seeker” at 2:45 you can see the rear wheel explode and throw a handful of spokes into the air. The bike is great. The rider is great but don’t spread the BS… simply because you don’t need to. We’re all grown ups. Now of course it could have been someone left a dozen stainless steel 4 inch nails on the beach… could have….

Beefed
Beefed
June 4, 2021 12:19 am

Man, that looks like hay or something on the ground being thrown up by the tire.

Nova
Nova
August 16, 2021 4:44 pm

>at 2:45 you can see the rear wheel explode and throw a handful of spokes into the air.

What? No it doesn’t. You can clearly see if you frame-by-frame the video using the “,” and “.” keys in the YouTube player that those sticks/hay come from under the wheel.

Those aren’t spokes.

Patriot159
Patriot159
June 2, 2021 11:38 pm

If they can get it there, a 400 lb. modded T7 would be a very nice device indeed.

Krzysztof Łacman
Krzysztof Łacman
June 3, 2021 5:59 am

Super maszyna, rajder pełen profesjonalizm

tom gelfand
tom gelfand
June 3, 2021 10:17 am

I want one

Kai
Kai
June 5, 2021 12:17 pm

The difference between an average and a great rider is, that the great rider can do things with his bike even that it has never been designed for that and even that it’s quite heavy!

Erika Abueva
Erika Abueva
June 8, 2021 1:05 am

wow this bike is amazing and surely ready for any adventure

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