Back in 2016 when ADV Pulse first published spy shots revealing a Yamaha Tenere 700 prototype out in the wild, there were huge expectations. Finally, a medium-sized, affordable adventure bike, light enough for more aggressive play, yet substantial enough for travel. Now, all these years later, there’s a new prototype making news, this one showing some interesting upgrades are on the way.

Last week Germany’s Motorrad was first to publish photos of a further evolved T7 development mule being ridden on public roads. Though the bike is cloaked in canvas meant to obscure the finer details, there’s enough evidence to prove this revised Tenere will have some notable changes. 

Though the T7 has mostly been the subject of praise, riders often criticize the bike’s rear suspension, reporting it as overly soft. In the spy photos we see that Yamaha is trying to add more progression to the rear shock via a new linkage, which implements a longer main strut with two curved arms on either side.  

Motorrad speculates that Yamaha is actually testing different configurations of the new rear suspension since the chain tensioner on the test mule is marked “MED,” as in medium, implying different levels of stiffness are being considered. Despite the rear section of the bike being heavily camouflaged, there doesn’t appear to be further mods to the rear end, at least beyond the revised shock linkage.

The prototype’s seat and adjacent side covers are also heavily shrouded, leading to an assumption that substantial change is brewing there. Many have complained that the stock seat is uncomfortable, and judging by all the camouflage in that area, there is likely a change to the seat’s shape as well as its foam density. 

As for styling, the bike appears  to have undergone cosmetic surgery in the front end, in particular the headlamp, which is clearly a different configuration. Within the lamp housing we see there are rectangular LED lamps that run horizontally where we’re used to seeing four round prism-style LED’s. The owlish brow remains, emphasized even more strongly by the new cut of the windscreen’s bottom edge, a move that will likely reduce turbulence to the rider.   

Below the headlamp assembly we can see a new set of air intake vents on either side of the radiator, and they might look familiar because we’ve seen a similar pair on the Ténéré World Raid. These forward-facing intake ducts on the WR allow the CP2 engine to breathe in cleaner air, rather than the standard model’s under-seat intake design that can pick up dirt and debris kicked up by the rear wheel. The new vents may also have a ram-air effect, forcing cold fresh air into the engine — a move that could provide a bump in performance over the current model’s 72 horsepower and 50 lb-ft of torque.

Last year we saw a smattering of improvements for the standard T7 model, the only variant so far available here in the States, including a 5″ color TFT display with bluetooth connectivity, a USB port, off-road ABS mode and more streamlined LED turn signals as well as pre-wiring for an optional quickshifter.  

And while the current T7 continues to be celebrated around the globe as a Goldilocks adventure model that hits the appealing triad of power, size and affordability, there’s always room for improvement.

The prototype seen in the photos looks a ways from actual production, though the lack of any outboard electronic sensors hint that it could arrive as early as 2025. 

Photos by Motorrad and Yamaha

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.