DOSSIER

YAMAHA

Tenere 700 GYTR: sports version with dakarian spirit

The Tenere was born as a trail enduro and now Yamaha has transformed it into a competitive rally motorcycle by introducing a series of “kits” These have been developed by GYTR (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing), its special parts department. Components tuned by the team of drivers of Stéphane Peterhansel, Jordi Arcarons, Pol Tarrés and Alessandro Botturi. Because?

Before getting into the matter, it is worth doing a little reflection. A few years ago Yamaha decided to get off the “Dakar” train, ceasing to officially compete in this race that it had won on numerous occasions.

The reason was strategic in wanting to invest that high budget, or part of it, in more direct marketing of its Tenere and trail motorcycles. Yamaha did not want to develop its 450 raids further even knowing that the Dakar is a perfect showcase for its off-road range.

From that point on, its sights in the world of competition are tests where its twin-cylinder engine does have a place. Like the Africa Eco Race, Maroc Desert Challenge, or Transnatolia.

This is where, under the GYTR tents, Yamaha offers you the possibility of making yourself feel like one of its official riders by hiring a place on his team, called “Ténéré Spirit Experience”.

This initiative gives you a motorcycle like the one we tested here, assistance, and the management of absolutely all logistics and registration procedures. You arrive with your equipment and stand under the departure banner. The price of this racing rental is 10,000 euros.

GYTR KITS...The transformation of the World Raid into a trail with more features is carried out by incorporating one of the 3 available kits, all three linked to each other, cumulative and in scaling of parts. Improving engine and chassis performance until turning it into a rally raid racing motorcycle.

     1. Performance Kit (€4,895 +VAT). Upgrades the engine with a titanium Akrapovic exhaust, larger air filter box, with carbon fiber support and foam filter. Clutch cover, narrower than the stock one and with quick access to change discs. It also has the Stage 1 ECU that provides an extra 9 HP of power. Wider and larger titanium rally footpegs are included.

     2. Handling Kit (€10,904 + VAT). The cycle part gains stability and manageability. Includes Haan wheels with Takasago Excel rims, narrower than the stock ones for mounting mousse; Brembo brake kit with 1 300 mm disc at the front, 267 mm at the rear; reinforced chain with 46-tooth crown (2 less than stock); high fender; oil radiator and cooling kit with radiator guard; adjustable suspensions with 48 mm Kayaba fork and Paioli shock absorber; Scott steering damper; and the Stage 2 ECU -ABS not active due to the different brakes-.

      3. Rally Kit (7,587 + VAT). Parts to have a rally raid motorcycle. Includes large-capacity front and rear fuel tank (37.6 liters in total) with fuel pump and pump control switch; spider and instrumentation adapted for the installation of navigation instruments and road book; luminous witnesses; high dome; rally seat, handlebars and levers; carbon skid plate and protectors; handle covers; stickers with image of the official racing motorcycle in the Africa Eco Race...

It should be noted that all these parts can be purchased without completing the kits, as individual accessories. For example, the clutch cover is an element that you should all mount on your Tenere, not so much because it has better mechanical accessibility, but because it narrows the right side a lot, which is very wide as standard. Furthermore, the cam is placed further forward and, therefore, the pilot has better ergonomics and greater mobility.

Other elements such as the front brake kit with a 300 mm disc, instead of the two standard 282 mm discs, are also very interesting to me, to lighten the front axle and gain braking bite, as well as greater resistance to fadding . In any case, ask your official Yamaha dealer and you will have no doubts about what you can assemble, although the options are very wide and you can each have the Tenere that you need or the one that fits your budget.

Because money is spent and if you add the three kits it is 23,386 euros + VAT, in addition to the approximately 50 hours of assembly labor and, let's not forget about the Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid (€14,299). That is, you have to invest 28 thousand euros in parts and fourteen thousand euros in motorcycles, which is 42 thousand euros in total. At Yamaha they say they already have many sold.

HUGE...In Morocco, very close to Erfoud in the southeast of the country, on the plain where this small town stands surrounded by desert tracks and shifting dunes, Yamaha had called a small group of journalists from half the world to present and to We could test the “mutation” that has been made on its World Raid version of the Ténéré.

A new approach that opens the doors of competition in raid type races. The environment and the plan could not be more attractive. Two days traveling through landscapes that have so many times been the scene of the most emblematic motorsport competitions. Where we also had, as luxury guides, Peterhansel, Arcarons, Tarrés and Botturi.

After a series of technical explanations we got on the motorcycles and went out to ride. The first day Jordi Arcarons opened the slopes for us and the second Stéphane Peterhansel. Always behind us, Tarrés and Botturi followed us closely in case we had any mishap.

The test was structured in that we alternated motorcycles approximately every half hour. Since we also had Tenere 700 Extreme units at our disposal as standard. Of course, equipped with mousse and knobby tires; Michelin Desert Race at the back and Medium Enduro at the front. In this way you could assess very well the notable differences between the Tenere trail and the “Racing”

He said “get on” the motorcycles. Not an easy task if you don't have very long legs. The seat is 920 mm from the ground (it certainly seems more) and once up you see that the bike, when filled, weighs more than 226 kg. 194 kg, empty, it doesn't make things easy for you when maneuvering when stopped or at low speed.

The weight is there, there is no other. With a distribution between axles of 92 kg. front and 102 kg. behind, as soon as you start to roll a few meters you notice the swaying movement of the fuel inside the tanks (they are not partitioned), almost 38 liters in total.

And as you pick up the pace you immediately understand that you have to drive it very determinedly with the gas. The mass transfer is notable, especially in unexpected decelerations until you adapt. But as they say... force, hangs. And as we pointed out, it must be driven on “gas” to counteract the fact that in changes of direction the rear part stops pushing us out of the line, taking us out of the curve. Causing the rear wheel to skid and sweep the curve. Which mitigates the front from sinking when turning.

Little by little you get the hang of the measurements, and you can see that it is quite wide in the tank area. Of course, it costs more to get used to the distribution of weights because you can't get lost. At all times we must anticipate reactions and the GYTR constantly reminds us that we are no longer riding a motorcycle designed to travel the world peacefully.

That's over, this Ténéré GYTR is no longer a trail bike, it is now a racing motorcycle and must be driven with precision and determination, especially on sandy stretches or dunes. By the way, with the installation of the 48 mm Kayaba fork the steering dimensions of the motorcycle change: the advance increases to 110 mm, the launch to 28º and the distance between axles increases to 1,615 mm (1,595 mm as standard).

TRANSANLANTICO...On fast rectilinear tracks, clearly its fiefdom, shows us the other side of the coin. Here the nobility of the reactions of its chassis and suspensions shows balance and poise. You can go very fast, but you have to be very experienced and determined to take advantage of its full potential, especially when driving in 5th and 6th gear.

In large plains it transmits sensations that invite you to think that you are on board an ocean liner crossing oceans. Everything happens at a good pace without excessive pitching and your line of vision barely moves up and down, allowing you to focus your eyes on the nearest horizon. The new set of Kayaba suspensions, with 48 mm diameter bars and 270 mm travel at the front and 260 at the rear, earns its bread, or couscous being in Morocco.

They allow you to safely tackle the “waves”, no matter how big they are. You feel like you are on “autopilot”, but when the horizon becomes “bad seas”; That is to say, we face deep ruts, we ride through slower and broken sections, or we are climbing dunes, we have to put on our captain's stripes again, hold on to the helm tightly, reduce gears and drive while accelerating hard to make the rear skid.

If your size is small, 65 kg. and 1.68 tall in our case, there is little point in trying to move this motorcycle in changes of support based on the hips or waist. Its enormous mass is revealed and if we do not make the drive wheel skid to oversteer, the motorcycle will go wherever it wants. You have to accelerate, and at the right time.

This is where the help of the notable increase in power provided by the new electronic management of the GYTR Kit is most appreciated. Now the twin cylinder provides about 84 HP, which is almost 10 more than the standard 700. What added to what has been gained in the delivery of torque, driving it based on controlled skids becomes your best safe route.

Easy to say and relatively easy to put into practice, since the power always arrives very gradually. You can either adjust it to easily obtain traction if the terrain requires it, or force it until it skids to cross it. Applying this will save us on more than one occasion from things ending in “Holy Sacrament.” It may sound somewhat paradoxical, but opening the gas and encouraging the skid is the best way to close direction to put the motorcycle on the road when you don't see it clearly.

FESH FESH...Since we've mentioned it, almost all of us pilots bite the dust at some point. One of the times in our case was going through a “fesh fesh” section going behind Jordi Arcarons and Sara García (the Zamora rider, World Baja Champion and with numerous Dakars, accompanied us as an ambassador of Yamaha Spain) we stayed blinded by the dense “fog” of fine dust that the first ones raised. And when it dissipated... the landscape was adorned with several Ténéré lying in the sand. Botturi and Tarrés helped us get them up. Here I missed some handles at the height of the rear tanks because it is not easy to lift it without external help.

In the two days of testing we also drove Tenere Extreme units, both these and in the “Racing” with the ABS disabled. When riding it due to dimensions and weight, above all, it seemed like you were riding a light enduro. Of course, keeping your fist full on the slopes, as we did with its sister GYTR, had to be forgotten. The suspension stops were continuous and the steering, which does not incorporate a shock absorber (we had not mentioned it, the “Racing” has one, from the Scott brand, on the upper plate) moved quite a bit. Returning to the simile of the ocean liner, sailing the oceans in this case was as if you were put on a small sailboat.

Compared to the GYTR, the Extreme feels lighter, quieter (by the way, the roar of the Akrapovic from the “Racing” makes you feel like you are arriving well in advance), but without showing enough poise to be able to guide it with confidence. Ergonomically the differences were also very noticeable. Although the Tenere 700 Extreme is narrower at the seat-tank joint, in its engine the clutch housing cover protrudes a lot, which reduces the fluidity of movements of the right leg. This in the “Racing” has been solved with a new, more stylized cover and sub-cover (which allows access to the clutch discs in minutes if they need to be replaced).

Also, with the cable drive cam repositioned further forward. We have had the opportunity to test the Tenere 700 GYRT for more than 300 km in various terrain conditions. Which has allowed us to understand it a lot and discover many of its secrets, which are many. But as a rider with an average riding level, I can affirm that it is not a motorcycle that you take “the measure”, and especially “the measurements”, on the first day.

Yamaha declares a weight in this “Racing” version, in running order without gasoline, of 194 kg. against the 203 kg of the Word Raid. Taking into account that there are more things that are added (rear tanks, longer suspensions, oil radiator, wider tires...) than what is taken away (a front disc, electrical components...), the figure seems somewhat optimistic. And it means that when filled with gasoline, adding 37.6 liters, it amounts to a good 222.5 kg (a liter of gasoline is 760 grams). On paper they are only 2.5 kg more than the full World Raid.

The truth is that it was not the sensation that he transmitted to us at his command and it felt heavier. What has already been mentioned about the high seat height, 920 mm (890 mm in the World Raid), is of little help, numbers that, like the weight, we hope to be able to verify. But it must be emphasized once again that it is no longer a trail bike, but rather a motorcycle whose focus is now exclusively on competition. That its handlebars require pilots with good hands, good physical shape and long legs, since below the pilot's height of 1.80 m you will hardly be able to place the tips of the boots on the ground properly.

With a lot of love and passion, for the world of rallies where this version has already made podiums and won tests, Yamaha shows us that starting from the foundations of a trail bike it has been able to build an excellent racing motorcycle.

Santi Ayala