Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid (2022) - Review

Launch price: £11,800 | Power: 72.4bhp | Torque: 50.2 lb.ft | Weight: 220kg | Rating: 3/5

The Ténéré 700 was launched three years ago to almost unanimous press praise and showroom success – Yamaha says sales effectively doubled the size of the 600-900cc adventure bike segment in its first year of launch.
The T7 filled a sweet spot in the adventure bike market – the 72bhp, 689cc parallel twin from the Tracer 700 had the legs to do proper road miles, but was light and slim enough to make a more manageable off-road machine than larger adventure bikes. And it was the right price (£8399 when it was launched). A palpable hit, and deservedly so despite a few questionable spec and design choices. Criticism included the size of its 16-litre tank – far from the claimed 200-miles plus range, most owners got nearer 140 to 170 miles. Other issues ranged from the Ténéré’s soft suspension (frequently uprated by owners – prone to bottoming out at the back over big off-road bumps and diving at the front on the road), and its prominent low-level exhaust can, with welded bracket, which had a habit of folding back when the bike was dropped – which could also damage either swingarm or subframe, or both.

So for the World Raid, Yamaha have addressed at least two of these concerns: its tank(s) is/are a twin-filler-cap 23-litres – 44% bigger than the T7’s – and its suspension is uprated with stronger damping, stiffer springs and 20mm more travel front and back. The World Raid’s engine, frame, brakes, geometry and (tubed) rims are the same as the standard 700, and so is the welded subframe – but the Raid also comes with a new 5in TFT dash instead of the Ténéré’s LCD screen, an Öhlins steering damper, flatter two-piece seat, cockpit USB port, wider off-road pegs, three-piece ally bash plate and a new rad grille. Weight is up by a claimed 16kg to 220kg and the price is up on the current £9900 Ténéré 700 by £1900, at £11,800.

To find where the World Raid fits in the world of adventure bikes, and whether the changes have spoiled or enhanced the base Ténéré 700, Bennetts BikeSocial is at the launch off- and on-road in Spain.
NB: for reason beyond the wit of man, Yamaha chose not to shoot any road photos of the World Raid during the press launch; all road photos in this feature are from Yamaha’s stock press kit for the World Raid and show Yamaha test riders.

Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid (2022) – Review

The 2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid gets a 23-litre tank, more weight, stiffer suspension, a new dash and a new seat, plus a host of other changes over the existing Ténéré 700. And a higher price tag.

Above: The World Raid is available in two colours: Icon Blue and Midnight Black. According to Yamaha, the blue bike is “...emotional and evocative, clearly linked to Yamaha activity in the off-road competition,” while the black bike is “...dark and assertive to appeal more sophisticated riders.” So now you know what your colour choice says about you.

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Price

Prices have risen sharply in the three years since the Ténéré 700 was launched – up from £8399 in 2019 to this year’s £9900 (an 18% increase). This is a problem for Yamaha, especially if they hope to attract existing T7 owners. If you bought an original T7 for eight grand three years ago, and now the PCP deal is paid off and you fancy upgrading to a World Raid – you might find the £11,800 price tag a bit on the salty side. That’s a 40% increase over the Ténéré’s launch price.

What’s harder to swallow is the Ténéré World Raid’s price against what previously weren’t even really the T7’s rivals: Triumph’s Tiger 900 Rally comes with heated grips, cruise control, a 20-litre tank and a full suite of electronics for only £300 more than the World Raid, at £12,100. Similarly, KTM’s 890 Adventure R is £12,499 – only £699 more – for more performance, chassis and electronics. And although not everyone wants the Triumph or the KTM’s level of sophistication, when you’re comparing spec-for-spec it’s hard to ignore them.

For typical PCP deals, a £3354.80 deposit on a World Raid will mean 36 payments of £109 with a final payment option of £6255 – a total of £13,533 at 4000 miles p/a at 7.9% APR.

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Power and torque

The World Raid makes the same 72.4bhp @ 9000rpm and 50.2 lb-ft @ 6500rpm as the existing Ténéré 700, because it uses an identical 689cc parallel twin in the same state of tune – which presumably means Yamaha are perfectly happy with performance and see no reason to coax more from the World Raid despite its 16kg weight increase. And more power isn’t something most owners say they want (although Ténéré 700-owning BikeSocial member Chris Witham says he might be tempted by the sound of the rumoured Ténéré 900 with the MT-09 engine!).

Engine, gearbox and exhaust

While more power is usually a good thing, in the Ténéré’s case it’s less of an issue because chassis and engine are so well-matched; a power deficit isn’t the first thing you notice – and also because the CP2 unit is such a frisky, perky, good-natured motor it’s hard to find the heart to criticise it. Slating the parallel twin would be like machine-gunning a spaniel. More than churlish, it’s just something you don’t do in polite company.

So chucking a key at the World Raid and buttoning the motor into life gives you the same warm, tingling sensation as it always has – the engine wants to have fun at a funky, family-friendly pace. It’s anything but dull or tedious – but as the bike beetles away, choffing gently and leaving most passers-by undisturbed, power is neither over-abundant nor overwhelming. At least not on tarmac, where the motor happily hums along, pulling over 80mph with 6000rpm showing in top, betraying only the mildest of tingling vibes after many hours at the helm, and sipping fuel at a parsimonious 47mpg. The only time the World Raid gets a bit out of its depth is during mid-speed overtakes, when the bike’s extra weight and wider front profile start to count against it and the motor can need more of a flogging to fly at a decent lick – as a back-road hooligan tool, the base T7’s motor is definitely a more engaging ride than the World Raid. But in most every other tarmac scenario – and especially over distance – the Raid’s motor is spot on.

Off-road, the domesticated nature of the World Raid’s power delivery is less conspicuous – the capacity to throw yourself at the scenery is still very much on the cards if you get carried away. But again, the bike is easy to manage for a given level of skill (or ineptitude, in my case), just like the original Ténéré 700 – at least in terms of its performance. Its ability to handle hairpins and U-turns on dirt without stalling or needing much in the way of clutch slip is always a welcome bonus, and the easy-going nature of the power delivery and throttle response is user-friendly. But this is already well known to Ténéré 700 owners and, in this respect, the World Raid is no different.

Above: Even the World Raid shown at the press briefing had signs of an inappropriate exhaust/swingarm interface

Gearing is the same as the Ténéré 700, but so is the exhaust routing and mounting – attached to a bracket welded to the subframe, itself welded to the frame, leaving the whole caboodle vulnerable to a write-off in a toppling-over-even-at-low-speed scenario. It’s a bit of a gaff by Yamaha, as almost every BikeSocial member we spoke to cited it as an issue that needs addressing:
“Shame they didn’t sort the exhaust mount!” exclaims Chris Witham. “Things I don’t like on my bike: the low exhaust and bendy bracket,” says Jack Lennon. “The standard exhaust is stupid,” says John Graham. “I have seen the damage it can cause to both the frame and swinging arm if the bake only gently falls on that side. There’s plenty of space to move the silencer out of harm’s way.” And finally, Ben Machin reckons, “I’m bothered about the placing of the exhaust, which has wrecked some people's swingarms after they dropped the bike to the right, so hopefully that has been looked at in the new model!”

Popular mods to solve this problem include fitting a high-level exhaust can mount by Huzar (non-destructive, leaves the original bracket in place) or Camel (involves cutting off the exhaust mount).

Above: BikeSocial member Chris Witham’s Ténéré 700 has a Camel high-level exhaust adapter with a Scorpion end can, plus a host of mods including: Camel short side stand, 20mm lowering kit, K-Tech rear spring, LED indicators, Kriega base for soft panniers.

No Japanese factory engineers were available at the launch in Spain, so BikeSocial asked Yamaha R&D Europe Motorcycle Product Planner Marco Galli why the factory hadn’t addressed the issue:
“We fully knew about it and… how to explain this… I’m the guy who is always tracking the comments and I’m asking, ‘What can we do to solve this?’ But unfortunately, we are not able to do it for a number of reasons, mainly related to the manufacturing process itself. So it’s the same, we fully know about it, but we couldn’t do anything. It’s not a cost issue – the cost of welding the frame and the cost of two bolts is roughly the same, so it’s more the constraints of manufacturing, let’s say.”
What you can’t tell from that straight transcription is Galli’s slight look of frustration at not having the issue addressed by the factory – I’m speculating, but the real reason is likely to not be the actual cost of the operation, but the cost of changing it – re-tooling, re-planning, maybe even re-homologating the bike. Having said that, Honda managed to switch to a bolted-on subframe after only two years with the Africa Twin...

Fuel economy

Yamaha’s claims for the original Ténéré 700 of 67.5mpg and 231 miles from the tank are unlikely to be met in the real world (when a manufacturer claims a WMTC-standard fuel consumption figure, the number is actually theoretical – it’s back-calculated from fuel emissions data gathered during homologation testing). In reality, most riders get between 140-170 miles before filling-up, at around 47mpg. Which is still pretty good from a 16-litre tank, and helps keep the overall weight of a fully-fuelled T7 down to a claimed 204kg.

Clearly the World Raid’s 23-litre twin tanks will boost its range, if not its fuel consumption (Yamaha still claim 67.5mpg, because the engine is the same) – if we use the same figure of 47mpg, that would give the World Raid a range to empty of 237 miles, or a full-to-reserve of around 200 miles.

And that’s close to what happens – the six-segment fuel gauge drops two bars in 100 miles, four bars in 180 miles, and is down to one bar by the time the trip clocks over 200 miles. With more economical riding, it should be possible to stretch the tank to 230 miles before refuelling, and 250-to-empty is on the cards.

Above: Looking at the World Raid head-on, showing the twin tank construction

The World Raid has twin tanks, linked by a solenoid valve and an air tube for balancing pressure. Both tanks need filling – the tanks equalise when the engine is running and the sidestand is up. The left tank contains the fuel pump and fuel gauge sender; the right side contains the balancing solenoid.

Yamaha say there are a couple of reasons for choosing to use twin tanks; the primary reason is maintaining – in their words – “almost” the same centre of gravity as the T7. That means, in fact, the World Raid’s centre of gravity is higher than the T7 – might not be by much (Yamaha wouldn’t say), but it’s not the same or lower. What is definitely lower is the tank’s profile – the top is lower than the standard Ténéré, which has positive implications for the seat (see later). It also means you can’t easily use a tank bag.
An additional benefit of twin tanks, say Yamaha, is a reduction in fuel ‘slosh’ when moving with a full fuel load, unbalancing the bike. I think they’re clutching at straws now, because the very obvious downside to twin tanks, especially with twin filler caps, is an increase in weight – not only is there more fuel (around 6.5kgs), there’s more material to contain it – and having two filler caps increases this significantly. Yamaha say most of the remainder of the World Raid’s 16kg increase over the T7 (204kg to 220kg), once you’ve accounted for the fuel, is down to the tanks.

Again, this runs contrary to many Ténéré 700 owners’ wishes for the new bike; keeping the weight as low as possible is important: BikeSocial member Chris Witham says, “For me personally, I wouldn’t want to gain the extra weight [of twin tanks] despite the better range…” – and that sums up many other owners’ opinions on tank range v weight.

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Handling, suspension, chassis and weight

The World Raid wears the same steel tube cradle frame as the original Ténéré 700 – same wheelbase, same rake and trail. Weight balance is slightly different, with a straight 50:50 front/rear weight distribution – the T7 puts more weight over the back end. The extra nose weight comes from the new fuel tank and, says Yamaha, is the reason they’ve fitted an adjustable Öhlins steering damper across the top of the tank ­– to maintain stability. Personally, I’ve never had a Ténéré 700 go unstable, but given the extra cost and weight of fitting a damper, Yamaha must think it’s necessary. It can certainly add weight to the World Raid’s steering if it’s wound on; on minimum it’s barely noticeable.

One of the most significant changes to the World Raid is its suspension: the T7 is widely regarded as too soft; most owners who get involved in modifying their bikes (which is most of them) will uprate either the springs, damping or both.

Yamaha have done likewise – 43mm KYB usd fully adjustable forks feature stronger damping, stiffer springs and an extra 20mm of travel (from 210 to 230mm), while the rear KYB shock also gets a stiffer spring, more damping, a change of linkage ratio and 20mm more travel (from 200 to 220mm). The new spring travel lifts ground clearance by 15mm, and adds 15mm to the World Raid’s seat height (from 875mm to 890mm).
The first thing to say about the revised springing is, on paper, it’s pretty much only compensating for the increase in bike weight – for example, a stock Ténéré 700 rear spring is 70Nm (way too light for most riders); the World Raid’s rear spring is 75Nm. That doesn’t sound enough considering the bike is already 16kg heavier – most riders fit anything from an 80Nm to a 95Nm spring at the back. Yamaha also say they’ve altered the linkage ratio at the back, added a rubber bump stop to the damper rod, and increased damping rates front and rear with a revalve. Both front and back now feature adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping adjustment.

On the road, the World Raid feels significantly more composed than the slightly wayward, gangly feel of the base Ténéré. There’s a lot less front-to-rear weight transfer under throttle or light braking, and slower dive when it’s braked hard. The Raid’s 50:50 weight balance alters the character of its handling – the standard T7 responds to a traditional off-road bike on-road technique of hard braking upright into the apex, get off the brakes and wait for the front to recover, then get the bike turned, sit it up and fire it out full gas squatting at the rear. But the World Raid sits so flat, maybe even slightly nose-heavy, it’s a more conventional cornering style on the road – you can brake into a turn and spend more time leaned over before driving out. It’s actually a bit odd at first because although the Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tyres have plenty of grip, you never get the feeling the bike is fully anchored mid-corner – I’d almost rather be pinging it in old-school style.

But I can’t complain about the World Raid’s ride quality and general composure of its chassis on the road – it’s smoother, more supple and plusher than the slightly harsh, direct feel of the base Ténéré.

Off-road, things get a little trickier. Describing how a bike feels, on road or off, is always relative to the rider’s level of pace – and that needs to be taken into account when writing about, or reading about, how a bike feels; it’s the first question: what are the credentials of the reviewer, and how close are they to mine? On the road, my pace can be walking pace to pretty much rapid enough for jail time – so I can experience the full range of the bike’s behaviour.

Off-road, I have a much narrower range: I can describe how a bike feels up to a point – and that point is well below that of some of my peers, some of whom have raced off-road. I suspect I’m probably about as confident as many of you reading this and green lanes are no problem – but I’m no Dakar rider and a local enduro would be hard work.

So bearing that in mind, here’s what I think of the World Raid’s handling off-road: it’s not as easy as the Ténéré 700. I rode that bike (among many other times) on its launch in Spain three years ago, covered significant off-road distance, and took it over tracks more testing and lumpier than those we covered on the World Raid launch. The Raid certainly covered more ground off-road, and it was hotter – but I was less comfortable on it and by five in the afternoon, after seven hours of riding at least half which was off-road, I was knackered and ready to call it a day to save the bike, if not me.

Yes, the Raid has better, stiffer suspension and less of the direct crashing and clattering feel of the T7 over rocks. But it’s indisputably bigger and it’s indisputably heavier – it has a higher centre of gravity (remember Yamaha’s ‘almost’?) and it’s wider – those tanks, so good at blocking wind and getting your knees behind on the road, are chunky things and stick out a fair way; without crash bars, they’re a reminder you don’t really want to lay the bike down. And for me, at my level of riding, that extra 16kg weight adds up over a long day to fatigue an average off-road rider like me more quickly than it would riding the standard Ténéré 700 (or, indeed, being a better off-road rider!).

So, like-for-like, at my level, the World Raid is definitely a better road bike than the T7, but it’s also harder work off-road than the existing T7. If I wanted to ride a member of the Ténéré family off-road, I buy the stock bike and uprate the suspension myself. If I wanted to ride to Spain and go off-road, I’d buy a World Raid and choose easy off-road routes and take my own sweet time doing it. Or buy a Tiger 900 Rally or a KTM 890 Adventure and have cruise control for the boring bits.

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Brakes

The World Raid’s twin 282mm discs and two-pot caliper braking system remains unchanged on the World Raid, and is well-matched to the front fork and tyre set-up – the bike can brake deep and hard.

The ABS system has three modes: fully on, fully off, and front on/rear off. It’s nice to have the option of adapting the set-up to suit conditions, but as usual the system defaults to fully on every time you kill the ignition – and switching the ABS involves using Yamaha’s tiny, fiddly scroll wheel with the right thumb: long press to call up the setting menu, scroll up one to access the ABS menu, scroll down to highlight your preferred setting, press once briefly to highlight your choice, then long press to set it. Yes, it takes longer to do it as it does to read it.

Comfort over distance and touring

Riding comfort and touring ability is one area the World Raid is clearly ahead of the standard T7. The twin tanks extend the bike’s riding range considerably – but, importantly, the new seat lets you do it, too: it’s flatter, blending into the lower profile of the tank and letting you move around more on the bike rather than fixing you in one position. The seat also feels wider where you actually sit, and slightly firmer than the T7 – although how much you appreciate it depends entirely on the size and shape of your own posterior. I like it – for the proportion of the launch ride spent sitting down (around 100 miles), the World Raid felt fine. Its non-adjustable screen is 15mm higher than the T7, and its wider tank also helps take a bit of wind pressure off – with the extra weight and plusher suspension generally calming the riding experience down over the base T7, the World Raid feels like a more substantial, seriously tour-able option.

Rider aids and extra equipment / accessories

The World Raid is still, switchable ABS aside, free of traction control, rider modes and extras like heated grips, cruise control or other fripperies – and this is something many Ténéré-owning BikeSocial members appreciate about the bike: its simplicity. The bike is a good blank canvas.

The one area the World Raid does diverge from the T7 is its dash – instead of the portrait-style LCD screen, the Raid has a 5in TFT flat screen – it looks a bit like you left your iPhone on the bike. The screen is bright enough to stand out in daylight and has three alternative display styles (a twin-trip, a round analogue clock style and a conventional digital layout). The trips and menus are accessed by the same small scroll wheel used to alter the ABS settings. There’s no remaining fuel range display, which is an oversight – I’d rather have that than the added Bluetooth functionality, integrating with a Yamaha app to display incoming phone and text messages. There’s no option for Android Auto/Apple Carplay.

Above: The different packs for the World Raid are, left to right: Explorer, Enduro and Adventure

The Raid comes with a few different ‘packs’ – the Enduro pack includes a high front mudguard kit, radiator and chain guards, side grip pads, a heavy-duty bash plate and a chain guide.

The Adventure pack comes with soft panniers, LED fog lights and a side stand extender.

The Explorer pack comes with aluminium panniers, a centre stand, heavy duty bash plate and a flip-up screen extender.

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Rivals

The Yamaha has plenty of competition in this sector of the market, and here are a handful.

Triumph Tiger 900 Rally

• Engine: 888cc in-line triple

• Power: 94bhp (70kW) @ 8750rpm

• Torque: 64 lb-ft (87Nm) @7250rpm

• Weight:

• Seat height:

• Price: £11,700

Husqvarna Norden 901

• Engine: 889cc parallel twin

• Power: 105bhp (77kW) @ 8000rpm

• Torque: 73.8 lb-ft (100Nm) @ 6500rpm

• Weight: 204kg (dry)

• Seat height: 854mm

• Price: £12,349

KTM 890 Adventure R

• Engine: 889cc parallel twin

• Power: 105bhp (77kW) @ 8000rpm

• Torque: 73.8 lb-ft (100Nm) @ 6500rpm

• Weight: 196kg (dry)

• Seat height: 880

• Price: £12,499

BMW F 850 GS Adventure

• Engine: 853cc, in-line twin

• Power: 94hp (70kW) @ 8250rpm

• Torque: 67.9 lb-ft (92Nm) @ 4500rpm

• Weight: 244kg (wet)

• Seat height: 875mm

• Price: from £11,100

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Verdict

The 2022 Ténéré 700 World Raid is a significantly different bike to the Ténéré 700 and will appeal to a different type of rider. Despite the improved suspension and ground clearance, I would say for most riders it’s not a better off-road bike – it’s heavier, bigger, wider, taller and more top-heavy – and although better riders than I can exploit the improved suspension and ground clearance without worrying about the weight, I would argue many less able, but nonetheless keen, off-road riders won’t.

However, it’s a different story on the road, where all those elements – the bigger tank, larger size, better suspension and nicer seat – all add up to make the World Raid a clearly more practical and comfier long-distance proposition (although possibly to the detriment of its back-road fun factor).

But it’s at a price: the bottom line, literally, is the World Raid’s price tag puts it in a different class of machine where it’s up against better-spec’d rivals that are, arguably and for a given level of ability, just as competent off-road. If I had to choose a Ténéré 700 for the road, I’d take the World Raid; off-road, the standard bike with uprated springs would still get my vote.

2022 Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Specification

To learn more about what the spec sheet means, click here for our glossary

What is MCIA Secured?

MCIA Secured gives bike buyers the chance to see just how much work a manufacturer has put into making their new investment as resistant to theft as possible.

As we all know, the more security you use, the less chance there is of your bike being stolen. In fact, based on research by Bennetts, using a disc lock makes your machine three times less likely to be stolen, while heavy duty kit can make it less likely to be stolen than a car. For reviews of the best security products, click here.

MCIA Secured gives motorcycles a rating out of five stars, based on the following being fitted to a new bike as standard:

• A steering lock that meets the UNECE 62 standard

• An ignition immobiliser system

• A vehicle marking system

• An alarm system

• A vehicle tracking system with subscription

The higher the star rating, the better the security, so always ask your dealer what rating your bike has, and compare it to other machines on your shortlist.