How do you improve on a legend? You listen to your customers. Yamaha did just that—and the new Ténéré 700 is the best yet.

Words: Pete Vorst / Photography: IKapture

The Yamaha Ténéré 700 didn’t become the middleweight ADV benchmark by being flashy. It did it by getting the basics dead right — strong chassis, torquey engine, decent suspension, and a rugged, no-frills attitude that worked everywhere from Mongolia to Mildura. And, most importantly, it simply doesn’t break unless you do something drastically wrong, giving the Ténéré a well-earned reputation for unbeatable reliability.

Now, five years on from its release in 2020, the 2025 Ténéré 700 has copped an overhaul. And Yamaha’s played it smart. They didn’t mess with the formula — they just refined it. Owners spoke, Yamaha listened, and the result is a bike that still feels like a T7, only better. I attended the Australian media launch of the new T7, and things got ugly and messy because the folk at Yamaha Australia like to take you places that the majority of adventure bikes will never go — but I did not die, which is nice, and nor did the T7. If Yamaha had turned the T7 into a fragile princess, it would have broken on the two-day launch — it did not.

The changes are many — over a hundred of them — but most aren’t headline grabbers. Instead, for the most part, they’re the kind of tweaks that quietly improve your day without shouting about it. One headline grabber is the move to a ride-by-wire throttle, which brings selectable ride modes and traction control into the mix for the first time. There are two modes — Sport and Explorer — and two levels of traction control, as well as the ability to switch it off completely. The system works very well, even off-road, where many TC systems lose their proverbial shit. I deliberately left it on through rocky climbs, and while you can feel the system intervening, it’s smooth and doesn’t kill momentum. The CP2 engine is so linear and predictable that you’d have to be wildly cack-handed to get yourself in strife, so I still turn it off when tackling technical off-road sections.

The ABS has also evolved, offering three settings: on, rear off, or fully off. The system’s managed via a dedicated button next to the new 6.3-inch TFT dash, which is another sweet upgrade, offering two viewing themes and excellent readability. Menu navigation is now handled via a joystick-style button — the rollie-scrolly abomination of the previous model has been scrapped — and there’s smartphone connectivity for turn-by-turn directions and media info. USB-C charging and self-cancelling indicators round out the tech improvements.

Mechanically, the engine is unchanged—still the same 689cc CP2 parallel twin pushing out 54 kW of power and 68 Nm of torque. Some would have been wishing for more ponies, and that would be nice, but unless you’re dragging the kitchen sink or a pillion up the highway, it’s enough. This engine’s real-world performance and bulletproof reliability are a huge part of the T7’s appeal. It’s predictable, punchy, and tractable—exactly what you want in the bush. And at 209 kg wet, the T7 remains manageable, with the revised fuel tank position helping centralise mass for easier handling.

The intake and gearbox internals have been refined too—shorter intake runners for stronger low-end pull, new dog gears for smoother shifts, and a reshaped clutch cover that stops your boot from rubbing on it when you’re up on the pegs.

But it’s the suspension and chassis that bring the biggest gains. The KYB fork is now fully adjustable and mounts to beefier triple clamps—a forged lower and cast upper. Out back, there’s a revised shock and linkage with new damping settings, plus a remote preload adjuster. Travel remains the same, but the new linkage has better progression and doesn’t hang down so low, reducing the chance of bashing it through the bush.

I threw the new T7 at some properly ugly climbs—gnarly rock steps, mud, fast dirt tracks and about a thousand drainage hump jumps—and the bike just soaked it all up. The suspension no longer feels like a weak point. It resists bottoming better than before, glides over smaller trail kibble with aplomb, and doesn’t deflect off harsh hits like the old bike sometimes could. For the average rider, there’s little reason to rush out and revalve this setup—it’s damn good out of the box.

I’m 105 kg and over six foot tall, and with a few tweaks to the preload and damping settings, the T7 was a pleasure to punt through the bush, staying composed and predictable through everything — not a single “oh shit” moment. The T7’s predictability breeds confidence, which is half the game when you’re riding a big adventure bike off-road.

Ergonomically, there’s a new single-piece rally seat, and the wider footpegs—borrowed from the Ténéré 700 World Raid—which are a vast improvement when you’re up on the pegs for extended periods. The updated colour-coded handguards are a nice touch, and the new stacked LED headlight setup looks sharp while keeping the rally aesthetic intact. The subframe has been strengthened at the luggage points, the sidestand switch moved for better protection, and the exhaust bracket reinforced. Again, small stuff—but it all counts.

I have two criticisms of the new T7. Firstly, the lack of cruise control — even as an option. With the addition of the ride-by-wire throttle, this seems an odd omission. Secondly, the front brakes — and it’s a small one. They do the job adequately, but BMW, Honda, and especially KTM offer far superior braking packages. The front brake simply lacks the initial bite and power of the big hitters in the segment. Off-road, it’s not an issue, but you’ll notice it on higher-speed sealed sections — even more so with the T7 loaded up. Some braided lines and better pads would help, but I would have liked to see Yamaha bring the T7’s front braking performance up a level.

At a ride away price of $21,399, it’s substantially cheaper than the Ténéré 700 World Raid. All told, the 2025 update does exactly what it needed to: refine the Ténéré 700 and provide a bunch of improvements that make a difference in the real world without losing any of that special something that has made the T7 so popular. It still feels like the tough, go-anywhere twin we’ve come to love—but now it’s more capable and more polished. Yamaha didn’t give us a new engine or a radical redesign, but what they delivered was arguably more important.

Because here’s the thing—when a bike is already this good, you don’t need to reinvent it. You just need to listen. And Yamaha did. The result? A better T7—simple.

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