The Yamaha Ténéré 700 Raid prototype was one of the (few) darling releases from the 2021 EICMA show in Milan, and the up-spec middleweight adventure bike brought more questions than it did answers.
Was Yamaha teasing a new higher price ADV machine for its future lineup? Was it trying to drum up business for its GYTR aftermarket parts catalog? Maybe a combination of the two? It’s hard to say.
So, it is curious that today we see that the Yamaha Ténéré 700 Raid machine getting spotted in European patent documents, by our colleagues at Cycle World. And once again, that creates more questions than it does answers.
For those who have not been keeping track of the Yamaha’s developments with the Ténéré 700, the new “Raid” prototype takes the budget-focused ADV bike, and fits many of the updates one would expect to see on a purpose-built adventure bike.
The Raid prototype included an Akrapovic exhaust, beefier fully adjustable long-travel suspension, an updated ECU, heavier clutch, and improved cooling capabilities – just to name a few items.
It remains to be seen how much of that kit that was teased at EICMA would make it onto a production bike, but it is obvious that Yamaha needs a second prong in its middleweight ADV lineup to better compete against bikes like the Aprilia Tuareg 660 and KTM 890 Adventure R.
From the design patents, we see that Yamaha has certainly retained some of the prototype’s features, but has perhaps left much of the meat off the bone, which makes us wonder how the Japanese brand plans on positioning this bike.
A dual fuel tank design can be seen, which suggests a larger fuel capacity (and thus larger range), with some subtle changes to the bodywork as well to aid with wind protection, crash durability, and comfort.
However, the suspension appears to be unchanged, and missing are some of the more obvious go-fast off-road bits. Perhaps those will be available GYTR options in the aftermarket. The dash seems to be a new TFT piece, rather than the Casio-watch-looking LCD unit on the current incarnation.
With all this said though, is there enough value-added here for the Yamaha Ténéré 700 Raid? That remains to be seen, and the answer will probably depend on the price tag.
For a modest price increase, the Ténéré 700 Raid could be the better platform for one to create their ideal dual-sport machine. But as a direct competitor to the more sophisticated models in this space, Yamaha may have missed the mark.
We will certainly have to wait and reserve judgment until the Yamaha Ténéré 700 Raid hits dealers, perhaps later this year.
Source: Cycle World
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