Yamaha has just taken the wraps off the Ténéré 700 Rally Edition, a more rugged version of the Ténéré 700. The Rally Edition is a tribute to the 1983 Yamaha XT600 Ténéré. It was the factory bike raced by Dakar heroes, Jean-Claude Olivier and Serge Bacou, at the 83 and 84 Paris-Dakar Rallies. As such, it bears the original motorcycle’s blue and yellow livery.
Yamaha’s XT series was the first to dominate Dakar. At the first Dakar Rally in 1979, the Yamaha XT proved itself in the world’s toughest race. XT riders won this legendary event in ’79 and ’80, and inspired the development of the original Ténéré in 1983.
The Ténéré is named after a desert region in the south central Sahara in Africa, part of the original route of the Dakar Rally.
True to its name, the 2020 Ténéré 700 Rally Edition hopes to encourage that same spirit of adventure in a new generation.
The Rally Edition features a number of improvements over the stock Ténéré. There’s the dedicated Rally seat, an Akrapovič slip-on muffler, heavy-duty skid plate, radiator protector, chain guard, smaller LED turn signals, tank grip pads for stand-up riding, and off-road hand grips.
It retains the model’s high-positioned face that incorporates a three-piece shield on a distinctive headlight and tank, that has become a hallmark of Dakar homologated rally bikes.
The Rally Edition is still powered by the same 689cc, water-cooled inline 2-cylinder CP2 (crossplane, parallel-twin) engine from the MT-07 with a 270° crank engine mounted on a lightweight body frame. It produces 73 PS at 9,000 rpm and 68 Nm at 5,000 rpm.
The Rally Edition has a massive 16-liter tank, making it very possible to cross the actual Ténéré desert if you wanted to. It has a seat height of 875 mm. All this tips the scales at 204 kg.
For now, the Ténéré Rally Edition is only offered in Europe at a price of UK£10,447.00 (PhP650,000).
