I'm wanting a Tenere 700 but honestly looking to mostly do on road road trips. Occasionally light gravel roads too. Am I crazy to buy one simply for that purpose? Love higher up adventure bikes also love the looks of the Tenere.
Thank you for the comment. I live in Germany and trips like this sound awesome.
I have a T7 WR, also living in Germany and commute 30km (back and forth) on a near daily basis.
Also while we obviously we have mainly tarmac roads, there are some nice opportunities to ride off road, at least here in the north.
You are welcome! I live in Romania, so neighbours! Sorta.... I'm used to a north american scale....
The last part especially!! “Use your heart”. Unless you’re getting a sport bike for off road… you can make anything work if your heart is in it!
The T7 is a good fit for taller/larger riders.
The Transalp is a good fit for shorter riders.
The US transalp is ass.
Gimped horsepower and the godawful black paint.
I heard this. I am in Romania, so it is stock. Would not buy the US version.
How'd you know I was short????
A good review on both machines, if your on the shorter side look into the Transalp.
transalp has a little lower seat height but is actually heavier than the T7. Lowering the T7 or changing the seat would be a better fit for smaller riders
Thanks
You can still get lower seat for the bike as a solution. Get the WR version if you plan to use the bike for long distance touring.
That’s exactly my use.
99% pavement, 1% gravel roads, daily commute and long range roadtrips (6 500km to and through Scotland last September).
I love my T7.
Mind if I ask what model you have? Looking at the base model.
I have a 2021 Tenere that I ordered brand new back then.
I added the lowered links (-18mm seat height), a quadlock mount, and AXP bashplate, and SW Motech High and low Crashbars and luggage rack. :) My dealer also added heated grips as a gift, which finally died after 3 years during my Scottish trip. Won’t buy new ones.
All of the other equipments endured my trips and a few hits and are rugged.
Why wouldn’t you buy new? If they’re the Yamaha ones I’ve heard they aren’t that good compared to Oxfords.
They were Tecno Globe ones.
I honestly didn’t see a huge value in them as they were only keeping the palms of my hands warm and not my fingers (which would have been way more useful).
I might as well put that money in heating gloves for my next trip in a cold country.
Did you lower the front forks as well?
Yes I did, just to balance the whole thing out.
Do you think lowering it has effected anything on the motorcycle? Besides making it lower haha
At my current off-roading skill level, absolutely nothing while the bike is in motion.
However, the kick stand now makes the bike stand pretty straight up. It sometimes becomes a concern when I have to park on uneven terrain. For exemple and counter intuitively, the bike is way more secured when leaning downhill, now.
It gets a little more sporty to get her up after getting on, though. :v
Thanks for the reply. Have you considered getting a lower kickstand?
Never seriously, actually I more often consider putting back the OEM links to bring the bike up again. I like having to get good at handling the bike.
Glad to hear this response. I'm looking to buy one myself for about the same reasons as OP. Occasional off-road, but mostly on road commuting and some longer(ish) trips.
That's exactly how I use my T7, and honestly I think it's the way most of T7 owners use their bike.
If you look to this sub you'll think you are in a motocross community, in reality most Tenere 700 users use the bike mostly on paved roads.
I have mine since 2021, I made around 44k Km and I just returned from my longest single trip so far, around 2000 Km in 4 days with a local motoclub in the central part of Italy (stunning places to see, like the Gran Sasso mountain or the stunning lentils fields in Castelluccio di Norcia, check it out on Google images).
Most of the other guys had street bikes like Tracer 900, or GS1250 or KTM, all with street tires, I was the only one with a maxi enduro bike with semi offroad tires (Dunlop TrailMax Raid) and I had no problems at all keeping their pace. On the other hand once we found a couple of gravel roads they had not a pleasent experience, while I was riding almost like on paved roads :D
Don't worry despite what people say the T7 is also an excellent street bike, specially on twisty roads; on the highway it's ok (I suggest to change the windshield and get a taller one) even though it's the riding condition with the highest fuel consumption (~20 Km/lt, which is still pretty good compared to other bikes).
One commenter stated that the T7 is a good fit for taller/larger riders. While true, do not let it discourage you. There are plenty of techniques that can be learned to alleviate the problems of a high seat height. As well as lowering the bike.
The T7 is an amazing bike. Love mine! While I do more gravel/off road than what you're looking to do. I also do a lot of longer pavement only road trips as well. It'll suit your needs well.
Also check out the vstrom 650/800de. Another amazing bike alongside the transalp that might be good to consider.
This is something I struggle to convey to shorter riders. Just because a bike is good for tall riders doesn’t mean it’s bad for shorter riders. I have friends who would like to try my Varadero 125 (about the same size as the 650 Transalp) because they’re too short, except my 5’4” friend can ride it no problem. People should be more open to trying things.
If I couldn't have my T7, I'd be looking hard at the Vstrom 800DE. I had a vstrom 650 before and sold it when I got the Tenere. It's a great platform, especially for what you plan to do with your bike. The 800 sounds like it's even better.
The T7 is great for that .
I’m a proud owner of a 2024 basic model. I absolutely LOVE my T7, however- and that may be a controversial opinion- if you’re 99% road and 1% gravel, the T7 might not be the best fit. Obviously it’ll do its job, but I’d go for cruise control and (more importantly) tubeless tires since they’re supposed to be safer and easier to deal with when you have a flat.
Edit: you might not actually be looking for an ADV..
The tubeless rims are a really good point. I'd love to have those for my Tenere. I don't take it anywhere I've felt the need to air down. I don't even mind the front being tubed, thats an easy fix.
I think that the best combination for road/offroad biking is using tubeless tires with a spare tube in your pack just in case the rim is bent and no longer airtight.
I am looking at options for my T7 but it looks like a very expensive conversion that is not 100% guaranteed to work.
Yeah, I'm not confident in the longevity of those kits to make the rear tubeless.
For what it's worth this is how ktm tubeless spoked rims work. The adhesive/tape is meant to be replaced every so often.
Now that's something I never knew! I've only had 2 motorcycles that didn't use tubes, but I've always liked the idea for travel.
I LOVE my T7. Absolutely love it. For me it was a toss up between the Africa Twin and the T7. Where I live there are amazing roads all over. Dirt and paved. I chose the T7 for its off-road capability. If I was sticking to mostly tarmac I'd most likely choose the Africa Twin. A couple of friends have them and they love their bikes.
That being said, if you like the look of the Tenere over other bikes... or just like it more than other bikes for whatever reason then get it! It's powerful enough to cruise at 150kph all day long. The stock tires are good on pavement and I haven't had any trouble off-road with them either. So far they have over 12,000 km's on them.
I mounted a Garmin Montana 700i next to my dash with the mount from Motology films and a Quad-lock for my phone on the cross bar. SW Motech bags. I'm good on the road with it for weeks! It's a great bike.
Transalp might be a better option, also v-strom DE versions are excellent. Tenere is a little sporty
Love the T7 and you can certainly enjoy it on the road or off. Even just some gravel, it's a nice bike to take you anywhere.
For mostly road use I would definitely look more at the Transalp or the V-Strom (650 or 800).
I absolutely love my T7, but it's not that comfy on long rides. I think it mostly shine offroad.
It'll do that just fine but there are better options for that purpose.
Tenere 700 is awesome
... Consider a VStrom XT.
The t7 will do it, but in traffic you'll feel a bit of chain yank thanks to it needing to be a bit more loose. If that's bothersome I'd look into a tiger instead. They're ridiculously comfortable, good for getting around, only issue is they're slightly less off road capable for newer riders
I love my T7 on and off road. I've done some long highway rides and pretty gnarly offroad trips. It was fantastic for both. If you have any questions, feel free to dm me
50,000 kilometers on my t7 and i hate it on road and love it offroad
Have a look at a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT . Looks awesome and handles the road like a champion. It will handle gravel, most bikes can. It's more a choice of tyre that makes gravel handling better if you are doing lots of it but just the occasional unpaved road it can do.
I have had a bunch of bikes over the years (a sport touring versys 1000, a dual sport klr650, etc), and the Tenere is really as good as they say as an all around unicorn bike. On the street and the highway it's a blast...plenty fast and comfortable for distance riding. On light gravel roads it's planted and solid. If you do some hard-core single track back country stuff it's a little big unless your skilled, but we're talking loose chossy rocks, deep muddy puddles here. If I could only have one bike for everything it would be this bike. Add the puig touring windscreen and a kaoko throttle lock for the highway, and some mosko moto soft side bags for camping and you'll be golden
I was too tall for an mt-07 but wanted a cp2 engine so I have a tenere. Now to get some mt-07 wheels machined and get away from the big off road wheels :)
My Tenere may be my favorite motorcycle I’ve ever owned.On or off road it’s just a fun bike.
I love my tenere, BUT it’s not the best road commuter. It’s decent, but IMO you’re gonna pay way more than you need to for a decent road commuter
It’s great. I’m about 6k miles into mine. I do about 95/5 atm and am super happy with it
The tenere is a joy to ride on the roads
I was torn between the Transalp and the Tenere, also not doing much worse than gravel roads here. If the Transalp had cruise control and tubeless tires, I’d have taken it especially since it also was a quite a bit cheaper, but so the (to me) much better looks of the T7 won.
Didn’t regret it, it’s an awesome do it all bike.
I'd also suggest the suzuki 800de. I own a T7 that's great for what I want it to do, and it's fun on the road. Though even with an upgraded seat, there are better options I think for your use case.
I’d say I’m your twin brother. Mostly pavement with your occasional dirt roads. I have it new and put 7k km on it. Loved it every one of them.
At the end of the day motorcycling (if not purely functional) is a hobby, so do whatever you feel it would bring you joy and happiness.
T7 is plenty fun on road as well, that engine is a blast
I bought mine new in 21' for daily commuting. Kids are grown and Omaha area roads are horrible. This bike loves them all. 21k of in town commuting and not a hiccup. I'm short, 5'6" 177#, No issues at all, up to about 75-80 mph. Could run to unl and visit 45 mi away with ease. I have a 23' gw tour so..... I just don't have to do that much. But the t7 is a daily joy. If your work accommodates a helmet and gear sometimes you will love it! Gravel roads whenever I feel like it and the occasional field or riverfront. As long as there is no snow or ice this has been my favorite daily out of 11 new rides in 30 years. My 2 cents.
To be honest I think there is better ADV that will feel better on road if that’s what you are doing. Check out the transalp.
First, I love my Tenere 700. Period.
I think the prevailing opinion you will get will be that the Tenere is not made primarily for the road, so do not do it. I also have a trans alp 750 that I took on the road to Istanbul last year, because it is more road made, is '12% more comfy, more power, taller gears.
I am now getting ready to ride through Serbia to Croatia. Will be taking the tenere because it sits high, is oh so solid on the roads, a freakin pleasure to ride, better suspension, goes faster than I ever need and my ass hurts regardless after 500 kms.
I say you do it. Ride what you love. Use your heart. Be happy. It is the bike. Anything else is second best.