Is it just me or does Yamaha market its Ténéré 700 (T7) better than any other manufacturer with a bike in that niche? Actually, I'd go as far as to say the last time a manufacturer showcased the abilities of a model as well as Yamaha is doing with the Ténéré, was when BMW sponsored The Long Way Round.
This time, Yamaha paired French freestyle rider, Jérémy Rouanet, with a Ténéré 700 Rally Edition, which was prepared by the Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team and featured GYTR accessories. Of course, this model also features an Akrapovic exhaust, which provides a megaphone to blast its iconic cross-plane bark.
Superman seat grabs and whips are thrown in for good measure but it's the near-effortless-looking, perfectly executed backflip that steals the show. Just watch it.
But before Yamaha's middleweight off-road offering was hitting FMX ramps, it was ripping through the world of hard enduro with Pol Tarres atop and setting world altitude records. With Tarres behind the bars, we've seen the Ténéré finish as high as 77th at the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo and 21st at Romaniacs, ride to 21,906 feet, and win its class at the Hixpania Hard Enduro race—Competing mainly against 300cc 2-stroke enduro motorcycles.
Tarres's feats have undoubtedly inspired videos like the one below, where a T7 takes on a race-spec 450cc motocross bike and does unbelievably well. So what mountains are left for the T7 to climb, I mean, it literally holds the world altitude record for a motorcycle.
Personally, I'd love to see someone take the Ténéré for a rip around a supercross track—possibly an Eli Tomac gig before he retires. Or, even better, show us what a T7 supermoto looks like and what it could do.
What would you like to see the T7 tackle next? Let us know in the comments and don't be afraid to get silly because Yamaha certainly isn't.
