2025 Yamaha Ténéré 700 Review

The 2019-2024 Ténéré 700 (known as the T7) rightfully earned a cult-like following. In the face of an evolving market, Yamaha kept the T7 relatively simple when it launched with limited electronics compared to competitors. Many riders (myself included) were drawn to the bombproof parallel twin CP2 engine, no rider aids (aside from ABS), and great aesthetics.

The 2025 Ténéré 700 is a worthy successor to the beloved 2019-2024 model run, but this year it’s not just slight tweaks here and there as in the past. For 2025, the T7 takes a significant step forward and addresses direct rider feedback to produce a significantly improved motorcycle.

Over the year I’ve spent a few hundred miles riding a 2021 model and over 7,000 miles on the 2023 Ténéré 700 World Raid. After over 2,000 miles on the 2025 model, I’m pleased to report that many of the things that made the World Raid such a tremendous bike have (finally) made their way over to the U.S. model.

With massively improved suspension and a slightly lowered center of gravity, the 2025 model is the bike I’ve been waiting for and a big step forward from the previous generation.

In short: The 2025 Ténéré 700 is very much a new motorcycle compared to years past. It’s still the first motorcycle that should be considered if you’re in the market for a midweight ADV bike in 2025, and thanks to the updates, it should remain relevant for years to come.

To see how the Ténéré 700 compares to the competition, check out the Best Adventure Motorcycles: Ride Everywhere.

The 2025 Yamaha Ténéré 700 Review

There’s a long list of improvements to the 2025 model compared to previous years. Rather than running through an exhaustive feature list, I’ll focus on features that stood out the most to me during this 2,000-mile test.

Road Trip Testing

I started the testing period by flying to Southern California with my buddy Josh and riding two T7s back home to Central Oregon. The highlight of this ride was staying on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to the Oregon border. We railed turns on freshly paved tarmac through the Redwoods and pushed the T7s to their limits on the twisties.

The 2025 T7’s fuel tank is shifted down and forward, which improves stability off-road, but thankfully, the on-road magic of leaning the tall T7 into a turn remains true to previous model years. It’s rare to have a motorcycle that is as fun on-road as off-road, and this trip reminded me of how great a T7 is for exploring any type of terrain.

I even managed to drag my boot on the tarmac on a sweeping left-hand turn. Note to self: Keep your toe above the shifter when you’re pushing this bike.

Once home in central Oregon, we tossed on a Rally Seat and immediately began pushing the bikes off-road. Fast double-track, wide-open gravel roads, flowy single-track, whoops, ruts, rocks, hill climbs, fast gravel, deep sand, and even a little mud. We sought out every type of terrain we could think of, and the bikes didn’t miss a beat.

2025 Updates

A huge upgrade for 2025 is the larger footpegs (obviously, you need to immediately remove the rubber inserts). Yamaha tells us these are 36% larger than before — and though I won’t check their math, these things are huge and offer a confidence-inspiring platform to push your limits off-road.

I won’t cover all of them in this review, but after about 1,300 miles on the tarmac and 700 miles off-road, here are the new-for-2025 upgrades that stood out the most: 

• Suspension: More adjustability and bottoming resistance
• Lower center of gravity: More planted feel at slow speeds
• Rally footpegs: Large platform for off-road riding
• ABS button: One-touch on and off ABS/TC button 
• Muffler mount: Beefed up to handle falls
• Headlights: New design and significantly better throw at speed 
• Clutch cover: No more catching your right boot
• Kickstand: Raised the mount by 15mm to avoid a common failure point 
• Ride modes: New rider aides and throttle by wire
• Larger 6.3’’ TFT Screen: Bright and crisp, easy to view and navigate 

Much-Needed Suspension Updates

Yamaha heard the feedback from previous model years: The T7 used to be too easy to bottom out when riding hard off-road and had a vague feeling that wasn’t always confidence-inspiring. 

The 2025 KYB fork has adjustable compression, preload, and rebound. It carries forward the 43mm-wide inner tube and 210 mm of travel, but the internals have been reworked with trickle-down technology from the higher-spec KYB fork on the World Raid model. The internal spring is slightly longer when unloaded, there’s a bit more oil in the cartridge, and there’s a larger air gap, too.

Looking at the rear suspension, there’s the same amount of wheel travel as before, but the stroke has increased by 7 mm, and it has similar internal tweaks as the fork. It has toolless preload adjustment, low-speed compression, and rebound adjustment with a larger internal spring. There’s a new linkage design, too.

So, what does this all actually do? The suspension feels firmer and more active in the midstroke and has way more bottoming resistance at full compression.

While riding, this allows the bike to actively engage with rough terrain — versus feeling vague and soft like the previous generation. This means less deflection when moving slowly and a much more planted feel when riding fast through rough terrain.

The internal rework of the suspension addresses the harsh bottoming out that plagued previous model years — one of the more common complaints coming from T7 owners. I can attest that you can still bottom out this suspension on a jump, but at full compression, this setup is way less harsh for 2025.

The suspension upgrade was the most welcome change for me in 2025. A couple of years ago, I spent a month on the World Raid with the highest-spec KYB suspension, and when I hopped on the standard T7 back in the states the weakness of the setup was very apparent.

I’m pleased to report that the 2025 model takes a massive step in the right direction and gets within striking distance of the coveted suspension found on the World Raid model.

Ride Modes & Ride by Wire 

New for 2025 are a ride-by-wire throttle, traction control, and two ride modes (Explore and Sport). When this was originally announced, there was a lot of chatter about the soul of the T7 being compromised by these electronic features. What would happen if this broke on a round-the-world ride?!

I mean, I don’t know, they’ve used this same YCC-T throttle-by-wire system in other bikes for nearly 20 years with no issues. So personally, I’d leave tomorrow on a round-the-world trip and not think twice.

When compared to the overwhelming amounts of rider aids in the market today, the T7 remains firmly on the simple end of the spectrum. Do we need eight wheel spin settings and six rider modes all buried in an electronic menu? I certainly don’t think so, and I’m glad Yamaha doesn’t either.

We get two modes: Explore and Sport. To be honest, I rode Explore for about 10 minutes and then switched back to the Sport setting for good. The Traction Control was welcomed on the road, especially during some rain along the coast. The ABS carries over from previous model years and creates a great safety margin on the road, too.

Modes are selected through a much-improved button and joystick system on the bars. Menus are intuitive, simple, and easy to navigate.

Most importantly, when going off-road, it’s a 3-second press on a large physical ABS button to turn off Traction Control and rear ABS. The bike just needs to be stopped (doesn’t matter what gear you’re in), and this setting will “stick” as long as you don’t switch the key all the way off. Then it reverts to Traction Control and ABS front and rear.

This is a huge upgrade compared to the wheel interface on previous model years that was a nightmare to use. And, I love not being required to navigate menus to quickly transition between off-road and tarmac riding.

I come from a dirt background, so I immediately turn off Traction Control and ABS while riding off-road. But for folks transitioning from street to dirt, the Traction Control does almost too good of a job limiting wheel spin in loose terrain. I enjoyed playing around with it on the “dry ice” of Central Oregon gravel.

I think Yamaha did a good job with these updates. They stay relevant to where the market is going while staying true to what makes a T7 a T7.

Lastly, I found no discernible difference between the response and feel of the new ride-by-wire throttle versus the cable in previous models. I think this is a good thing. The bad thing? There’s no cruise control. I reckon Yamaha is waiting until 2026 to add this — but to add ride-by-wire but not add cruise control is pretty disappointing.

Ergonomics & Tank 

New for 2025 is a “rally-inspired one-piece seat.” I started this test with a long ride and can confirm the seat is comfortable after 14-hour days in the saddle. I swapped out for the higher Rally Seat once I got home and will continue to use it moving forward. It gives the T7 more of the “big dirtbike feel” that so many of us are after.

Speaking of which, the new tank is shifted forward and down. This allows you to get further up on the seat (again, think dirt bike ergonomics), and the lower center of gravity is noticeable in slow technical terrain.

Now, don’t get me wrong; the T7 remains a tall motorcycle and with a full tank, you can feel that weight if the bike starts to tip. But it truly feels like a scaled-up dirtbike with this type of weight distribution, especially compared to other manufacturers who put the weight lower and wider.

The tank has a new cap, too. It requires the key to open, and it’s flush with the top of the tank now, and there’s no removable cap to drop either. A welcome upgrade.

CP2 Engine

Since it was released back in 2014, tomes have been written about the 689cc 270-degree parallel-twin CP2 engine. It has phenomenal low-and mid-range torque that allows the T7 to tractor up technical terrain and plenty of top-end power to get you up over 100 mph before you know it.

The best part, of course, is the legendary reliability of this motor. My personal experiences back up this reputation: I hopped on a CP2-powered World Raid, rode it 7,000 miles like I stole it (no time for a break-in period), and changed the oil and air filter once.

This thing is bulletproof, even for knuckleheads. There are a ton of examples of owners breaking the 100K-mile mark on these engines.

Notably, there was a production run with the 2024 model year that had bad clutch packs that were recalled and warranteed. But, after 2,000 miles, the clutch works flawlessly on my test bike and I’ve seen no reports to suggest that there are any issues with the 2025s.

A small tweak that was welcomed to the clutch cover: The clutch actuator (where the clutch cable connects) was moved 35 degrees forward. The old location and cover style caused your boot to get hung up riding off-road, so this is a welcome fix.

Room for Improvement

One of the historic weak points of the T7 was the bracket that mounted the muffler to the rear subframe. Drop the bike on the right-hand side and pray that the bracket doesn’t bend or break when it hits the ground. To address this, Yamaha beefed up the bracket by 3 mm and increased the weld area where it attaches.

This is a good step, but I’d like to see them tweak the design to have a higher muffler like a dirtbike. Maybe the current design is to keep the weight lower on the bike? I’m not sure.

The biggest complaint I have about the T7 is the rear brake pedal. It feels too vague for my liking. It’s made of steel — which is good to easily bend it back in place after a crash — but it’s just a bit mushy for my taste when riding aggressively off-road and relying on the rear brake for steering into a corner. This is, of course, an easy upgrade with a billet aftermarket part — but worth noting.

Like I mentioned before, I really love the upgraded handlebar switches. This is a significant upgrade! But they’re not perfect. I found myself constantly turning on my hazard lights by accident when turning sharply left because my tank bag (Mosko Moto Gnome) kept hitting the button.

Lastly, if you’re riding seriously off-road, go ahead and ditch the stock tires. They are a great 50/50 tire, but if you spend most of your time on the dirt, then do yourself a favor and throw on some aggressive tires. My personal choice: Michelin Anakee Wild. 

2025 Yamaha T7 Review: The Quiver Killer 

I’ve said this before about the Yamaha T7: it might be the ultimate quiver-killer motorcycle. When you factor in its capability, reliability, and price point, it’s difficult to overlook.

Despite spending a ton of time on T7s over the years, my personal bike is a KTM 500 EXC-F. Until this latest model, I hadn’t seriously considered making the jump to a bigger bike, but I listed the 500 on Marketplace the week I wrote this piece, and I’ll be reaching out to Yamaha to purchase my test bike.

Will the T7 ever be as capable off-road as the 500? Of course not! But with the upgraded suspension, the gap isn’t as huge as it used to be.

My personal dream motorcycle is one that I can really push off-road and confidently ride across a continent or two. In 2025, it’s the Ténéré 700 for me.