I wasn’t sure what would hurt most: the physical pain of smashing into the deep, rocky riverbed, or the impact it would have on my pride. To keep on ploughing through was my only option - literally, sledging the crossed-up front tyre with big handfuls of throttle, while licking the dirt from my teeth and sucking up the sting from the sweat that flowed into my eyes like a leaking tap. Some 300km into the day’s ride, my energy levels were on empty and my brain was mush, exhausted from computing the milliard of decisions it had taken to get me this far under a gruelling 30°C. The front-end saves, the relentless decisions to pick the least traumatic-looking lines, the physical strength exerted to hustle a 220kg behemoth around… it’d all taken its toll. No one said this was going to be a ride in the park, but I’d been too hyped up during the presentation of Yamaha’s new Ténéré 700 World Raid to take heed of the organiser’s warnings, let alone the offer of an easier route should the challenge become too much (who does that?). I wanted a proper adventure, including the pain and the satisfaction that comes in tandem with a sense of vulnerability and loneliness as you travel trails few people have ever seen before, let alone ridden. And that’s exactly what I was getting.
As ill-prepared as I was for this test, I couldn’t say the same about my sparring partner. Building on the solid foundations of the Ténéré 700, launched in 2019 and boasting a significant 30,000-plus sales to its name, the World Raid was that next step in the pipeline - a more focussed, genuine globetrotter with a whole host of enhancements, including a whopping 23-litre fuel tank. Or, should I say, tanks. Nestled below the eyeline of the new 5in TFT notebook-style dash, complete with three optional screen faces (street, explorer, raid), were two saucer-sized fillers, adjoined internally by a pump to balance the fuel levels
