I’ve been saying for a while now that Ténéré 700s are like backsides, for it seems like everybody has got one. They’re everywhere. And in the almost four years they’ve now been on sale in Oz, they have racked up an enviable reputation for unbustable reliability as a great-value twin-cylinder adventure machine.
I should know — I’ve had two of them. But this latest World Raid is the T7 I’ve been waiting for. It’s a true Ténéré, with a larger-capacity fuel load (23 litres) and designed specifically for long-distance overland travel.
As soon as this World Raid long-term project bike arrived at AAB, I couldn’t wait to start setting it up with a long list of farkles aimed at making a good thing even better. Let’s look at the first setups I’ve made …
SKDA GRAPHICS
I’ve run SKDA graphics kits on my previous T7s and have been well stoked with the quality and fit of the kits, both of which paid homage to the colour and design of the original 1983 XT600Z Ténéré.
As soon as I saw SKDA had a replica World Rally graphic kit for the World Raid, I was in. This design mirrors the style of the Europeonly T7 World Rally model, which in turn pays homage to the great man Stephane Peterhansel’s 1993 Dakar Rally-winning factory Yamaha race bike. I love the vibrant blue colour and the white and cyan stripes that run along the entire side of the bike. Very cool.
When the graphics arrived, I opened them up and discovered more than 30 individual pieces. I thought this would make the application job easier by virtue of having smaller, more manageable pieces, rather
