The Yamaha Ténéré 700 Low lowers the standard seat height from 875 mm to 860 mm using shortened front and rear suspension. This in turn reduces travel by 20 mm.
Does it matter?
We rode the bike at the 50 year XT anniversary to find out.
Since its release back in 2019, Yamaha’s Ténéré 700 has been right up there in the middleweight adventure class, thanks in part to its reasonable price tag and also to the fact that it is a really capable bike.
In 2025, Yamaha made some changes that made the Ténéré better, all round.
Changes were made in the chassis and suspension department. A crit that we often heard on the early machines was that the bike was better than the suspension that Yamaha had installed – so Yamaha listened and fitted higher-grade suspension – the forks are now fully adjustable and the internals have been tweaked. The rear shock and linkage was also upgraded and the fuel tank underwent a redesign. This made a big difference for the more advanced riders – with the changes altering the bikes handling and weight distribution – well – a lot.
The tried and tested 689cc CP2 motor remained untouched besides some small internal tweaks, that big parallel twin is a lot of fun with lots of bottom end punch, and big smiles through the rev range. The new ride-by-wire throttle also made a difference – it’s really smooth and it allowed Yamaha to give the bike some modes, Sport and Explorer. Sport mode delivers a sharper, more aggressive throttle response for the street, while Explorer mode mellows out the bottom-end power for loose gravel and trickier conditions.
This year, Yamaha introduced the low and short legged riders can grin – it is a great addition to the family. We rode the Low and the standard back to back. On the low, your feet are flat on the ground. On the standard bike, you’ll usually be on your tippy toes when you come to a stop.
We hear you – does it affect the suspension?
The Standard version features 210mm of front fork travel and 200mm of rear shock travel with a seat height of 880 mm.
The factory-lowered version of the 2026 Yamaha Ténéré 700 features reduced suspension travel of 190 mm at the front forks and 180 mm at the rear shock, lowering the seat height to 860 mm.
Ground clearance lowers from 240mm to 225mm.
Well – less travel by 20 ML’s. That’s 2 CM’s.
1.5 CM’s less ground clearance.
Does it really make a difference to the average rider on an ADV bike?
Especially on the T7 with the latest suspension?
We didn’t feel it.
The bike still feels comfortable and planted. Granted we didn’t do anything hard core, but for the slippery, often sandy roads that we took – everything behaved exactly as it should.
Having the slightly lower stance meant that the U-turns for photos and things where you need to put your feet down were a whole lot easier.
So we’d guess that, bar getting your feet down, the average rider wouldn’t even notice any difference.
Off-road, the T7 Low is still a seriously competent motorcycle. On the tar she is comfortable and nippy.
If you are looking for a more hardcore T7, then perhaps consider the new Rally model that has just landed.
That model features upgraded, fully adjustable KYB suspension with more travel (230 mm up front) and greater ground clearance than the standard T7.
Yes it’s tall and it comes with old school gold wheels too… it’s pretty impressive!
As a dirt oriented adventure machine the Ténéré is still one of our favourites. The upgrades are significant with better weight distribution and better suspension. The Low just gives shorter riders more options.
Nice one!
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