When is a Tenere 700 not an adventure bike ? When it ’ s a trail bike ... Ray Heron gives his Tenere its toughest test yet .
Since the birth of my first born child , family finances have been tight . Not “ bread and water ” tight , but definitely “ don ’ t spend money on a dirt bike ” tight . Not long before the birth of my now three-year-old son , I sold my WR250 , with the expectation I wouldn ’ t be getting out to ride it an awful lot , which turned out to be true . But not exactly for the reasons I thought ... thanks global pandemic . Then the Yamaha Tenere 700 was announced , and I wanted one . Really wanted one . I remember
using the justification of the expense of this flash new bike to my wife as a jack of all trades . I wouldn ’ t need to get another dirt bike , because this was the one bike for all types of riding . If I bought THIS adventure bike , I would be able to commute and attend trail rides , I could tour and tackle the road less traveled . One bike to rule them all . Now , this is a safe space , so just between you and me , ok ? That ’ s a long bow to string . A man will say almost anything to justify the purchase of a new bike ... right ? I ’ m sure we both know that even a mid-weight adventure bike is a lot heavier then an enduro bike . But it does pose a serious question , can you trail ride on an Adventure bike ? Yes , it ’ s true , you can trail ride on anything , even an R1 with the right setup , but I wanted to find out if my original premise had been right – that I could take a completely road legal , mid-weight adventure bike , and tackle a trail ride without any serious modifications , and still have fun . BermBuster was in my sights . The team at MotoGear . co . nz was also interested to find an answer to this question , so they supplied a set of Maxxis Enduro tyres for the experiment . Apart from tyres , the Tenere 700 remained completely as it was when I last commuted on it . So I loaded it on the trailer , and headed off to Taupo .
BERMBUSTER If there ’ s any trail ride in the country that would give me the best shot at success , it would have to be BermBuster . Run by Epic Events , they keep a tight ship , grooming the trails between events . Held near Taupo , the soil is generally quite
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