dropped in favour of a mode button on the right block and a joystick on the left. The bigger 6.3- inch TFT screen( notice how screens are always measured in imperial) is full-colour and allows for two themes, Street and Explore, plus has Connectivity via the MyRide app. ABS has three options, on, rear off and all off, and there’ s a big button in the fairing that you can use to shortcut to your preference of ABS setting, so even if you turn the ignition off you can reset to off-seal mode with just one press of the big button. And the power port is now USB-C so you better be up to date with your phone / nav tech. Lastly, the Ténéré 700 can be spec’ d by the customer with lowered suspension(-20mm). Colours are Icon Blue or Frozen Titanium( blue or brown). As ever, there is an extensive accessories listing plus three a la carte options: the Adventure Pack, Explorer Pack and Sport Pack.
RIDING THE TÉNÉRÉ 700 Yeah, that headline. Plus ça change … plus c’ est même chose – the more things change, the more they stay the same – that kind of applies. It would be a surprise if the ride was remarkably different given the modest chassis and engine changes. It’ s the same old Ténéré 700 we know and love.
SUSPENSION The new suspension – is it better? Not easy to say given we rode the Ténéré 700 after riding the up-spec’ d Rally model, so there was an immediate climb-down in performance level which didn’ t help the evaluation. Maybe in a back-to-back test with the old bike, you would detect the differences, but in isolation, and on unfamiliar terrain, the feeling was of competent performance but not as plush or confidenceinspiring as the Rally’ s setup. But by the same token, the suspension dealt well with everything we encountered and as an adventure-touring
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