By Aaron ‘Simmo’ Clifton
Come at me, Mongolia!I have always thought Yamaha’s Ténéré was one of the best fit-for-purpose bikes on earth. Yamaha does not fuck around when it builds bikes. Its build-quality is second to none. The brand is a byword for reliability. And what do you really want when you’re riding the Pamir track, the Simpson, or hoping you’ll get to where the yurts are before the sun sets? You want a bulletproof bike that is carved from reliability. You want one of these, or you want your head read.
Should I ever get the chance to do Kazakhstan, the Ténéré is the bike I’d choose. In a heartbeat. It would be a no-brainer. It would get me there and back, and I would not even spare a thought for any “Hope the bike can make it” bullshit. Yamahas will outlast us all.
I told Yamaha’s Sean Goldhawk at last year’s Ténéré launch I no longer felt any driving need to do much dirt-riding. And yes, this was after I was rescued when I threw myself off a cliff. And yes, I used the words “Fuck off” quite a bit. Both during and after sailing off said cliff.
I finished the day out, then went home to lick my wounds. And I was serious about giving the dirt away. I’m no great shakes as a dirt rider. Never have been. And at my age, healing is far too lengthy a process when I get it wrong.
I am good with that. Do I still ride dirt? Yes. Now and again, I shall essay some easy trails, but I am done carving single-track bullshit, leaping up spoon-drains, and looking for traction on shale-strewn cliffs.
But Simmo isn’t. So, I sent him.
Boris
Making a bit of a splash.Boris: “You’re going on this, bastard.”
Simmo: “Going on what?”
Boris: “The media launch for the new Yamaha Ténéré World Raid.”
Simmo: “Are you not going because you rode last year’s World Raid off a cliff? Because that had nothing to do with the bike. That was all you.”
Boris: “You can go with one eye all closed and purple and a broken jaw, or you can go as you are right now. Your call.”
I chose Option B. I’m not silly. Besides, I was the winner in all this, wasn’t I? Spend two days riding the new and improved Ténéré World Raid, from the Hunter valley to Tamworth, via back roads, and mountain ranges, with both eyes open and able to chew my food? Hell, yes!
Sometimes its actually flying.The Yamaha’s 2026 Ténéré World Raid features a whole heap of electronic and rider aid updates – and it remains a rugged, fine-looking, and purposeful motorcycle – pure hard-core adventure, right there.
There are some mechanical updates, like valving refinements made to the forks, and in the gearbox there are now six engagement dogs on the gears instead of five. The radiator has been redesigned for more efficient cooling and better protection, and the 23l fuel tank is now aluminium instead of that plasticky nylon stuff.
The only way it would look better is if it was smeared in bugs and mud. Pretty good protection, though.But the electronic updates are where it’s all at. The new IMU (Internal Measurement Unit) now measures gyroscopic, yaw, and acceleration force. Meaning the Ténéré now has lean-sensitive slide control, traction control, as well as ABS. It has both road, and off-road modes, and the level of slip and slide you’re good with can be adjusted by selecting any of the array of options. It also has the OFF option, for those of you who like to raw dog it.
There is a nice big ON/OFF button for the ABS right beside the dash display. So when you’re heading off-road, you can easily turn the ABS off without having to go through the settings in the dash.
There is also new toggle switch to navigate the dash, which replaces the old scroll wheel. And just to put a cherry on top, the new Ténéré has cruise control, and a speed limiter.
Borrie was saddened by the utter lack of cliffs for Simmo to ride off.
We left Cessnock, and headed west up the valley, and it didn’t take long before we struck the first stretch of gravel road. I have ridden earlier Ténéré’s and all of them were competent on the bitumen, as well as being comfortable and predictable off-road – and since we all had knobbies fitted, comfort and predictability awaited.
In he goes again, like a fur seal without the fur.After a quick detour for some photos and fuel in Singleton, we headed further west, bound for Stewarts Brook, then onto Moonan flat for lunch.
Here the terrain got fun. Sweeping gravel corners allowed me to test the slide control. I selected SCS-2 which allowed for a small level of slide. It felt strange at first, standing on the pegs at 100kp/h, flicking it into a corner, and trusting the electronics to take over when the slide became too aggressive. It took a while to override my lizard brain, as I don’t put faith in technology, and I would rather control my own destiny, or at least feel that I do. Crashing or not crashing should rest entirely with me.
Twin tanks just make it all look more adventurey. But they are good idea if you smash one and the camels are looking at you funny, and you need to leave.But once I started to feel the electronics do its thing, it became serious fun. I was able to control the slide, then I would feel the electronics begin to work, then I could just hold the throttle open, and the bike would hold that exact slide angle, right the way through the corner. It was a joy to use.
The thing about adventure riding is things can go to bastard shit in a big hurry. You’ve got 220KGS of Ténéré World Raid, which is pretty well the weight of a full-blown road bike, but you’re riding it in dirt bike conditions.
Command and control.These weight figures are enough to scare some men, but in reality, unless you’ve splattered yourself down the road, and you need to pick the bike up, that’s the only time you really feel the weight. Riding the Tenere’ World Raid, feels nothing like its claimed 220 KGS. I logic this out in two ways.
One: Most of its weight is carried down low; the 23l of fuel lives below seat level.
Brembos, of course.Two: The ergos are rather tall and upright with wide handlebars, so you have a fair bit of leverage over the bike, it doesn’t feel at all like you’re trying to muscle an R1 over the mountains. And there are times when the weight is helpful, and that’s places like muddy ruts, and creek crossings.
Going over Stewarts Brook where the ground was wet and the surface was clay, there were multiple ruts going downhill, and some were full of water. It was nerve-wracking to look at, and if I was on an MX bike there was no doubt the bike would feel the contour of the ruts more easily. But the weight of the Ténéré meant the ruts has less impact on the tracking of the bike. The 220kgs allowed it to plough through the muddy ruts mostly un-phased. As long as I stayed off the brakes and kept momentum, the bike tracked straight and true.
Another corner Borrie would have crashed on.It was no different in the creek crossings. I felt like we’d crossed 3000 of the bastards on this route, but in reality, it was more like 35 over the two days.
In this situation, rocks on the creek beds that would deflect a lighter bike, didn’t really upset the Ténéré. Its weight kept it planted, and made creek crossings much easier than expected, and almost enjoyable… almost.
Great dash. Needs petrol.There is something to be said for the power, and there was a lot of chatter about the lack of power down low, and how other makes supposedly have better dyno numbers.
If I interpret the peanut gallery noises correctly, the Ténéré lacks low-down “excitement”, making it a hard bike to wheelie.
I can see why one would think that. But I wasn’t really concerned about that. A pipe and an engine tune would wake it up a little, but I’m not sure it needs to be woken up all that much. From the mid-range to the top-end, the Ténéré is nice and strong, and great for open areas and road use.
Armour-plating is a must.The more linear, or even slightly docile feel down low, is actually helpful in some off-road situations, like we had at Stewarts Brook, ie. a wet clay surface, and more technical sections, is where an angry engine would be a nightmare.
If yourwere to make this thing unnecessarily angry, you would spend your time lighting up the rear wheel, and going sideways searching for traction. It was here the engine characteristics come into their own, tractoring up slippery hills, and finding traction where traction was limited. I really don’t think I would want it any angrier.
Simmo is like an otter – except his skin is worthless.Have I mentioned the engine is mechanically bulletproof? If I haven’t, I have now. And if reliability is what you’re after, you will find it in the Tenere’ World Raid. It’s a Yamaha, and it’s ideal for blokes who cover miles on their lonesome. Wonder how often blokes like that wish their engine was angrier?
You gotta love four headlights. It’s gets dark quick in the savage mountains.After an overnight stay in Tamworth, we headed home via a slightly different route, but the terrain was much the same, but maybe a little more time was spent on the tar.
It just cemented my thoughts. If ever there was an utterly practical motorcycle, this is it.
Happy dusty trails to you all.It’s got all the electronics a modern bike should have. It comfortably sits at 140-150 km/h on the tar, yet the ergos and weight distribution mean it is hugely adept at the off-road business as well. You can take it to some hard to get to places with ease.
It’s also very economical, I used one tank of fuel on the way up, and the same on the way back, that’s 380-odd kilometres without the fuel light coming on once.
The World Raid comes in either black or red and white.All you need to do is work out what luggage system you want and select your tyres. Then the world is literally yours to ride. Or raid.
FULL SPECS AND PRICES ARE HERE
