MO Espionage: Yamaha FZ-07 Tenere Spy Shots

What we’re seeing here is a middleweight Ténéré based on the FZ-07 parallel-Twin engine. The obvious giveaway being the sexy little S-bend of the header pipes betraying its family origins, here shielded by an aluminum bash plate. Launching a mid-size ADV bike fills a hole in Yamaha’s current model lineup and should offer stout competition for the likes of Suzuki’s V-Strom 650XT, Triumph’s Tiger 800s and BMW’s F800GS.

From the spy shots, the smaller Ténéré appears to roll on 21-inch front, 18-inch rear wheels, while the existing Super Ténéré runs a 19-inch front/18-inch rear combo. These wheel sizes convey Yamaha’s intention to make the mini Ténéré a more off-road-worthy model, and one that will replace the XT660Z Ténéré currently still available in some markets but not in the USA.

The bodywork ahead of the rider includes a fairing with what looks like a non-adjustable windscreen, at least in this early iteration. A tall fuel tank indicates a much larger capacity than the 3.7-gallon unit on the FZ-07. Rubber inserts in the serrated-steel footpegs damp vibration and will be removable for optimum grip in muddy environments.

Suspension duties are handled by an inverted long-travel fork up front and a single shock acting on a linkage and what appears to be a steel swingarm. By the appearance of the wire wheels, we’ll assume the tires will require tubes. We expect the muffler seen here to be binned in favor of a more stylish exhaust on the production version.

Two surprises in the brakes: First, they look to be Brembo two-piston calipers, which the FZ-07 doesn’t have. The FZ-07 uses four-piston calipers of the Yamaha variety. Secondly, there seems to be no wheel-speed sensors, indicating a lack of anti-lock brakes even though all 2017 bikes sold in Europe – a primary market for this bike – will require ABS. This is another indication the test mule is a long way from being finalized, so a production version is unlikely to debut until 2017.

As for a price, it will surely come at a considerable premium over the inexpensive ($6,990) FZ-07, which lacks a fairing, ABS and other ADV accoutrements. Yamaha’s FJ-09 has a $2,300 premium over the FZ-09 platform-mate, so it’s possible the Ténéré version of the FZ-07 might carry an MSRP around $8,700, depending on the amount of extras Yamaha adds to it.