You have to be living under a rock if you’re unaware of the domination of adventure bikes. These are easily the most popular type of bikes today worldwide. Yes, including the United States of America. Even brands like Harley-Davidson had to step into the ring and cash in on the hype. As a result, there’s a huge assortment of ADVs you can pick from in the US.
However, if you look closely at the global markets, you’ll soon realize that there are several forbidden fruits overseas, too. Not all bikemakers bring all of their ADV arsenal here, which can be a serious bummer in a few cases. We’re talking about one such case here, coming from the Yamaha camp. Meet the Tenere 700 World Raid, and here’s why you will crave it in 2026.
This Adventure Bike Strikes The Perfect Balance Between Power And Versatility
Few adventure bikes offer more off-road ability than this Yamaha
The Yamaha Tenere World Raid Is Ideal For Long-Distance Adventures
The Tenere World Raid brings a handful of upgrades over the standard bike we get in the US. And one of the big ones is the overall riding range. You get a rally-style dual-tank setup with 6.1 gallons of capacity in place of the 4.2-gallon single tank setup on the standard bike. Bring the 54.5 MPG claimed efficiency into the picture, and you’re looking at an overall range of close to 330 miles. That is higher than most of its middleweight ADV contemporaries.
It Comes At The Cost Of Weight, Though
The extra tank capacity does bring up the weight, as you’d expect. The Tenere World Raid weighs 485 pounds fully fueled, which is 26 more than the standard bike. While that’s a big increment, Yamaha claims the new setup is 3.3 pounds lighter than the MY25 World Raid. You’ll also find a new rally seat near the fuel tanks, which increases the seat height to 35 inches from the base bike’s 34.4-inch setup. Safe to say, if you’re vertically challenged, the World Raid will be a tough climb.
Updated KYB Forks Make The Tenere World Raid More Off-Road Capable
Increased weight means a more difficult life for the suspension. So Yamaha has kindly updated the suspension on the World Raid. Out go the 43 mm forks and in come beefier 46 mm units with Kashima coating for lower friction. Yamaha also claims the settings have been revised to improve shock absorption and tire contact.
At the rear, the monoshock has a specifically designed arm relay and connecting rod for improved confidence. Both ends offer full adjustability, along with 9.05 inches of front and 8.66 inches of rear travel. These numbers are 0.78 inches more than the standard bike, which also helps improve the ground clearance (by 0.6 inches).
The Japanese Adventure Bike That Can Do It All
Modern middleweight adventure bikes are all versatile, and this one really can do it all
Spoke Wheels With Pirelli Tires Boost The Ruggedness
The suspension works in tandem with high-strength spoke wheels, measuring 21 and 18 inches front and rear. These house aggressive Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires, while two 282 mm front discs and a 245 mm rear disc provide braking power. Surprisingly, Yamaha hasn’t upgraded the brakes, even after the sizable increase in weight.
The Tenere 700 World Raid Has Impressive Features
Ever since its inception, the Tenere 700 has been one of the simplest middleweight ADVs. It had no electronic aids at the beginning, and even after its latest overhaul, this is still rather unimpressive by middleweight ADV standards. The World Raid version does its own thing, though. Although you get the same 6.3-inch rally-style vertical TFT, there are a few extra features embedded into it.
Most notable among these is the lean-sensitive traction control, slide control, and ABS. All of these work in tandem with a six-axis IMU that tracks acceleration and angular velocity in the pitch, roll, and yaw directions to determine the forces affecting the bike. Traction control and slide control both have three modes (STREET, OFF ROAD, and OFF) while the ABS is switchable via a dedicated button to enable full sliding potential.
In addition to this, Yamaha has thrown in smartphone connectivity with navigation, cruise control, speed limiter, a new ‘Raid’ display mode, and an adjustable steering damper. The latter has 16 steps of adjustment, with the option to dial up damping for more support in off-road riding. The distinct LED headlight and LED turn signals round off the improved features package, and the bespoke white, red, and black livery serves as a cherry on top. You can also get it in black (with golden wheels).
Yamaha’s Popular CP2 Engine Powers The Tenere World Raid
The one place where Yamaha hasn’t fiddled much is in the engine department, taking the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. So you get the same 689cc parallel-twin engine as the standard Tenere 700 here. It’s technically the same engine as the first-gen Tenere, but you do get a new airbox in 2026. This is said to boost low-end grunt, which has already been a highlight of the CP2 engine (regardless of the application).
The Overlooked Midweight Adventure Bike That Does It All
Although hailing from China, this adventure bike has an epic blend of performance, features, and quality components
A Quickshifter Is Missing
Coming to the numbers, the mill produces 72 horsepower and 50 pound-feet. The former peaks at 9,000 RPM while the torque kicks in at 6,500 RPM. This reaches the wheel via a six-speed transmission, which has a slip and assist clutch but no quickshifter. We feel the World Raid should’ve gotten a quickshifter as well as a special exhaust to boost the oomph.
The Tenere World Raid Could Worry The Aprilia Tuareg Rally
Although the World Raid variant has never entered the US, we believe there is a small market here now. Credit for that goes to the debut of the Aprilia Tuareg Rally, which serves the same niche as the Tenere World Raid. So it could be a like-for-like alternative from Yamaha and rob away sales from the Italian bike. It will need to undercut the Tuareg Rally, though, which it manages to do in Europe.
2026 Yamaha Tenere 700 World Raid Specifications
|
Engine |
689cc, parallel-twin |
|
Power |
72 HP @ 9,000 RPM |
|
Torque |
50 LB-FT @ 6,500 RPM |
|
Transmission |
Six-speed |
|
Chassis |
Steel double-cradle |
|
Front suspension |
46 mm USD forks |
|
Rear suspension |
Monoshock |
|
Front brake |
2x 282 mm discs |
|
Rear brake |
245 mm disc |
|
Weight |
485 pounds |
|
Ground clearance |
10 inches |
|
Seat height |
35 inches |