Is Yamaha working on a Tenere 900?

I'll start by saying I've long expected a Tenere 900 to be announced. Ever since Yamaha announced the Tenere 700 with the CP2 engine from the MT07, I fully expected a Tenere 900 using the CP3 from the MT09 to be announced. And now rumors are rife across the internet that this is in fact the case.

After the departure of the Yamaha Super Tenere 1200 machine, there has been a gap in the market, at least for those with blue blood. And although there are those who believe anything with more than 2 cylinders is a waste of time off-road, there is a case for a 900cc cross-plane triple-powered adventure tourer from Yamaha. Look at the Africa Twin, Triumph Tiger 800, 900, and 1200, and not to mention the more road bias V-Strom 1050, Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250cc monster, and of course the offerings from BMW. Yet, the biggest offering from team tuning fork for anything adventure/touring is the Tenere 700. No, there's no way I'm taking a Tracer 900 GT off road.

The 889cc CP3 engine from the MT09 has been a great success not only in the MT09, but also in the Niken, Tracer 900, and XSR900, so why not? Put some spoked wheels, longer travel plush suspension, and a full electronics suite on it and I reckon it would sell like hotcakes. But Yamaha does need to be careful to keep the weight down, as that was one of the biggest issues from most people with the Super Tenere, weighing in wet at 261kg. if they can squeeze the CP3 into a frame and give it a little off-road potential, then we will be on to a winner.

This brings me to Yamaha's other issue currently, and that is that all their current bikes appear to have been designed by a blind dog with a pencil in its mouth. XSR and Tenere excluded they all have those dopy chroninburg monster thing going on. Sure, aesthetics is all down to personal preference, but I think the entire MT lineup is horrible, and the R lineup is not much better. Even the new R7 is a bit naff.

so, to get back on topic, let's get the 889cc CP3 into an adventure frame, give it some at least semi-off road aspirations, and let's get us some Tenere 900 action!

We'll share more as soon as we find out.