New Suspension for the Yamaha Tenere 700

If you believe the internet, one of the weakest points on the Tenere 700 is the suspension.
I've never seen an issue, possibly partly because I don't know better. Maybe because I'm a ham-fisted luddite, who knows?
But, over the past 3 years of ownership, my riding has improved, I've started to ride faster, and as such, I am starting to feel the need for some improvement.

The straw that broke the camel's back though, I recently noticed a leak in the right-hand fork seal. I ran a seal saver around it and this didn't seem to fix the issue, so I came to the conclusion it was time for some service work that was best carried out by a professional. I made a call to RS Motorcycles in Lower Hutt, and confessed to Owner Robert, that I don't really know what needs to be done, but I could probably do with getting the bike resprung for my weight at a bare minimum. Robert talked me through the options from a simple seal and oil replacement to a complete upgrade. Because I'm not yet done with the mighty T7, I managed to justify to my self, that dropping a good bit of coin on the suspension was a good idea. I booked the bike in, and Robert came up with a plan.

So, Robert, what is wrong with the suspension of the Tenere 700 from the factory?

"Well, that's a real open-ended question. Motorcycles are built to a budget and an obvious place to save money, which is hidden from view, is the suspension.
Obviously, during testing, the manufacturer will set the bike up for what they deem to be a "generic rider", whoever that rider may be. I've never met him/her, but, they spring the motorcycle in such a way that they try and make it work for everybody in all conditions. The reality is everyone's different. Everyone has different needs from their suspension. So what we do is, we make it better. The, big thing on the Tenere 700 is the rear shock. There is not really much we can do with it. It is very basic. The damping inside is not fantastic. You could go to the expense of Re-valving it and modifying it internally, but by the time you've done that, you're better off putting an aftermarket shock in it.

So, for you, we're doing a YSS adjustable shock. It's fully adjustable, so high and low-speed damping for compression, rebound damping, and a hydraulic preload adjuster. It's the Gold standard of suspension for the rear end on this bike. Up front, the fork, these aren't too bad... but, the spring is terrible. The spring is so under-sprung for New Zealand riding. I don't know why it's in there. It's almost as soft as an off-road spring, as in something that will go in a Yamaha WR450. So we believe the YSS full cartridge kit is ideal. It's a lot more cost-effective now to put a full drop-in cartridge into a bike and have a great result, which of course you are going to experience."

Over in the suspension corner of the RS Motorcycles workshop, Robert showed me the components he had got in for my bike.

"This is the rear shock. This is basically what any race shock from YSS would look like. We have a three-way adjustment for damping plus hydraulic preload. A hydraulic preload adjuster means you can adjust your spring preload. So if you want to go away on a trip and you put a whole lot of luggage on the bike, you can put a bit more spring preload on it. We have high and low-speed damping for compression, meaning we can control when you're hitting a bump, how much and how quickly it compresses for small stutter bumps and for big potholes and big jumps essentially. We have rebound damping as well. So we can adjust how much it pushes back. It's a really great three-way adjustable shock. When we buy shocks like this, they get dyno'd up at YSS NZ in New Plymouth before they're sent out, and it's sprung for your weight. So really nice bit of kit."

So, that's the rear end, what about the front?
"Essentially, We gut your fork and drop a whole new internal in it. Rebound adjustable on one side, compression on the other. Very common with lots of forks these days. Obviously sprung to your weight. There's a huge piston in there that drives a lot of oil, gives us really good control and of course, you get a full service as well. new oil, new seals, all nice and clean. It will be like a brand-new fork."

What am I going to notice once the work is complete?

"For your day-to-day riding, it'll be more comfortable, it'll be more compliant and it will help the bike steer better. The suspension has an effect dynamically on how the bike goes around corners and steers. The big thing you are going to notice when you take the bike off-road is, it will give you more traction. It will handle bumps so much better because we are springing the bike to your weight. All the suspension that we do, we spring it to the weight of the rider. It's up to spec for New Zealand conditions. KSS NZ is one of very few R and D centres worldwide, so they do a lot of development work for New Zealand. We're so different to the rest of the world in our road conditions and especially our off-road. Once this suspension is in the bike, it will be a lot more compliant. The rear is going to give you more traction because we can drive the rear tire of the bike into the ground better than your standard shock can.

It's custom set up for you. I mean, what more do you want?"

Reading the owner's manual, 40,000km is a big service. Firstly the spark plugs, which should have been changed at 20,000km (they weren't) should again be changed at 40,000km, I have a set of NGK plugs to go in. The steering head bearing should be repacked with grease, as should the swing arm pivot bearings (overdue). There's a nice big crack in the right-hand side fairing, so new fairings have arrived from Japan. I have a new set of Vesrah JL series front brake pads, new brake fluid, a new Protaper EVO Adventure handle Bar in Black, because the amount of times my bike has ended up on its side, the factory-original bar is bound to be a bit bent. As well as a set of Acerbis frame protectors, new engine oil, and filter.
Once all that is done, I'll be out on the trails testing out the new suspension setup. Hopefully, it will feel like a brand-new bike. but I'll report back as honestly as I can soon.