latest orbsurfer videos
Yamaha Ténéré 700 - Windscreens
Depending on how you use your bike, a taller windscreen than the factory windscreen, can make the ride more comfortable.
Review of the original small Yamaha, the medium size Puig and the tall Givi windscreens.
Yamaha Ténéré 700 - Original Center Stand
Installing a center stand is probably one of the most useful accessories you can install on your motorcycle.
Install and review of the original Yamaha center stand.
latest orbsurfer videos
The Perfect Cell Phone Holder
Having tried many different cell phone holders, this is the best holder yet, especially after some light modifications.
Installation of the cell phone holder on a Rally Raid top bar clamp; i.e. handlebar bracket, also lightly modified.
Yamaha Ténéré 700 - Rally Seat (Sky Blue Edition)
Review of the Rally Seat that comes on the Sky Blue Rally Edition bike.
This original one piece seat is 20 mm taller than the standard seat.
about orbsurfer
These pages are about journeys, installing accessories and doing maintenance on a 2021 Intensity White, i.e. Black, Red and White, 2021 Yamaha XTZ 690 Ténéré 700.
Yamaha designed the Ténéré 700 in Italy, and in Europe, the Ténéré 700 is characterized as a rally bred dual sport bike, a segment leaning more towards off-road riding, while in the US, the bike is characterized as an Adventure Bike, a segment leaning more towards street riding. Both bikes are equal, but the European Ténéré 700 is manufactured in France, while the US bike is manufactured in Japan. Most of the original Yamaha accesories such as the center stand, the rear/top rack, the side and top case etc. is manufactured in Europe.
The first bike I spent extremely much time on, was a smaller predesseor to these new types of adventure bikes, in other words, the more things change, the more they remain the same! I ended up with a mid-size bike, and escpecially the Ténéré 700 for multiple reasons:
- Riding Off-Road
- - a lighter bike is soo much easier to lift back up than a heavy motorcycle
- - a smaller and lighter bike is more agile and easier to manouver
- Simplicity
- - less electronics and less settings to adjust, equals less things that can go wrong, important in the middle of nowhere
- Economy
- - a fraction of the price of many of the full size adventure bikes, leaving me more resources for accesories, gear and for taking trips, the latter, the reason for having an adventure bike!
- - roughly 10 mpg better fuel economy than a full size adventure bike.