Hi everyone hope we are all well been a long month or two the story starts with my dad waking up struggling to pass fluid, that leads to a docs appointment an a rush mri then biopsy which then had a complication an me rushing him to a&e the day after,

Unfortunately an he couldn't pass anything luckily he then got a catheter fitted an thankfully they confirmed there was no damage to his kidneys it was super touch n go as his bladder nearly burst while he was waiting to be seen.


When that happened at his biopsy I decided to do something to give him something positive to focus on

In the best way possible a motorcycle!

An trade in my 2011 fireblade I've owned since new to get us a 2020 Yamaha Tenere 700 for him an myself to ride as a suprise. This really kept him positive over the past week especially when he was hit with the bad news on Friday of Stage 3 Prostate Cancer which came as a bit of a shock as he seemed fit and healthy and in good shape all things considered which goes to show check ups are so important a I hope in the future we all get screened for it more often.


Dad being dad even when he found out he's gotta have an opp before his radiotherapy is super excited for the Tenere which arrives shortly.

The plan now is for us to scrap our move to Scotland as where we were planning was hours from the hospital he'd need to attend, stay local but move a bit further into the Peak District an then look at near Exeter down in Devon in 2 years time if possible. Which was the other 50/50 plan for the move. Delays all my plans a fair bit but my entire focus is on my dad and keeping him able to enjoy his life as much as possible so all fingers crossed for positive treatment.


Tomorrow he's having a bone scan which will give us an even clearer picture all fingers crossed its not spread Into them.


He's been struggling a fair bit since the biopsy so anything positive is good.

The next plan is to sell my 1150GSA as to stay where we are it means downsizing quite a bit so lots less garage space as we will just be managing on how I support my parents for a while after we move an I end my career break. All about the teamwork though

Which means as much as I wanted to keep it as well we just won't have the room Nortons an stuff can fit through house doorways into rooms!

Also wanna say a thanks to Adie at Crescent who made it really painless for me sorting it out in-between all the hospital stuff, renewed my faith in dealers.

Anyways I thought the update might give a bit of explanation to the lack of posts an youtube.


So without further ado here's our 2020 Yamaha Tenere 700 an I'll get some pics n vids taken out an about on her over the coming weeks in between dad's hospital stuff.


The plan is to use the Yamaha Lowering link and Yamaha low seat as from what I've read that will take 38mm out of the seat height for dad and anything that makes it managable is great in my book an then I can flick the Rally seat on when I'm on it for a bit more leg room if needs be.


Initially I was gonna get the Touratech Low seat but they came back to me today an said it's the same height as the standard Yamaha 2 peice seat so that might be a good option for me in the future.

Will be an interesting way to see if the Tenere 700 floats our boat then when we are more sorted an can look at our Norway trip can look at some new ones

Once the 1150 is sold I'm gonna get cracking on my Yamaha RD350LC an the rest on bills. The very first bike dad and I ever got together at one point I had 2 of them, 2 350lcs, 2 250lcs a rd250c an a rzv500r an tz.


now I've* just got the one 350lc the first one that we never finished which means the most to us, I used to do 2k Miles a week on one of the 250lcs an I've never ridden a modern Yamaha so will be interesting with the T7 an will be fun flying about on an Elsie again.

Naturally this means Norway is pushed back quite considerably as dad's got alot of surgery and treatment planned.

So the plan is in between stuff to grab the rides when we can on the Yams an just enjoy and savour every moment possible

First day out on the Tenere 700 Adventure Motorcycle decided to have a go at green laning again ^_^ I decided recently to sell my fireblade I've owned since 2011 an get a T7 for dad an I to share after his stage 3 gleason stage 9 prostate cancer diagnosis as something positive for him to focus on through his treatment.

Had a small ride out today to see how I got on with the Tenere 700 30 mins in I found myself on a local greenlane.

Which lead to that typical thing you get with Japanese Motorcycles of them feeling like you've rode them forever after a few rides up the cat and fiddle I decided to have a wander to a car park near a green lane.

Which then lead to me having a little think to myself an then deciding to have a ride up said green lane as I'd what I'd class a reluctant green laner! Having not particularly enjoyed it on the 300 Rally.

An being utterly suprised by the Tenere I'd rode the same lane on the 300 Rally and I'm being totally honest here I actually found it much easier on the T7. Which completely suprised me now I'm no green laner but I rode it up there took a few pics an rode back with no dramas an with complete confidence.

Riding at my own pace taking some pics, talking to a few walkers and just generally having a really nice afternoon of it.

Dad was over the moon when I got back I got the T7 to give him something to ride an focus on through his stage 3 prostate cancer treatment an he's looking forward to riding it when he's able.

It suprised me that I even wanted to have another go at greenlaning what did suprise me with the T7 is it felt managable to move around an like a big dirtbike really crossed with a nippy small cc fun bike with that yamahaness you get with bikes like the Elsie, fun mix not had a modern Yam before and its an interesting change from the 1150gsa which is like a magic carpet that was my previous main bike which the T7 will be replacing.

The grunty engine suprised me to really torquey which made it great it just felt like it had tons of grip an didn't need loads of revs like the 300 an I didn't notice the top heaviness I didn't drop it though so that might change lmao.

Seat was a bit hard but the reach to the ground considering it was +40mm Rally seat was ok an I found the suspension probs needs some valving at some point. Overall its gonna be a great base going forward.

Has anyone tried a Touratech low Comfort seat?

I saw your post on facebook. The Tenere is a nice bike, I had one for a while but sold it as I felt it was just too tall and top heavy as an adventure bike, let alone a green lane one. That said, I did a day with the Yamaha Offroad Experience in Wales a while ago and the bike acquitted itself well - albeit on nothing too gnarly. I'm currently riding an XT660Z which TBH isn't much shorter or heavier but I like the simplicity of the single for trips where you may be hundreds of miles from the next dealer. If not for the dealer angle I'd take my 790 Adventure, which is lower in seat and CG - a far more capable bike but carrying more electronics than I'd want for the steppes. If you're planning to get out and about in Europe on an adventure bike I'd 100% recommend giving the KTM a go. Get down to Exeter and you can try mine out. Hope your dad's treatment goes well.... happy riding

Thanks TomKat it's always interesting to get different opinions

We had a bad experience with two 390s which both ended up rejected so not something either of us wanna revisit.

We both loved the idea of the 790s an they were our first choice though but decided on the Yamaha this time round as I don't fancy having something in an out of the workshop as a possibility, enough going on sorting the house move an looking after dad.

How've you been getting on with yours always super interesting to hear from other owners.

The other side of it is our local ktm shop closed recently so they are all a right trek away.

We managed to get a look at the new Explore t7 with a 860mm seat height an that made a big difference to the T7. Which is the plan to get ballpark for dad either via the lowering link or the seat, the good thing is with the T7 there's options for that

Plan with ours is to add either the touratech low seat (same height as standard 2pc) or the yamaha factory low seat an lowering links at some point.

Which would take 38mm out of the stock seat height an 80mm compared to our Rally seat

Thanks for the comments on dad it's meaning alot to him

Maybe it's my height but I'm not experiencing the top heaviness on the Tenere. Having said that the last bike was the 1150gsa so maybe its the perspective from coming from that or just that I'm 6'2 an a 32" inseam I always find it fascinating though that bikes are so different to all of us

Xt660 is such a cool bike! It's a shame they dropped them from the Yamaha lineup.

I reckon when we eventually move down to Exeter way a smaller cc single would be good judging from Nathan's videos on the lanes in Cornwall on his ccm looked alot of fun.

Hopefully for our level of green laning and the easy lanes I wanna do up here the t7 will be fine really enjoyed it yesterday

Did you ever fit any of the Camel side panels on yours TomKat?

Vid from yesterday

I bought my 790 back in 2019 for a trip to Mongolia. I did a shakedown run to Croatia intending to do the big one in 2020, but of course we know what happened then. I finally set out last year, ran into all sorts of problems almost straight away (which TBF weren't KTM's fault), came back, bought a T7, had a different set of problems and decided to knock it on the head for the interim, took the 790 round Ireland instead.

The big thing with top heaviness is it isn't a huge problem until you have to pick the bike up, particularly on your own on slippery ground with luggage and a full tank. I've done it a few times with the KTM - the pannier-type fuel tank keeps the weight low so picking it up is a doddle. When I dropped the Tenere in Wales I couldn't pick it up on my own, and I'm not a weed.

There is a good KTM dealer down here in Exeter and loads of green lanes. I went out once with the TRF boys and did a full day of lanes, never going more than 20 miles from home. But I wouldn't recommend using a big adventure bike for those, quite a lot of slippery mud and gnarly little tracks with big ruts.

My misadventures are here: www.facebook.com/motosunburn

Thanks TomKat really informative reply

Thanks for taking the time to share an sharing your adventures I'll check that out.