Transcontinental Ténérés
Aussie Torture Test For Tough Yamaha Twins
Motology Films adventure guru Adam Riemann and long-time Yamaha dealer and former Yamaha Factory Dakar Rally racer Rodney Faggotter have completed an epic off-road trip across Australia on a pair of Ténéré 700 World Raids. In just 10 days, they crossed 6,500 km of harsh Australian outback terrain, including the Simpson Desert.
Honestly, the bikes started and ran faultlessly day in and day out in the middle of nowhere
Despite the harsh conditions, hot pace and long days in the saddle - including a 720km day between Nullarbor and Warburton - the bikes performed superbly. “Honestly, the bikes started and ran faultlessly day in and day out in the middle of nowhere, which is the most reassuring trait a motorcycle can have when putting yourself out there,” said content creator Riemann.
There were inevitable minor issues on the 6200km Perth to Townsville trip, including punctures, dinged rims and broken mirrors, but the fully loaded machines coped admirably with the outback.
While crossing the Simpson Desert, temperatures reached into the 40s, but the Ténérés sailed without a drip of coolant.
The pair carried fuel bladders to supplement the 23-litre main fuel tanks of their bikes to ensure they had enough fuel to get them to the next servo – the biggest distance without fuel being 800km.
Riemann has captured the unsupported trip in a four-part YouTube series. You can view Episode 1 via the video panel above or head to his YouTube channel.
To further prove the performance reliability – and fuel economy – of Yamaha’s ADV twin, RideADV sweep rider Joe Morgan (pictured above) has recently returned from a Simpson Desert crossing on his fully-loaded Ténéré 700 World Raid. Remarkably, Joe used only 26 litres of fuel on the 520km sandy stretch from Birdsville to Mount Dare. In comparison, his riding buddy used 44 litres on his larger 950cc twin.