Yamaha Tenere 700 vs 2022 Kawasaki KLR650

Earlier last year, the legendary, undisputed, king of adventure bikes, the Yamaha Tenere 700 was introduced to the market.

With a 2 cylinder, liquid cooled, 689cc engine that produces 72.4hp and 50 lb-ft of torque, while only weighing in at 205 kgs wet, with a fuel capacity of 16 litres.

The Tenere gives a ground clearance of 9.4 inches with a 21 inch front and 18 inch rear tire.

It has a six speed gearbox that allows you to tear open the roads as well as the dirt.

There’s no disputing that the Tenere 700 is the best selling adventure motorcycle on the market nowadays and rightly so.

It carries both characteristics of a true dirt bike and a dual purpose. With a skilled rider it can dominate the trails and also be taken on long distance rides across highways and country roads. Ultimately the Tenere is a reliable bike and ticks all of the boxes for the adventure bike market.

But the old boy has come back to town. The 32 year old, indestructible, single cylinder 652cc liquid cooled Kawasaki KLR650. Producing 41 horsepower and 39.1 lb-ft of torque. Weighing in at 208kg wet, with a fuel capacity of 23 litres.

The KLR650 gives a ground clearance of 8.3 inches with a 21 inch front and 17 inch rear tire.

It only has a five speed gearbox though, which I believe limits its performance on the highways but not in an overly bothersome way. It would just be nice to have a sixth gear.

So is the Yamaha Tenere 700 better than the new Kawasaki KLR650? Yes and no.

According to the spec sheet and the fact that the Tenere 700 is a more capable bike, outputting more power, a higher ground clearance and an amazing design whereby the rear swingarm is pivoted lower so that the tire intentionally digs into the ground under acceleration,
The Tenere 700 is definitely the better bike for adventure riding and just so much more fun.

But this comes at a hefty price tag of $17,000 Australian Dollars compared to only $8700 for the KLR650. That’s half the price. So going by those measures if it were half the price we could expect half the performance, half the ground clearance and half of the reliability.

But this isn’t true the KLR650 provides about 60% of the HP that the Tenere does as well as 80% of the torque. The KLR is also an extremely comfortable bike, bulletproof reliability and is able to perform quite well off road.

Most people won’t be bush bashing on either bike and would be using them to travel long distances with the ability to do some moderate off roading. That’s why I believe the KLR650 is a great competitor with the Tenere 700 and a bike that could last you decades. Literally decades.