T7 ACCESSORRIES DO'S & DON'TS

[RIDER GUIDER]

Thoughts on this team? 

 

YAMAHA TENERE 700 - WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING ACCESSORIES

 

I was no different to almost every other Yamaha T7 owner when I bought it ... I followed up the bike purchase by adding every possible accessory and in my opinion it completely changed the factory feel.  After two years, here is my ownership experience and what I'm now doing to rectify the issues I've created.  I'm now removing or changing the parts and accessories I added, with the intention of getting the weight back down to where it was, so I can get the bike back to where it should be in the handling, a lithe athletic 700 cc off road weapon that I can also use for longer rides.  Not a heavy lump that feels like it's restricting my off road ability.  Check out what I removed, and also what I swapped for lighter alternatives in my quest to reduce my carb laden fat T7!  Link to the channel video above ...

Edited October 31, 2022 by RIDER GUIDER

[Ray Ride4life]

Sorry but the all capital text is too annoying to read.

[RIDER GUIDER]

35 minutes ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Sorry but the all capital text is too annoying to read.

edited

[Ray Ride4life]

Oké, now i could manage to read it and watched the video.

First of all i still don't understand all the people here buying all kinds of accessories and often not even having the bike, sorry if i offend anybody but it's just plain stupid.
Get the bike and start riding and then buy items you feel you need based on your riding.
All the tips and reviews from others do are very welcome but if i jump from a bridge do you too? They are experiences from their point of view and if they find something great is doesn't mean it is for you too.
Everything i have on my bike i added (or removed) because it has a purpose or not. If not i remove it to compensate the weight of thins i add.
A view thing i changed because i discovered something better like my high crashbars which i changed for the HD Enduro (Less and lower weight) and the double take mirrors i changed for the Rotweiler.
Other items i have or will change when something breaks and then change it for something better.
Just my two cents.

[electric_monk]

9 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Oké, now i could manage to read it and watched the video.

First of all i still don't understand all the people here buying all kinds of accessories and often not even having the bike, sorry if i offend anybody but it's just plain stupid.
Get the bike and start riding and then buy items you feel you need based on your riding.
All the tips and reviews from others do are very welcome but if i jump from a bridge do you too? They are experiences from their point of view and if they find something great is doesn't mean it is for you too.
Everything i have on my bike i added (or removed) because it has a purpose or not. If not i remove it to compensate the weight of thins i add.
A view thing i changed because i discovered something better like my high crashbars which i changed for the HD Enduro (Less and lower weight) and the double take mirrors i changed for the Rotweiler.
Other items i have or will change when something breaks and then change it for something better.
Just my two cents.

I have a couple of friends that are like this, thankfully they are thick skinned enough that i'm able to abuse them for it.

[RIDER GUIDER]

6 hours ago, electric_monk said:

I have a couple of friends that are like this, thankfully they are thick skinned enough that i'm able to abuse them for it.

Hahahah - quite right too mate

[RIDER GUIDER]

16 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

Oké, now i could manage to read it and watched the video.

First of all i still don't understand all the people here buying all kinds of accessories and often not even having the bike, sorry if i offend anybody but it's just plain stupid.
Get the bike and start riding and then buy items you feel you need based on your riding.
All the tips and reviews from others do are very welcome but if i jump from a bridge do you too? They are experiences from their point of view and if they find something great is doesn't mean it is for you too.
Everything i have on my bike i added (or removed) because it has a purpose or not. If not i remove it to compensate the weight of thins i add.
A view thing i changed because i discovered something better like my high crashbars which i changed for the HD Enduro (Less and lower weight) and the double take mirrors i changed for the Rotweiler.
Other items i have or will change when something breaks and then change it for something better.
Just my two cents.

Definitely going to look at Rottweiler mirrors.  I do like my DT's but along with losing weight I want the bike to look more minimal.  I think the Rottweiler do that.  Which one's did you install?  Do you have a picture? 

[Ray Ride4life]

[RIDER GUIDER]

32 minutes ago, DuncMan said:

Agree with Ray. No point in copying what others do if you use your bike differently than they do and even if you have a similar riding style and usage your mileage may vary greatly from others. Ride the bike and then modify it to your specific needs. And keep in mind this is never going to be a lightweight off-road bike. It was not designed for that purpose. It’s competent both on road and off but it’s a master of neither. 

I think I've evolved to be honest and now find I'm after a more off-road focused bike.  I've no regrets having joined the T7 brigade, it's an awesome club to be honest but a WR450 might make its way to my garage at some point.  Now if I can keep the T7 too that will be a great pairing.  

[Ray Ride4life]

1 hour ago, DuncMan said:

And keep in mind this is never going to be a lightweight off-road bike

But that is exactly the excuse why people keep adding useless stuff but a few kilo's/pounds realy can make a big difference.

[RIDER GUIDER]

16 minutes ago, Ray Ride4life said:

But that is exactly the excuse why people keep adding useless stuff but a few kilo's/pounds realy can make a big difference.

EXACTLY - I hope I really do notice the difference when I've managed to reduce its weight by that 15kgs or so.

[luke29ermtb]

You've got me thinking seriously about removing the Yamaha engine protection bars now. @Trollbiker says here that they weight 5kg. Yamaha Australia, of course, don't list a weight on their accessories page. 

 

5kg up high is going to have noticeable impact on bike handling.   

[disco2000]

Now that we are discussing weight and accessories, I got influenced and thought I had achieved the optimal and best luggage setup.

Was consisting of: Perun Moto rear luggage rack, Outback Motortek side racks and Mosko Moto backcountry luggage.

 

It took only 1 ride to realize how heavy is this setup and doesn't fit my needs and riding.

So, I removed everything and sold the whole package.

 

I will let below photos to speak for themselves. The last photo is the weight in KG (17) which corresponds to 37.47 pounds (lb)

 

 

 

 

[Ray Ride4life]

I have the Backcountry 35 on my Crosstourer but for the T7 i chose the reckless setup, the R40 for daily use and the R80 for long trips.

[DT675]

When I read through this thread awhile back it didnt have much impact on me.  Then just the other night I was standing in the garage looking at it, focused on my rear rack that I have a Rotopack mount permanantly mounted to, thinking about how much they weigh and how rarely I use it.  Really I only need it when I do overnight camping trips and thats so far only been about twice a year.  The rest of the time I have a whole other set-up that works great for day trips.  So yeah, last night I took the rack off just to see how heavy it is.  ITS HEAVY.  Now Im wondering how much weight I can save and how the bike might handle by keeping that off and getting a tail tidy.  Im also starting to eye up my OEM crash bars...  

[RIDER GUIDER]

On 11/1/2022 at 2:01 PM, luke29ermtb said:

You've got me thinking seriously about removing the Yamaha engine protection bars now. @Trollbiker says here that they weight 5kg. Yamaha Australia, of course, don't list a weight on their accessories page. 

 

5kg up high is going to have noticeable impact on bike handling.   

We'll have to get on a ride out again soon mate

[RIDER GUIDER]

22 minutes ago, DT675 said:

When I read through this thread awhile back it didnt have much impact on me.  Then just the other night I was standing in the garage looking at it, focused on my rear rack that I have a Rotopack mount permanantly mounted to, thinking about how much they weigh and how rarely I use it.  Really I only need it when I do overnight camping trips and thats so far only been about twice a year.  The rest of the time I have a whole other set-up that works great for day trips.  So yeah, last night I took the rack off just to see how heavy it is.  ITS HEAVY.  Now Im wondering how much weight I can save and how the bike might handle by keeping that off and getting a tail tidy.  Im also starting to eye up my OEM crash bars...  

haha yeh DT ... engine/crash bars are 5kgs however I'm still looking at pros and cons on them, I also have a Rotopax on the rear and when it's full it is a lump.  I'm gonna sell mine (they are hard to come by and will sell quick) and get the Acerbis tank instead, the Acerbis itself is much lighter than standard and not much weight added even IF it's brimmed with fuel.   I'm not sure the OE tail end is that heavy to justify getting a tail tidy for weight loss but they do look good!  I have the B&B, I'll grab my OE later to see how it feels weight wise.

[Wintersdark]

On 10/30/2022 at 1:32 AM, Ray Ride4life said:

Oké, now i could manage to read it and watched the video.

First of all i still don't understand all the people here buying all kinds of accessories and often not even having the bike, sorry if i offend anybody but it's just plain stupid.
Get the bike and start riding and then buy items you feel you need based on your riding.
All the tips and reviews from others do are very welcome but if i jump from a bridge do you too? They are experiences from their point of view and if they find something great is doesn't mean it is for you too.
Everything i have on my bike i added (or removed) because it has a purpose or not. If not i remove it to compensate the weight of thins i add.
A view thing i changed because i discovered something better like my high crashbars which i changed for the HD Enduro (Less and lower weight) and the double take mirrors i changed for the Rotweiler.
Other items i have or will change when something breaks and then change it for something better.
Just my two cents.

Gotta say, this was a lesson it took me a lot of bikes to learn.  In recent years I've stripped so many farkles off my Tracer 900, and strongly resisted the urge to slap stuff on the T7.

 

Generally speaking, most of the common stuff either isn't an improvement, or even actually amkes the bike worse.  Instead, I try to wait, get serious miles in, and address problems I find instead of buying some imagined "build list", particularly before becoming very familiar with the bike.  At this point now I have literal boxes full of stuff I've bought for the two and then removed because it was either actually crap, or just didn't improve the bike.

 

The reality is, every bit of added weight makes the bike ride a bit worse, so it needs to bring something to the table to be worth that. 

 

I get it though, I do.  It's*fun* to farkle up a bike.  We all love spending money on our babies.  

 

But in all seriousness I've found that the only worthwhile change for a new bike is getting the suspension set up for your weight out of the box.  Everything else, wait till you *know* what you need to fix a problem you know you have.  

 

That's just me, though, and honestly just over the last few years.  To each their own.

Edited November 20, 2022 by Wintersdark

[luke29ermtb]

On 11/7/2022 at 11:48 AM, RIDER GUIDER said:

We'll have to get on a ride out again soon mate

Organising a ride with me is a bit like trying to find the sock that your washing machine has eaten. Very frustrating. When I do get time, and the weather is OK, I just pack and go.

 

If this rain ever stops I'll be trying to make something happen, even if it is just an overnighter somewhere but there is soooo much water out there now that finding a good route that is passable might be a challenge.