Jesse Ziegler | December 27, 2022
AmPro Yamaha builds a GNCC/Enduro-inspired Tenere 700, and we got to ride it.
The AmPro Yamaha Tenere 700 sitting pretty and frosty during our winter test ride. Graphics by SKDA give it a real team look (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Photography by Brian Elliott, Ziegler
Randy Hawkins, aka Javelin, is a legend. The AMA Motorcycle Hall-of-Famer, seven-time National Enduro Champion, and 73-time AMA National race winner knows a thing or two about riding off-road and winning. His AmPro Yamaha team effort is the official Yamaha factory-supported off-road racing program in the United States, taking on National Enduro, GNCC, Sprint Enduro and other South/East-based races. He has a championship pedigree, and his racers are always in contention.
The secret to his success as a team owner/mentor to current racers is simply giving talented riders the tools to win. From his home facility outside Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina, for testing and training, to the long list of aftermarket and performance brands that make up his bike builds, Hawkins has put together a dynamic off-road competition effort. And it works. AmPro has not only won championships consistently over the years, but they’ve directed many unproven, up-and-coming racers into championship careers.
So, when the guys at AmPro reached out and told us they were building out a Yamaha Tenere 700 in a very Randy Hawkins way and we could ride it with the Javelin himself, we said, heck ya! And we brought along our stock Tenere 700 to compare.
AmPro bossman and AMA Hall of Famer Randy Hawkins loves the “adventure-enduro” side of the big bikes.
The Perfect Project Bike Base
I’m not going to talk too much how much value resides in a Yamaha Tenere 700. I’ve said it a lot. The bike is an incredible value. Its no-frills approach to adventure riding is what many people are looking for. Affordable, minimal electronics, comfortable performance, and massive efficiency drive the sales of the easy-to-love T7.
This is exactly why it’s so attractive for so many project bikes. It’s easy to have some cash left over after buying a Tenere 700 to throw at the aftermarket, relatively speaking. Plus, the bike looks a lot like a dreamy rally bike. So, if you slap on custom graphics and aggressive tires, it starts looking dreamier and even more rallying.
AmPro Yamaha could have gone full-factory with this bike and slapped on Kashima-coated Factory Connection-tuned Showa 50mm fork tubes and triple-barrel shock systems (I made that up). But they decided to keep it realistic, a lot like their race bikes.
The author and Hawkins swapped between stock and project bike Tenere 700s for a few days of riding.
True, the AmPro Yamaha race YZ250FX and YZ450s are tricked out with great parts and are far from stockers. But from a modification standpoint, most of what they’re doing is massaging what’s already there in stock form and customizing the performance and comfort for each rider, especially on the 450, where, most of the time, they’re working to deliver smoother or more manageable power for the rough-and-rowdy off-road circuits.
The AmPro Yamaha Tenere 700 mimics that approach. It’s adding parts that make sense and look awesome but leaving well enough alone when it’s wise.
Hawkins still has it!
Riding With Randy
I must start this story with a bit of surrealism. I got to ride adventure bikes with Randy Hawkins. As a dirt bike nerd, it doesn’t get much better than that! Let’s add in the fact we rode in my home state of Montana, and we got to rip through some roads and areas I grew up bouncing around on. I could have been riding PW50s for the week we hung out, and I would have been completely pumped. But, jumping between the AmPro bike and my stocker with someone like Hawkins was all-time. He’s smart, humble and still one hell of a great rider. I have hit another life-goal-riding milestone on this trip! I rode ADV bikes in my backyard with the Javelin. Winning!
Jesse at home (literally) aboard Randy’s sweet ride.
Bring on The Build
In the adventure space, we hardly need a motor modification to make our time on a ride more enjoyable. Even on the smaller displacement end of the mid-size ADV segment, the Tenere 700 is plentiful enough for most rides. You’re not going to win a bomb run on a T7 against some others in the ADV class at a hare and hound, sure, but for casual riding, it’s more than solid.
AmPro followed suit with that program and hit up Camel ADV for some finer tuning. The high-pipe-style Camel slip-on muffler certainly adds some bark to the T7 and seems to move the power from grunt-style to rev-happy. It looks great, and the fit-and-finish seem solid. That’s the extent of the motor mods here, and it sort of makes us want to do a muffler/exhaust comparison and buyer’s guide for this bike. Such a simple change can really move the power around, for good or bad.
Another partner from GNCC and Enduro is Cycra, with its pro-bend handguard system.
Generally, we run stock tires to death on our ADV bikes and then go with something more off-road appropriate for the rest of our riding days together. AmPro had a set of Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires—very durable and nice 50/50 ADV tires—ready to go on this bike. But, since I had an idea of where we were riding and the conditions that were coming (hello, winter!) I had Dunlop set them up with a set of more-aggressive, DOT-approved EN91 knobbies front and rear. The euro-spec knob-height tires from Dunlop were great. We had some slick conditions with mud, snow, ice, wet pavement and packed snow on everything, all mixed into our routes. Compared to the stock Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR, the EN91s gave a lot more confidence.
Ergonomically, the Tenere 700 is very neutral. It feels comfortable sitting and standing, but for a lot of riders, they’d like the cockpit opened more to really feel great standing up for long stretches. Also, adding a little comfort boost never hurts. Fasst Co. was called, and they sent AmPro a set of their well-known Flexx Bars. Flexx Bars add a serious layer of comfort and custom fit to the mix.
Fasst Co.’s Flexx Bars are gaining popularity in the ADV space as riders look for more ergonomic customization and comfort.
I’ve since slapped on a set to our stock bike after this test. You can fine-tune your bar height and bend in house with their options, and their integrated bar-end threaded inserts make handguard install permanent. Plus, you can fine-tune the impact absorption and rebound via varying-density elastomers. They are cool and very reliable in my experience. I’ve rarely ridden a Flexx Bar-equipped bike and have not been happy. That holds true here, but I prefer their shorter height bar setup (which I put on our bike back at the CN office).
Fastway Adventure pegs are one of the bolt-ons that make ADV bikes feel better on every ride.
Speaking of comfort and performance. Another product I can count on to always over-deliver and make me happy is a Seat Concepts seat. Here, AmPro used Seat Concepts’ one-piece rally hard adventure seat. This thing is comfortable, flat and grippy—it really came in handy as I dog-paddled up some ruts in the snow! Plus, Seat Concepts products just look amazing. It adds a healthy dose of race style with real, durable performance.
Seat Concepts brings exceptional seats to almost any bike. The Idaho-based company’s vast selection is built in-house.
Fastway Adventure pegs replaced the plain and dull stock Tenere 700 pegs. A nice upgrade. The Tenere 700 has a protruding clutch lump that can knock your shin/calf out away from the bike while riding. A big, wide footpeg platform is a way to maintain leverage on this bike and increase your feet’s input over the handling.
Most of the mods to the bike are easily seen with a quick walk-around, including the very shiny D.I.D gold chain that I love. But what you can’t see is an ultra-lightweight Antigravity lithium battery that drops about five pounds off the stock battery weight.
A Garmin high-mount GPS keeps the route handy when trying to keep up with riders like Randy Hawkins.
Protection at the hands is covered by Cycra wrap-around shields offering plenty of protection, and on the underbelly of the Tenere beast, Camel ADV sent its massive skid plate to fend off any terrain-level attacks, and they also sent over a sleek license plate frame and turn signal kit that took care of the awkward stock components. That really helps clean up the looks.
Speaking of looks, this bike is dialed in on the graphics front; clearly, AmPro race-inspired. The team at SKDA built a tastefully sponsored look for the build with a number-on adventure-bike look that I think is super cool, even though some of my friends don’t. Motosport.com takes the coveted largest-logo prize here as the e-commerce retail giant supports the AmPro program. And they even saved some space for a Cycle News logo—sweet!
Riding awesome bikes in awesome places with awesome people. That’s a win-win-win for anyone!
Dream Ride
This bike is ultra-cool, not overbuilt, and it adds some flair to the vanilla stock Yamaha Tenere 700 platform that makes it a worthy AmPro model. But the real radicalness of any adventure is who you ride with, and in this case, I rode with a true legend, Randy Hawkins. And even though we froze almost every day, we still had typical adventure riding fun.CN
VIDEO | AmPro Yamaha Tenere 700 Project Bike
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