In preparation for our 2026 travels, we purchased (2) lightly used adv bikes back in October.
A 2025 CFMoto 450 for Min and a 2024 Yamaha Tenere 700 for Igor.
The twist: the bikes are in Milan and we’ve yet to ride them.
The actual purchase and storage has been taken care of by MotoTouring who we have commissioned with the task. I initially thought that a three month on-ramp would be overly cautious, but it proved to be just enough time to fit in upgrades and order accessories without holidays becoming a problem.
The MT is a big change for Min. For the past two and a half years she’s grown to really appreciate the lightness of her 2023 KTM 390, but decided it was time to move up a notch. She’ll be going from a thumper, of which she’s owned three, to her first two cylinder. She’ll gain many a creature comfort in the process as well as some significant improvements at the cost of added weight. 175kg/386lb dry for the CFMoto vs. 158kg/348lb for the KTM.
With both bikes delivering about the same horsepower (mid 40s), the immediate question is whether the extra 18kg/40lb is truly worth it. Betting on the MT Min is effectively choosing reliability, suspension, and highway stability over off-road maneuverability. At least in theory. We’ll report our findings from the field.
This Tenere is Igor’s third. The first, a 2022, hasn’t had an easy life as a dedicated dirt bike. Cactus and stone have been the standard fare in the New Mexican desert and yet it somehow continues to take it all in stride. More than that, stripped down and lightly modified it remains the off-road favorite. The second machine, a 2025, is a development bike and a stand-in for the baggage setup to be used on the 2024 in Italy.
Why the third? Because of the costs of shipping bikes from the US to EU. Makes little sense to put a bike on a boat both ways. Especially if we end up enjoying the adventure enough to plan another.
I decided to pick a ’24 because it’s the last year of the first generation. Well, post resurrection, that is. The Tenere model name was used by Yamaha on Dakar rally racers in the 80s and 90s. The ’24 is the last year where the throttle is attached to a physical cable. As I’m not a fan of by-wire fueling I decided to prioritize throttle response over the improved suspension available from the factory on the ’25s. At the end of the day, remedies for both suspension and fuel mapping exist so either could be upgraded. Ironically, as a software developer, I often prefer simpler, analog solutions as they are less prone to failure. I have no use for multiple riding modes. But I’m pretty peeved when surprised with too much or too little power when I rotate the throttle 1/16 of a turn as I navigate muddy ruts down a 45 degree slope.
The larger question, of course, is why a Tenere or why an adventure bike. Or, even, why a motorcycle in the first place. Musings on these and many other subjects to come.
[…] all goes well, we’ll pick up our new-to-us motorcycles in Milan the last week of January […]
[…] Choosing our next destination is part whim, part science. This time the emphasis was as much on exploring some beautiful new country as it was on finding a decent patch of dirt. No ruts and sand. Just something that would give Min a chance to get to know the MT450 a bit better. She has considerable dirt experience, including some tricky BDRs in southern New Mexico, but this bike is a whole new beast. It took me two years to make the transition from a light dirt bike to a mid-weight ADV. It’s only been two weeks since she’s gone from the KTM390 to the bigger, heavier MT. […]
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