Yamaha Tenere 700 Rally

I'm your age Kev, I currently have an AT 1100, T7, and R1200RS and am considering eliminating 2 of them. If I do it'll be the AT and RS because I appreciate riding a simpler and lighter machine that can do everything I need. The mods I've made to my T7 are a Seat Concepts, Bumot removable soft panniers, factory centre stand, and a 16T countershaft sprocket. I'll probably install heated grips also but that's about it.
Stock, 4,000 rpm was only 55 mph, it's now about 59 mpg which feels more relaxed. Idling in 1st gear w/o slipping the clutch stock showed 7 mph, now the display varies back and forth between 7 - 8 mph so hardly affected. There are two features missing (that if it had would make it about perfect for me) tubeless wheels and cruise control. But I'll suffer without those features in order to have all the rest this middle weight bike offers; build quality, wonderful drivetrain, comfortable ergos, simple to operate and ease of maintenance (take note Africa Twin!), nice handling on all types of roads. Origionally I was concerned that the 4.2 gallon tank could be inadequate but it's not been an issue so far because it gets well over 50 miles per US gallon, many times closer to 60.

This is about as poor quality road as I ride this bike on.


This one shows the panniers a little better.

Thanks for the post Clifton. Thats a real nice bike.
My Africa Twin came with tubed wheels so i bought a set of Alpina Tubeless (expensive) and gave them to the dealer to fit as the bike was uncrated. If Yamaha gave an option of tubed or tubeless they would have a huge demand. I wonder if the 'off road' tag of the T7 is more about style than actual hard core off roading. I reckon many would opt for tubeless as like me they ride on stuff that would be fine on tubeless.
My Honda 250 is like the T7, no frills, not even a gear indicator, and I think that creates a bond as it takes you back to your youth where you understand whats beneath you (almost) and have fun spannering (wrenching for you guys ? ). My GSA gets serviced by the dealer and that dosnt sit right with a retired mechanical Engineer.
We have just had the first salt thrown down on our roads which means I dont ride due to the corrosive effect. The roads are dry and its well above freezing but thats the crazy thing they do in the UK.

You're welcome, and thanks.
I've considered taping and sealing the inside of the wheels but have heard from quite a number who have had trouble, and I really don't want to spend $2,000 on new wheels just to go tubeless so on any ride of consequence I just carry along tools, tubes, and compressor.
I also have a little dual sport, a Yamaha XT250, which I'll keep just for enjoying the local country roads, and like you say "creates a bond as it takes you back to your youth" as my first motorcycle was a 1972 Honda XL250. Really, your Honda 250 and a T7 set up as you want would make a nice duo!