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Yamaha XT660Z Tenere To Be Discontinued

Say goodbye to the Yamaha XT660Z Tenere, as the house of Iwata will discontinue their popular middleweight adventure machine. The reason that led to this decision are the same that will also eliminate the XJR1300, and which caused the demise of the VMAX: failure to meet the Euro 4 emissions regulations.
Yamaha XT660Z Tenere will be discontinued 16 photos
Photo: Yamaha
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Alongside the SR400, these to models round up the list of bikes that will no longer be available in Europe as of 2017, yet still with little prospects of being sold in more permissive markets.

And, as we consider the fact that the XTZ660R traditional dual-sport and its XT660X supermoto machine used the same engine as the small Tenere, it's most likely the end of the road for those models, too. At least the R and the X were, anyway, low in numbers and with an insignificant impact on the Yamaha overall figures.

On the other hand, we suspected that the XJR1300 would be sacked. It will leave a gap in the company range and will be sorely missed by a lot of riders who fell in love with its retro vibe. The demise of the model also means that European countries will also be deprived of its retro Racer version developed as part of the Sport Heritage/ Faster Sons line.

That is because, at the time of writing, there is nothing indicating that Yamaha has any plans of coming up with replacement models for the XJR1300 or VMAX. Unlike the XT660Z Tenere, which is most likely to be transformed into a new Euro 4 model, there are not even wild rumors of machines that could carry on the heritage of either the XJR1300 or the VMAX.

However, in the adventure segment, the small Tenere has heirs, and we are talking about the all-new machine that will most likely be unveiled this year, powered by the MT-07 engine and with a rally-raid-inspired design.

It may not be the thumper so many generations of riders took to the far corners of the world, but, at least, Yamaha doesn't seem willing to drop middleweight bikes with true adventure potential from its range for the upcoming years, and this is huge compared to other manufacturers.
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