The Yamaha Tenere 700 is a great adventure motorcycle, but one of the biggest complaints riders have is the soft braking. Here is how I addressed it.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When you click some of the links below, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you to help support this website.
I love my 2022 Yamaha Tenere 700, but the stock brakes are some of the worst I have ever had. The bike would definitely not “stop on a dime”. Slamming on the brakes would result in a slow stop over a relatively long braking distance. Not being able to stop quickly can definitely cause some concerns, so I turned to the internet to see what other riders are doing to address this issue.
To address the Tenere 700’s soft braking, some riders have rebuilt their entire brake system with new rotors, calipers, pads, brake lines and master cylinders. Others have just changed out the pads. Since changing the pads is much cheaper and easier than changing the entire system, that’s what I decided to try. I went online and purchased sintered brake pads for the front and rear brakes. (Don’t forget you need 2 sets for the front.) Swapping the front pads out is a piece of cake. Swapping the rear pads is not quite as easy since you have to remove the rear wheel, but still not too bad. After swapping the pads, I bled the brakes. FYI…the job is somewhat easier if you use a vacuum pump like this one…
I did notice a few bubbles in the brake fluid as I was bleeding, which tells me there may have been some air in the system. After I bled the brakes I went for a ride. How did it go?
There was an immediately noticeable difference in the braking. The bike stopped much quicker with the new brakes. I went for an off road ride on a local pass and noticed a huge difference. Both front and rear brakes were more responsive. The rear brake skidded the tire much easier than before and I had much more confidence in the braking.
All in all, I think this was a great upgrade for a minimal cost. As of now, I am not planning on making more changes to the brake system on my Tenere 700. If you are considering addressing the braking on your T7, I would encourage you to just try changing the pads before spending a lot more money on the rest of the system. Check out the other upgrades and modifications I made to my 2022 Yamaha Tenere 700 by clicking HERE.
2 responses to “How I Fixed Soft Braking on Yamaha Tenere 700”
Hi mate
Did the same I ordered in the wrong set of pads Road version, made the front brake a woody feeling less stopping power. Re ordered the sintered race version back to a 2 finger grip with feed back amazing what different compounds in pads can do.
But keep a eye on wear as they will wear out quicker.
Running a larger single front disc and a 2 pot calibre on the old R100GSPD Dakar I don’t need a anchor anymore ⚓️
Ha! Great point about the wear. So far I really like the T7. Trying to get it dialed for offroad adventures!