The Yamaha Tenere 700 is a tall bike with a seat height of a whole 875mm (34.44 inches). As a result, if you’re under 6 foot tall or with an inside leg under 34 inches it’s likely that you’re not going to be flat footed with both feet and for most that won’t feel comfortable or safe. Manoeuvring the bike whilst sat on it will be all but impossible and when the bike begins to lean too far in one direction whilst in motion you really want to be able to kick down hard. That means being at least flat footed both sides and preferably with a small bend to the knee. As a result, if like me, you’re 5′ 10″ and 31.5″ inside leg you’re probably going to want to lower the seat height, one way or another. The first thing you can do is order the Yamaha OEM low seat.
That will gain you about 20mm. However, the low seat is also similar in comfort to a thin oak plank so you’ll probably want to add some Cool Covers or a Sheepie and that will pop you back up 20mm so you’re back to stage one.. The stock seat, however, is just as uncomfortable so it won’t help to swap back. The obvious thing to do now is to lower the rear end via lowering links. The OEM lower links reduce the height by 18mm. Aftermarket links are available in 20/30/40 or 50mm and that’s probably where you’ll need to be. I could get away with 20/30mm and those would leave me flat footed but straight legged so I went with the 40mm to allow me a slight bend to the knee (and compensate for the Cool Covers height) which gives me all the confidence I need that I can catch the bike when it starts to get away from me and slowly manoeuvre it at will whilst still astride for parking etc.. Once you’ve lowered the rear you’ll need to raise the forks at the front and the recommended equation is to raise the forks half the distance you lower the rear. That should keep the ride geometry close to stock. You do now have one further problem to resolve, however. Your side/kick stand will no longer support your bike as its way too long so you’ll need to change that for a shorter stand and your options are not many, unfortunately. The two main ones you’ll see mentioned are the British made Rally Raid Short Stand or the US made T Rex Adjustable Side Stand. In this review we’re taking a proper look at the latter. My review of the Rally Raid stand is here.
The first thing you notice about this stand is its heft. It feels extremely solid and despite being tubular and telescoping there is zero rattle or movement anywhere.
The powder coating seems well applied and fairly liberal so I would hope that it will last, even here with the salty, sea air of the Isle of Wight. A sturdy bolt and nylock nut keep the extended foot in place. Interestingly, the bolt threads all the way through, so you’re not just slotting it in and then attaching the nut. It actually screws in all the way through, including through the inner leg. That’s a nice, quality touch as it ensures everything is tight with zero movement. It’s much more costly and time consuming to construct it this way so that shows that T-Rex were looking to produce something high quality and not just go for the easy way out. Kudos!
The foot of the T-Rex stand is probably twice the size of the Rally Raid foot and I would say it’s sufficient for standing on most surfaces without the need for a foot extender.
The foot plate is about 6mm thick and extremely sturdy. It’s also been placed at the perfect angle so every part of the foot touches the ground, unlike other stands I’ve seen posted on the various forums, including the Rally Raid stand (although my RR stand was fine in that respect).
The main bracket that attaches to the bike is very robust and confidence inspiring. The threaded whole and the larger one opposite are perfectly aligned so fitting this to the male bracket on the bike was a breeze.
The welds all look well applied and plenty thick enough to provide the strength required to support the T700. If you’re knit-picking, perhaps the welds could be tidied a tad more but they’re not poorly done and it’s really nothing you’ll notice once mounted. Macro images like these do tend to accentuate any such details, too.
The foot hook and the spring hook are also nicely done and both are rock solid and well up to the job at hand.
Each hole is threaded on both sides, providing a very accurate and solid fit.
Here you can see those same holes threaded right through the extending leg. If you’re going to do it this way your tolerances had better be spot on and in this case they certainly are!
Fitting to the bike was a simple process and due to the accurate measurements and tolerances of the T-Rex stand, nothing slowed down the fitting.
As you can see, the foot is perfectly aligned with the ground and this is not due to any kind of secondary movement of the foot or leg; they’re both solid and don’t move a mm once tightened.
So does it work? Yes, it does. I’m happy with mine and it will remain on the OverlandRider T700 but I have to say I wish it was about another 15mm shorter. With my 40mm lowering links and the stand at its lowest point, on the flat its spot on (although the RR stand worked fine on the flat, too). If you park on a very slight opposite camber the stand is still quite sufficient. However, if the left to right camber is anything more than slight then you’re still going to experience a problem. The above street has a little more that a “slight” left to right camber and with the Rally Raid stand I was not able to park on that side of the street at all whilst visiting a little shop to the right that I often frequent. The T Rex stand is about 10mm shorter than the Rally Raid and as such it allowed me to park there but rather nervously. As you can see, the bike is very upright and had just enough lean to keep it standing but had there been any wind I’d have declined the opportunity. I’m going to take a look at some point as to whether a further hole could be put in the telescoping leg that might drop the height a little more. Another 15mm I think would be perfect for my needs.
That said, this isn’t just a short stand. It telescopes both ways so if you’re a giraffe in need of a longer stand, having raised your bike, then the T Rex Stand telescopes to 0.5 inches longer than the stock stand.
In conclusion
Highly recommended. If your bike is lowered 20-30mm or raised by up to circa 90mm then this stand should work perfectly. If you’ve dropped the bike by 40mm then it will work in most situations but you’ll still need to be selective where you park. If you’ve lowered by more than 40mm then you might need to think about taking your stock stand and having a length cut out and the foot welded back on as neither of the two stands, including this one, will be quite sufficient. If I manage to safely insert another hole I will report back with an update.
Transparency
This stand was supplied to me by T Rex Racing free of charge, in order for me to review it. I paid only the $50 USD shipping cost. However, that was done on the explicit and agreed understanding that the review would be completely honest and would incorporate both the positive and the negative aspects of the product.
Update – 02/06/22
Just received this reply from T-Rex regarding the possibility of inserting a further hole to lower the stand another 10-15mm:
“I spoke with the techs and they stated that the step on the adjustable leg portion is designed to keep the stand from being inserted any further, therefore, you would have to machine that step down before attempting to add another hole setting.”