Yamaha Ténéré ready to rally: Deus turn middleweight adventure bike into a retro Dakar machine

If there’s two things that are hot property, it’s the 1980s and it’s the Dakar rally. Both hark back to a time before electronics, when life was a little simpler, smartphones didn’t exist and travel was more about the journey than the destination. It’s this style that Deus Italy have channelled with their custom Yamaha Ténéré 700.

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Deus say their first job was to create a bike that could handle the rough and tumble of a rally before making it look like it could. The bike was stripped down and extra protection added in the form of a radiator guard, chain guide, bash plate (including tool box) and Acerbis rally handguards.

It was also important that the bike could take on serious off-road terrain, so the forks were swapped out for Andreani items, which add an extra 30mm travel, while the rear shock comes from Öhlins.

A custom titanium exhaust was created by SC Project, while Metzeler Karoo Extreme tyres offer all the grip in the sand a rally racer could hope for. The last rally addition is a paper roadbook holder and two tripmasters, for proper Dakar style navigation.

With the bike set up to take on a desert rally, Deus turned their head to making it look the part.

When the Dakar began in the 1980s, it was common for the bikes to travel hundreds of kilometres across the desert without stopping. The result was bulbous petrol tanks, which Deus have mimicked here but it wasn’t just as simple as making a giant unit and bolting it on.

Deus worked with Camal Studio to build and design the fairings in 3D software. The result is that the fairing, tank cover, seat, rear mudguard and side panels could all be designed together to create a full fibreglass body kit. It also means that Deus are in a position to repeat the project as a kit if there’s enough interest.

The bike was given its first run out at the Swank Rally in France, after the Wheels & Waves motorcycle festival was cancelled. It was ridden by Jean-Claude Moussé, a four-time winner of Le Touquet beach race, who by all accounts absolutely tore things up.