Yamaha Could Be Developing R3-Powered Tenere 300 Adventure Bike

The Iwata manufacturer has not ruled out the possibility of taking on the BMW G 310 GS and KTM 390 Adventure

• If pursued, the Tenere 300 will most likely be powered by the R3’s parallel-twin motor.
• Yamaha has also not discounted the possibility of a neo-retro XSR300 based on the same platform.
• Unfortunately, neither of these models is likely to come to India even if they do go into production.

The 300cc segment is seeing quite a lot of action at the moment. The KTM 390’s have already received their BS6 updates on the exact same day that the Apache RR 310 BS6 was rolled out. Very soon, they’ll be joined by the updated BMW 310 twins and then the Kawasaki Ninja 300 BS6. And once the Yamaha R3 receives its global Euro 5 update, it’s almost certain to return to the Indian market as well.

Very soon, both KTM and BMW will have BS6-compliant adventure bikes in this 300cc segment, but what about Yamaha? Well, it already has the necessary hardware. The 321cc parallel-twin motor currently powering the R3 and the MT-03 in international markets can be re-tuned and plonked into an adventure bike frame. Yamaha already builds bikes like the WR155 on one side and the Tenere 700 on the other, so it should have no trouble whipping up a competent chassis for a potential Tenere 300. The question is, will it?

Well, in a recent interview, Fabrizio Corsi, the Product Communications Manager of Yamaha Italy, didn’t rule out the possibility of a Tenere 300 sometime in the future. Yamaha has noted the success of the 390 Adventure and G 310 GS globally, and if it sees a similar demand from its customers, then the brand will be ready to satisfy it, according to Corsi. That’s not all, because he also goes on to mention that a neo-retro XSR version of the MT-03 isn’t off the cards either.

So, on the upside, there is a distinct possibility that Yamaha could introduce a Tenere 300 and/or an XSR300 sometime in the coming years. Unfortunately, going by Yamaha’s rather conservative, almost step-motherly approach towards India in the recent past, we highly doubt that either of these potential new models will make their way to India anytime soon.

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