There is a temptation to think of the Yamaha XT500 as a motorcycle from a simpler time, designed before platforms and parts sharing became the industry norm. The truth is almost the opposite: released in 1976, the XT500 was the road-going sibling of the TT500 competition machine, taking a proven mechanical package and turning it into a lightweight motorcycle that could tackle the commute, the trails and, as history soon proved, the Dakar. Fifty years later, Portugal’s Holy Moly Motorcycles has arrived at much the same answer, only this time the donor is Yamaha’s Ténéré 700.
When we last caught up with Francisco Menezes and the Holy Moly crew, they were deep into the T7, developing their brilliant plug-and-play retro kits after years of riding, racing and modifying Yamaha’s middleweight adventure bike. But Holy Moly started out building complete custom motorcycles, and after four years concentrating on the Ténéré platform, Francisco wanted to get back to those roots. The result is the XT700, a machine that asks what a modern XT might look like if Yamaha applied the philosophy of the original to the hardware it already has today.
The starting point is a Ténéré 700 and its superb 689cc CP2 parallel twin, but visually almost everything that makes a T7 a T7 has disappeared. Sérgio Almeida of WKND worked on the concept with Holy Moly’s Rodrigo Balhana, before Rodrigo translated the design into production files, with the fuel tank, side covers and front and rear guards all designed, engineered and manufactured in-house. The tight 10-litre tank, long flat seat, round headlight and high front guard borrow heavily from the XT500 without attempting to build a replica of one.
Underneath it, Holy Moly has retained the modern hardware that makes the idea work, teaming up with long-time partners Yamaha Portugal, Tractive Suspension and Haan Wheels, while XT specialists Kedo joined the project too. Tractive Suspension handles the rough stuff, while Haan hubs have been laced to Excel rims and wrapped in suitably serious block-pattern rubber. Even the cockpit has been stripped back to XT levels of simplicity, with a tiny round speedometer and phone/navigation mount replacing the Ténéré’s usual rally-style arrangement.
The CP2 hardly needs help to make a T7 entertaining, but losing weight gave Holy Moly an excuse to turn up the engine as well. A custom ECU map works with a high-flow Boost airbox and a completely bespoke MADWORKS exhaust, lifting output beyond 85 hp, while shorter final-drive gearing trades some top-end legs for considerably harder acceleration. MADWORKS also fabricated the headlight support, and the high-mounted silencer is tucked tight against the tail rather than hanging from the side like the standard Ténéré system.
Weight reduction was pursued throughout the build, with unnecessary components removed and others replaced by lighter purpose-built pieces, bringing the finished XT700 down to just 175 kg. Crucially, Holy Moly hasn’t achieved that by turning it into an unusable show bike: indicators, horn, reflector, licence-plate light and both high and low beam remain, leaving the finished machine fully road-legal. It is the same balancing act that made the XT500 such a useful motorcycle in the first place, only with modern suspension, brakes and more than twice the horsepower.
That connection to the original XT goes deeper than a polished tank and a set of period graphics. The XT500 took Yamaha’s existing TT500 competition architecture and broadened its abilities, while the XT700 takes the proven Ténéré platform and heads in the other direction, stripping away the size and rally-bike complexity to create something closer to a big dual-sport. Francisco reckons it has the agility and feel of a lightweight dirt bike combined with the performance of a powerful naked bike, calling it the best-handling custom motorcycle Holy Moly has built.
And just as the original XT500 cemented its reputation in competition, Holy Moly wasn’t content to park its new creation outside a café or in the showroom. The XT700 made its public debut at Wheels & Waves before being sent up Punk’s Peak, where it finished third against a mixed field that included much larger 1200cc machinery. Half a century after Yamaha turned the TT500 into an XT, Holy Moly has taken another proven Yamaha platform and repeated the trick for a new generation. And the highlights remain the same: fast, fun, and it doesn’t break the bank.
[ Holy Moly | Photos by Craig Stuart ]