For Thomas Hansen (
@_tshansen ), becoming a rider was almost inevitable. His father sold motorcycles when Thomas was a kid, and bikes and mopeds were simply part of everyday life. When his older brother bought his first motorcycle, Thomas knew immediately that he would follow. As soon as he was old enough, he picked up his first bike, a sport-touring machine that he rode absolutely everywhere.
Thomas’s sense of adventure grew alongside his passion for photography. After a long trip through the Alps on a race bike, which he sums up with a firm “never again,” he upgraded to his first adventure bike, a KTM 1290 Super Adventure. A few years later, Yamaha unveiled the Ténéré 700, and Thomas was instantly drawn to its design. “It was the bike I always wanted,” he says. At the time, though, the specs felt like a step down from the KTM, so he waited. When the World Raid version was released, he finally made the jump. “Boy, was I wrong. A good bike is not defined by the numbers on the spec sheet.”
At nearly 6’7”, Thomas often surprises people when they meet him in person, and his Ténéré has turned out to be a perfect match. “It just fits my tall body like no other bike on the market,” he says. “The angle of the knees, how my shoulders rest, and how in control I feel when both sitting and standing on that bike is unmatched.”
That fit is a big reason he has stayed loyal to the T7. He has ridden more than 18,000 miles through remote corners of Norway, test-ridden newer models in Morocco, and eventually upgraded to the 2025 Ténéré 700 Rally. Years of riding through fjords and camping off the bike have shaped how Thomas sees adventure riding. “It shows you how beautiful the world around you can be and how many great opportunities are around every corner,” he reflects. “Traveling on a motorcycle is never a race; it should be all about absorbing as much of the place you are in at that given moment.”
