Yamaha RW700 and RW350 Adventure Scooters Unveiled

Yamaha Motor showed three new adventure scooters at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, which opened on 3 November 2026: the RW700, the RW700 Explore and the RW350. They belong to a new global model series called "RW". The RW700 uses the 689 cc CP2 twin-cylinder engine with Yamaha's Y-AMT automated manual gearbox; the RW350 uses a new 327 cc single with a belt CVT. Yamaha has not announced prices. This article reflects information available as of 5 November 2026.

What Yamaha has said

Yamaha's own press release, dated 4 November 2026 (Japan), covers the RW700, RW700 Explore and RW350. It describes the series as adventure scooters meant to offer "a new kind of fun in getting around". For Japan, the company says sales are planned from autumn 2027 or later. It gives no launch date or price for other markets, and India is not mentioned in the release.

RW700 and RW700 Explore

Yamaha lists a 689 cc, water-cooled, four-stroke, DOHC four-valve, fuel-injected CP2 engine (a cross-plane two-cylinder design). It pairs this with Y-AMT, a gearbox Yamaha says is the first of its kind on a scooter. The rider can leave it in automatic (AT) mode or use manual (MT) mode, with the shift and rear-brake controls placed at the handlebar.

• Frame: new backbone-type high-tensile steel tube frame
• Ground clearance: 170 mm (Yamaha and Autocar India agree)
• Front suspension: 41 mm inverted fork (160 mm travel, per Autocar India)
• Rear suspension: monoshock (155 mm travel, per Autocar India)
• Tyres: Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR, tubeless
• Wheels: cross-spoke aluminium rims; Autocar India gives 17-inch front and 15-inch rear
• Seat height: 810 mm (Autocar India)
• Weight: 221 kg (Autocar India)
• Power and torque: not given in Yamaha's release; Autocar India says Yamaha has not revealed peak output

The RW700 Explore is the higher-specification version. Yamaha lists heated grips, a heated seat, front suspension adjustment, a main stand, a dedicated emblem and a backlit switch box. Autocar India adds that the front fork gets preload and rebound damping adjustment.

Some Italian press reports quote 51 kW (69.3 PS) for the RW700 and a 35 kW version for riders on an A2 licence. Those figures come from a press article, not from Yamaha's release, so treat them as unconfirmed here.

RW350

The RW350 has a new 327 cc, water-cooled, SOHC four-valve, fuel-injected single-cylinder engine with a CVT (continuously variable transmission, a belt drive with no gear steps). Autocar India rounds the size to 330 cc; Yamaha's own figure is 327 cc. Yamaha says the scooter uses a layout it calls Yamaha Dynamic Ride, in which the engine is rigidly mounted to the frame with no rubber mounts and only the CVT unit swings.

• Frame: new diamond-type high-tensile steel frame
• Ground clearance: 185 mm (Yamaha)
• Front suspension: 37 mm inverted fork with preload adjuster (140 mm travel, per Autocar India)
• Rear suspension: twin shocks (105 mm travel, per Autocar India)
• Tyres: Dunlop D615 tubeless; Autocar India gives 16-inch front and 14-inch rear
• Electronics: cruise control, traction control and an electronic throttle (YCC-T), which Yamaha calls a first on one of its mid-class scooters
• Display: 5-inch colour TFT with Garmin StreetCross compatibility
• Power, torque, weight and seat height: not stated in either source

The electric scooters shown alongside

Yamaha also showed two electric scooters at EICMA, the NMax E and the XENTER E. Yamaha's RW release does not cover them, so these figures come from Autocar India's report of 3 November 2026. Both are described as equivalent to a 125 cc scooter, with a 7.5 kW motor, 33.3 Nm of torque and a 3.5 kWh battery. The claimed WMTC range is 108 km for the XENTER E and 104 km for the NMax E, and the 800 W onboard charger takes about 5.5 hours for a full charge. Autocar India reports that Yamaha says they go on sale in spring 2027.

What is still unknown

• Prices for every model
• Launch dates outside Japan for the RW series
• Whether any of these models will be sold in India
• Official power, torque and weight for the RW350, and official power figures for the RW700

Sources

• RW700 and RW350 exhibited at EICMA (press release, 4 Nov 2026), Yamaha Motor Co.
• Yamaha RW350, RW700, Xenter E and NMax E unveiled at EICMA 2026, Autocar India

Image credits: Cover photo: 2025 Yamaha NMAX 155 Standard by Chanokchon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures from Wikimedia Commons.