Coop's Corner: The TW200's / Happy Driveway

Sunday, March 16, 2014

The TW200's / Happy Driveway

Last night I was perusing the statistics for Coop's Corner and noticed that one of the Traffic Sources was an image from a Japanese web address. I normally don't check or go looking but last night was curious so I took a look.

66 rows of photos, 6 in a row of some very cool and interesting 200cc, fat tired Yamaha's. The photo of mine was down a quarter of the way or so and highlighted mine the day I brought it home (used). From a quick look down through the many rows, only a handful, a quite small handful of the bikes shown are being used as mine is. There were some very interesting mods done, from mild to wild. Bobbers, choppers, sleek cafe'd bikes and so on. For all intents and purposes, other than the removal of the kick starter, few changes over the years other than colors and paint schemes ever took place. Mine is old enough to have the kicker but does not have a trip meter, something the later ones do include.

Just to know that some of us received our Riding Education on these fun and versatile machines.......

Mine is in the shop and on the rack right now, only needing minor maintenance. Minor since the miles traveled last year were minimal, an advantage of spending my riding time on a variety of machines.

Here's the way I prefer to think of my own '92, though I could see myself having fun on most any of the private bikes referred to on that web page....... I just ain't that fussy.

Almost last but not least, I'll sneak these in. I'm tired of Bad Driveway stories and photos as I'm sure you are as well. Friday our daughter from USC flew home and yesterday was out inspecting the snow melt which she so dearly (not really) misses in L.A. We've seen and experienced a lot of things over these years in our driveway but Saturday morning there was something new and completely different. Most of the day we were kept at home due to this frozen 'meringue' on the driveway. Warm winds Friday afternoon and very cold overnight temps left us with this frozen pie topper yesterday, deep pie topper. By late afternoon, the two of us were able to walk through it and across to the other side and then by evening I was able to break it up some more with the (clearance of) plow truck/blade. Early Saturday morning it was a glaciated mess.

Not on the driveway but rather in our 'parking' area early today. This is where the plow truck has been resting this past week. Note the tire tracks and in the very top of the photo, where the plow blade left its crisp angled impression. All of the surrounding area is bare ground; this area was shielded from the sun all week in the truck's shadow.

Now for some happier time on the ol' driveway; the way a driveway SHOULD be used. There's nothing better than two-wheeling out, anticipated excitement ahead and following that, the joy of coming home after a Good Ride. (Note the shift into Road Gear, an extra special treat)

16 comments:

SonjaMMarch 16, 2014 at 3:23 PM
I want one of those small fat tired Yam's. Brilliant little bikes, they seem right for cafe racing as well as for playing in the dirt.

The condition of your driveway does't look very encouraging for passing to me...
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VStar LadyMarch 16, 2014 at 6:59 PM
You have bare ground ... perhaps your daughter brought spring back from LA.
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RichardMMarch 16, 2014 at 8:26 PM
I'm not looking forward to the frozen 'meringue' at all.
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UnknownMarch 16, 2014 at 9:32 PM
Coop:

I've never seen that meringue before. Must be getting closer to spring as I can see a bit of ground. You'll have to start moving your truck around and park in different areas
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Martha March 17, 2014 at 8:30 AM
Your froth is turbulence! Or maybe not.

I vote you continue to show these awful weather related things. If you don't, then between Erik's bliss and Richard's nonchalance, I'll be the only one who looks like they are struggling with the winter/fake spring!
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LuckyMarch 17, 2014 at 9:21 AM
I had no idea people were customizing TW200s that way - though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Very cool. I've always thought those bikes look like a hoot to ride.
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TrobairitzMarch 17, 2014 at 10:47 AM
Hopefully it will warm and melt little by little and the ground patches will increase.

We've been keeping an eye out for a used TW200 for me to ride when Brad is on the XT250, but they want a small fortune for them even 10-20 years old. They are clearing out the 2013s but they still want 4k for them.
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DebMarch 19, 2014 at 10:05 PM
Neato! I love fat-tired machines and their potential for riding on just about any surface!

Have you seen that Yamaha Bolt motorcycle? Pretty cool looking too...
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

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He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

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Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

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As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)