Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Yamaha TW200 .....the little mule

Maybe it was the time I was spending on the ADVrider forum, possibly the acknowledgement that my riding was slowing down and dwelling on quieter, slower roads, but whatever it was, I became very interested in Yamaha's odd and 'small' TW200.  Again, after a winter of online discovery back in '08-'09, I was caught up in a TDub frenzy.  It was a frenzy that hasn't worn off; she still gives me grins every time I ride her.




Compared to many owners, I've added a minimum of 'farkles' (Functional Sparkles) to mine.  Besides the relatively low purchase price, I was drawn to this particular one because of the already installed windshield.  Many TW200 riders spend the majority of their time off road, trail and fire-road riding.  I expected and it has proven to be true that the majority of my miles have been on back roads with lots of gravel, not as much 'dirt', with highway miles to connect the good stuff.

The stock luggage rack was replaced with a much larger Cyclerack from the brothers in Idaho and the rack has proven to be perfectly suited for my use.  I bought the front one as well only because I liked the look and expected questions and more than a few comments about it.  Due to the small-ish OEM gas tank on the Tdubs, I added a Kolpin gas container w/mount, mounted solidly on the rear of the Cyclerack tubes.  In common with all of my bikes, I added a Powerlet SAE power plug as well as a Ram Mount ball for my GPS.  A small tankbag (I'd use a tankbag on the Helix if I could.....I use them on everything else) and then recently, Clarke Manufacturing finally produced a larger gas tank, so that was installed to increase my riding range.

The Brule River outlet into Lake Superior.......



Pictured here on the south shore of Lake Superior, my south to north ride of the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail (another future Post) almost over.  The cool, wet day really brought out the bike's patina, larger, white plastic after-market tank not yet installed.......




These outriggers were installed to temporarily use for holding soft saddlebags out and away from the rear wheel and exhaust pipe.  I say "temporarily" because that was my intention, though they've never been off the bike since.  Once I built the 'tripod' device below, I had these and it black anodized.


Since the bike has no centerstand, lubricating the chain proved to be more trouble than it needed to be.  I machined a folding bracket to act as a third leg (the front wheel and sidestand the other two), able to hold the rear wheel an inch above ground so spinning the wheel became easy.




10 comments:

  1. Hi, nice write up and pictures. Is that a new Clarke plastic tank fitted to your t-dub? If so, does the stock seat fit nicely on it or did you have to make subtle changes to it? Nice blog!

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  2. Thanks Mario, the tank was new a couple of years ago; I assume this is still Clark's only TW200 tank. No seat modifications were made, the plastic 'sidecovers' didn't fit quite right, otherwise it was an easy swap.

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  3. Well, it's been a while since you posted this great blog, but if you're still out there... I'm interested in your windshield. You wouldn't happen to know who the manufacturer is. How do you like it? Thanks, Scotty

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    1. Hey Scotty, thanks for stopping by. This one was on the bike when I got it. I like it so much I bought another one that I swap back and forth between a couple of my other bikes. Slipstreamer Cobra.

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  4. I see one of these in my future Doug! The third leg you fabricated is interesting, there's also apparently some gadget you place the rear wheel on that allows you to spin it for chain maintenance....kind of like portable roller.

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    1. Dom, the only thing I fabricated is that Lifter that props the bike up, acting as the 3rd leg. It folds in half, locks over center and is just the right length to allow the rear wheel to spin.

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    2. Ended up with a version of the crutch jack as seen on the TW200 forum, works great

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    3. I could show you right on a map (or take you there!) to a place I remember well, rolling the bike, squirt, roll the bike, squirt, .... It was slightly downhill but some needed exercise.

      Glad yours is working!

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  5. Where did you you get your windshield from, what brand and model is it

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    1. When I was TW200 shopping, it was this bike and windshield that made it stick out. Slipstreamer Cobra IIRC.

      Thanks for asking!

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