Yamaha TDM Riders

Thank you very much!!! Best birthday I've had in 34 years!

Teaser pic of my new baby



She was a good deal really. A lot of bike for the money. 35k miles, but she looks almost new. My only issues are an exhaust leak that i fixed last night, and jerkiness with throttle roll on from 1500-3000 rpm. I assume the latter is the emulsion tubes from everything I've read up on. I am hoping to fix this over the winter when I can tear down the carbs and inspect everything. Right now I'm just dealing with it and riding out the summer and fall months enjoying the bike.

I'm sure after I do this, it will be a lot smoother and enjoyable down low. She pulls hard and smooth from 3k on up, but does loose a little umph past 5k. Not a lot, but stops pulling as hard. Also a carb problem you think?

How much power do these bikes usually make when tuned properly? Not in terms of stock HP, but in relative pull? I only ask because I saw somewhere that someone posted the bike is great for canyon carving and wheelies. Now, I am a very tame and relaxed rider, but when I go full throttle on this bike, it no where near pulls the front tire off the ground. I assume that's normal, but if it's supposed to have enough pull to wheelie, I have a lot of tuning to do to get her right it sounds.

Canyon carver? Dunno, but they are a hoot on our twisty, sinuous roads.
My MkII is one tooth down on the front sprocket & hits it's happy place bang on 4000rpm, will haul out of corners all day. It's smooth from 1500 but feels like it's collecting itself before getting a deep breath at higher revs & making it's torque.
At higher than posted limit speeds the comfy suspension & probably tired brakes will limit speed.
Lower the gearing & get the suspension & brakes serviced, better breathing with a free-er (is that a word?) exhaust etc & they are fun. They are not willowy, rip snorting, KTMs
TDM's are Jack of all trades & surprisingly good at lots of them, seven days a week & on holiday. That is why folk just tend to keep them. And use them a lot.
Have seen very, very few photos of TDM's being wheelied but I have seen a 900 stunted.
Enjoy your bike, your a lucky man. Looking forward to more photos.

The lower rpm jerkiness could be as simple as having good carbs out of sync to a pin hole in one carb slide diaphragm to ignition leads arcing to ground either above the caps or below in the valve cover wells. Wrapping the plug wires from top to bottom in cable tape sorted out some arcing on mine. Also, If the carb enrichers (choke) are worn away unequally it will be tough to truly sync the carbs for the broader rpm range until they are replaced. From what I've read and seen carb sync shouldn't be effected so much with emulsion tubes as they wear equally. If fuel mileage is down though and the bike smells rich from behind while motoring the emulsion tubes would be the place to look. Yeah, a full carb inspection / rebuild over the slow months will sort out any problems. I'd do new throttle shaft seals at the same time as they are surely hardened with age and heat over the years.

I find its a nice moderate amount of power for the weight. Mine will lift the front some with full on acceleration, more if I help it. Some folks may be geared down a bit too. Mine has the stock air filter, Factory Pro economy needles, and a Staintune pipe and from 5k up to redline it lights up nicely. I've not ridden with the stock exhaust and stock needles, so not sure there if yours is in stock trim. Also, if the bike has been sitting or was a shed bike, might be worth a look in the airbox just to be sure no rodent nests might be blocking things up a bit.

Hope the fixes are easy ones and you get in a lot of good miles the remainder of the riding season.

Off Topic Warning

Just a stolen bike heads-up guys and gals

I got phreakshack back in the divorce settlement, but my '92 TDM850 that was trapped in the garage has wandered off/been rustled.

Anyone who sees one in Western NC / SC / TN being parted out or a red one (with safety wire stitching on the fairing and a NOISY homemade 2-into-1)

Please please drop me a line!!

Or if anyone works a parts counter and sees anyone that is looking for PARTS for a TDM



Sent from my dRoiD3 with the help of 44 cyber-enhanced dwarves

I agree with Harvey. Suspension, breathing (emulsion tubes and exhaust - mine came with an Over Racing Project system), and brakes - good to go.
I saw a torque graph for them that showed a plateau between about 3,500 and 6,000 rpm. If I'm out for a play, I keep it in that zone and channel the Anstey. Mine is about to tick over the 75k km mark. Darned if know what I'll replace it with...

Thanks so much guys! I'll do the wire wrap and check for any leaks or other culprits before assuming emulsion tubes then. It does not smell rich once heated up and under way. It isn't that bad of an issue really. Just when I am off throttle in the lower RPM's then roll back on, it bobbles a little and does not engage as smooth as I would like.

The bike acts like the throttle is an on / off switch. Roll on throttle a little, it bobbles and stutters slightly from 1500-3000

Roll on the throttle more than a little, no stutter, just a good steady pull....but it's a little too much. I don't want to go everywhere so quickly LOL! there is no in between. It's either too slow and hesitant, or too quick. Something is effecting the low throttle smoothness.

Anyhow, These are just from the for sale add, so they are not very good. I will take much better ones soon with my own camera:)

I'll be following closely as my 92 TDM with 22,000 miles has very similar symptoms as yours. I bought it last Sept and have just been enjoying it so far this year. The PO told me he rebuilt the carbs incl. the emulsion tubes but something still isn't right. It smells really rich when warmed up too. Mine also starts really hard if it's been sitting much more than 24 hours. I have to let it crank at least 30 seconds and it will eventually fire and putter on one cylinder at about 1500 before coughing and picking up the second (I think) and revving steadily at about 2200?) If it drive it daily there are no real starting issues. Oh yeah and the mileage is worse than I expected too - I generally only get in the upper 30's doing mixed urban commuting.

The TDM has a well known problem with worn emulsion tubes and needles. If the bike is using a lot of gas, smells rich, is hard to start or loads up and drops onto one cylinder, this is the likely culprit.

On mine this was all exacerbated by tears in the carb diaphragms.

Once I addressed all those it runs very well.

A few more pics. Finally got to take her out a little more this weekend. Need to bring a real camera next time instead of my less than stellar camera phone.

Welcome and congrats on the new bike. When you order the stainless tubes from factorypro i'd grab a set of the extended mixture screws too. Makes further fiddling a lot easier.
Sounds like you're on the right track, get the carbs sorted and it'll smooth right out.
There's also a ton of good info and people at http://www.carpe-tdm.net/ipb/

Funny you should say that about the tank....I happen to have a spare, slightly dented tank for my TDM...have been wondering what it's worth.

That is a nice looking MkI Lordzed. Enjoy.

just a head's up guys, I am working on another group purchase with Renntec for their "bash bars"....they said they would agree to make 10 more sets if they get commitment for them, I will get everything together and post it up soon, but if you are interested in a set at the same price as the last batch, send me a pm.

Mt XTZ would like an 850 transplant.
Preferably a 270 degree with a cdi.
Any leads appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Y L

What this thread needs is more photos:



JOE in WI

Ride Report: Riding the sands of the Murray-Sunset National Park, Australia ....... well sorta!

The sand was the easy part !

Mobile Clocklaw

A couple more from yesterday....

I'll bite...here's mine. Sadly, she's for sale. Ad coming soon.

http://youtu.be/sz0u3ey7joA

And now a couple pics...

http://sdrv.ms/16a7c00

http://sdrv.ms/159j6ri

http://sdrv.ms/1e3KRaz