Yamaha TDM Riders

I own a TDM900 and have owned an R1100GS. If you're planning on doing a lot of two-up touring, especially involving camping, I'd recommend the GS. It's more powerful, roomier and has more luggage capacity if you go with Jesse panniers.






But for daily riding involving town/city, solo touring, and occasional two-up touring I'd give the TDM the thumbs up. It's much lighter and slimmer, shifts way more smoothly and the clutch is far lighter. It's much less maintenance intensive (valve adjustments every 25,000 miles versus the beemer's 6,000). And the motor sounds much nicer than the boxer once you put aftermarket cans on it.

I want this bike for long distance touring, 4k plus km's involving some tracks. We ride separate bikes so no passenger & plenty of space for gear. We like to maintain 120kph plus on the long tarmac stretches and have a bike thats comfortable on dirt roads. When you are a long way from home reliability is paramount & good tank range. On the tracks light weight is good also some nobbly tyres.
The TDM in my view is good on all but the tyres & maybe the suspension could be better (for off-road)
The competition appear to have weaknesses in other critical areas, like reliability or tank range which are even greater weaknesses on a long trip.

It looks like it will be another TDM

Thanks for your for that, confirms what I figured.
Enjoying your report particularly the pics of Cotopaxi (reminds me of a small excursion up the volcano 30+ years ago). Best wishes for a successful trip

looks like the tdm then....although the gs may have the ultimate performance(praps road and track) the tdm will do as twinrider suggests....the shaft drive is a real attraction for me though and is the only shortcoming...I also mightght see if a can get a 19 in wheel to get the benefit of a more modern front tyre.

Thanks for that neat summary twinrider. I guess each bike has it's drawbacks in one area or another and I tend towards the same conclusions.

(imagine the pic of twinriders loaded g/s here)

You sure you got enough gear there twinrider?I can see this just would not FIT on a tdm!!!

That was taken during a 5-day camping trip with the wife

Its the women, they just do not know how to travel light, they insist on taking a change of clothing (or two).

very much agreed!!!


clothing is still acceptable....some sophistcated gadget is not...

??.........:eek1 No No No I am not going to ask.

I just purchased a 1992 Yamaha 850 TDM. I loved the looks of it and I cant wait to ride it this summer.

Just thought I would stop by and say hi. Seems like I might run into an issue of a lack of parts for it in the US. If anyone has a manual for it that would be greatly appreciated.

Ill try to get some pictures of it up soon.

Hi welcome alex, Haynes in the UK produce a workshop manual for 1991 onwards TDM850's. The IBSN code is 1 85960 540 0. (Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-75325)
I see that Haynes also have an office in the US : Haynes North America Inc, 861 Lawrence Drive, Newbury Park California 91320.
Hope that helps.

Here's the manuals
http://jbx9.free.fr/tdm/index.php?page=DL00
much more very useful info on that site, make sure you read it all.. :)
all hail the great jbx. :)

This manual is only for a 1996, will that be the same as mine?

I think there is something more appropriate floating around out there on the interwebs somewhere... I will see what I can find...

Google is your friend...

Thanks, Ill try to keep my eyes open to.

http://www.carpe-tdm.net/tdm/index.html

Where do you guys in the US order parts for your TDMs?

Bike Bandit is usually pretty good, I have tried a few others and even use the stealership now and then...

Fwiw, I rode my TDM900 to my local bmw dealer, demoed the new F800GS there, then rode the TDM some more so I could have a good basis of comparison.

I have to say that the F800GS feels so much more modern than the TDM

The riding position like a motard/offroad bike, it really makes the TDM feel like a 100% street bike in comparison.

The engine response is amazing. The bike seems to be in the same ballpark as the TDM in terms of power, but the engine revs up so much faster. Blat, blat, blat, almost like a two-stroke. Very addictive

The bike's balance is perfect. Even though I've got just a 30" inseam and was using the regular seat it was very easy to lane-split through traffic. Suspension feels excellent as well, very plush yet firm, if ya know what I mean

The only area where the TDM is notably better is wind protection up front. The GS's shield is quite low, even though the shield itself looks fairly tall.

I didn't have an opportunity to take the bike on the highway so I can't say if vibration is an issue as Kevin Ash reported. The TDM certainly would be hard to top in this respect with its OD 6th gear.

No comment on the headlights either as it was daytime, but being H7s like the TDM's, I wouldn't be expecting too much.

Conclusion: If I could buy another bike now, I would say that the F800GS would be the perfect replacement for my TDM and my F650GS. Maybe someday...