Heres ole girl with a fresh new front high fender bracket and fender and a custom headlight and stiffer front forks, not really sure why I like this thing so much, kinda reminds me of the ole Big Wheel Yamaha I wanted so bad as a kid, this thing is just fun as hell to ride oh yea, jetted up and uncorked, its quicker then you think!
Hello All, I have a Yamaha T Max that now has over 16000 miles of touring in AZ and adjoining states. It does the job extremely well and I really enjoy it.........BUT... I kept going by these nice dirt roads/trails and wondering what was there.. You all know what I mean!! A small DS bike was my goal and I looked into the Yama XT250, but, found an 05 TW that was already well equipped with less than 4k miles.. I grabbed it and could not be more pleased. I have put about 1200 miles on the TW since I bought it at the end of March.. . I just want to say how much I appreciate the kind/knowledgeable folks on this list as well as the TW Thumper thread over on ADV Rider. I learned more about the TW in a couple weeks reading than I could have in two yrs of riding! Thanks, for your help!! I will be posting up a report of a trip I just took down to SE AZ, little over 600miles, great time no problems! I really love this little mule! BudK
Hello All, Most might think, "what was he thinking", but I was pretty impressed with my recently purchased 2005 Yamaha TW 200 and decided to see how the DualSport description held up! I normally would take my Yamaha Tmax on road trips, but one reason I bought the TW was to see what was down the many dirt/unimproved roads that are pretty much prohibited on the T Max and are very prevalent here in AZ!! So, off we went on Day 1, from Rio Verde down to Willcox, AZ where we Super8'ed over night. Went thru Superior and down 177 to Winkelman then to San Manuel an old mining town where I asked a local about the road down the San Pedro River valley and over to Willcox... He reported a fair road but "take plenty of water, gas and watch for the cows"!! The road was fair and the cows were there!!.. Didn't need gas and the Camelbak kept me hydrated. Arrived Willcox with out incident and looked around a bit but didn't find much.. So,supper and bed. Here are some pics.. A map of SE AZ or Google Earth would help you follow along. http://picasaweb.google.com/budk88/20100504SEAZTWRide# Day 2 Off Willcox at 730 and headed down the 186 toward the Chiricahaua Nat'l Monument(CNM). About half way, a dirt road turns off to the NE and leads up over Apache Pass. The road follows along an old Butterfield Stage route and site of some battles with the local Apache. Ft Bowie is about a mile and half off the road to South and is reached after a bit of a hike. (Not in Moto gear!) Will do it next time. Ft. Bowie is the ruins of an old Cavalry post that was instrumental in chasing/catching Geronimo and Cochise. I rode back down to the 186 and proceeded on to CNM while taking in the wonderful vistas of this beautiful land!... CNM is worth a journey! A beautiful park area with amazing rock formations and a hiker's paradise with many well maintained trails throughout. Being an old Cavalryman myself, walking is not my best thing...I did do a 1/2 mile around Massi Point! Whee! CNM is a unique area that is perfect for Motos of all kinds/shapes. Ride out there! After a rest/lunch atop CNM at Massi point, rode back down and over to the junction with Pinery Canyon Road. 26 miles of dirt that runs up the SW shoulder of the Chiricahaua Mts... A wonderfully interesting road for DS and dirt bikes. Thru mt streams and up into heavy pine forest one descends into the Cave Creek canyon and on into Portal AZ, which is a story of it's own.. Portal was stop for night and I arrived around 2pm and made a run over to Rodeo, NM (10 miles) for gas. Portal is a nature lover/bird watcher's paradise in a most beautiful and relaxing setting. I walked around the area that evening and watched the birdwatchers watch the birds! http://www.portalpeaklodge.com/ If you like peace and quiet (they even have a good cook) Portal could do it for you. Pics.... http://picasaweb.google.com/budk88/2010_05_05Day2AtPortal?authkey=Gv1sRgCIWnxoLphLyS2AE# Day 3 Weather was great the whole trip. low 60s, high 80s, but winds were forecast to pick up today and would be out of West SW at 25 gusting... Well, on a TW you need to plan cross country rides about like for a Piper Cub!! Any wind on the nose and you are working to maintain 50 mph on level pavement! (I know, a Cub has trouble maintaing 50 in any wind!! ) I had originally planned to ride out of Portal and go N up the dirt trails to San Simon, Bowie, and on to the 191 toward Safford. Well this would be into the teeth of the wind, So I elected to go back over Pinery Canyon ( Good fun! ) and on back to Willcox and do a short 10 mile shot on the I-1O with the wind at my back! It worked out well until I was headed home from Globe along the 60..but, the TW did well .. it held it's own!! Off Portal at 815am, after great breakfast at the "Lodge" and headed back thru Cave Creek Cyn and over the Pinery. My camera had filled the card yesterday so I missed some good shots on the Pinery road coming over but I was able to get a few going back over that morning. So, back down to Willcox and had a gas/rest stop. I don't mind retracing my routes occasionally.. things always look differant from the other direction!. Got on the I-10 at Willcox headed E with 25 mph wind on my tail for a short 10 mile run to pick up the 191 and turn N to Safford. Well, the little 196cc TW loved that tail wind and the gps recorded a high speed for the day of 71!!! Anyway, enough fun... Went on up to Swift Trail junction with originall plan of going up to explore MT Graham.. decided that I wanted to get back to Rio Verde and with the head wind I would be facing going west I would leave Swift Trail for another day..(soon!!) So on to Safford and a gas/ rest and then to Globe for a Mexican lunch at one of the best mexican food places I know. Full of gas and fuel...off we went into the teeth of the gale and made our way back into Rio Verde at 430.... Great riide! Some pics.. http://picasaweb.google.com/budk88/2010_05_06Day3PortalToRioVerde?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyk5_r1w9jYVg# Some thoughts.. 2005 TW 200 5200 miles. 14/47 sprockets Did about 650 miles, used no oil, no flats, no mechanical problems, and got over 70mpg... TW was loaded with about 250lbs of me and gear. Tire pressure was 22/25 and I didn't bother to lower. TW didn't seem to care! Used sheep skin seat cover and stood up some..but it was not as bad as I thought it would be compared with the T Max. Must say I was more tired at the end of each day than a 350 mile or so on the T Max.. but the dirt requires more attention and all the bouncing around gets to the old bones! As we all know, all forms of transport vehicles are a compromise. There is NO perfect Motorcycle for all things. but, that said, the little TW, at the bottom of the moto food chain, does one hell of a job at providing a fun ride over a myriad of roads at a very attractive cost!! Patience does help! All pavement, long trip, sure, it's the Tmax. Fast, nimble, comfortable, quiet with storage.......BUT.... forget about ....."I wonder what's down that dirt road" BudK Remember to take water, gas, and watch for the cows!!!!
Thanks fellas, yep, I only ride this one offroad, I've had far to many close calls, to many crazy drivers on the highway!:eek1
just sat and read all 56 pages of this thread. hoping to close the deal on a 2005 tw tomorrow. looking forward to some local touring thru back country and canyons and dirt roads here in so cal. thanks for the awesome forum. Colby
Closed the deal, Pickin up the bike tomorro. As said before its a 2005 tw200, has only 260 miles on it, got a great deal i think at 2200 dollars. wish it were black and silver, but its dark blue and black. thanks for all the great info. Warren, your ride reports are amazing!!
Awesome! Few things to check... Look to see that the clutch return spring is on correctly (search the TW200 forum and you'll see) and make sure the battery vent tube is routed down the right side of the frame through the eyelet and out the bottom. Sometimes it is either missing or routed on top of the transmission housing - You definitely don't want it ever burping there!
I wasn't sure where to put this - But wanted to share my research with all my TW200 friends... Read around the web and you'll find opinions as far as the eye can see - Right, wrong or indifferent - So I am going to add yet another... One that has piqued my curiosity is octane requirements - How they are determined? What scenarios can require a change? And the ever looming question of that happens if you run a higher than recommended octane in your engine? I've spent quite a bit of time pulling research, exchanging emails with fuel manufacturers, and doing some barely-scientific testing on my own TW200. So I present what I have gathered and put for yet another opinion for everyone to chew on, and welcome your respectful and thoughtful criticism! First let's cover some basics: What is an Octane rating? Octane, simply put is the anti-knock rating of the fuel. The actual chemicals used to raise the anti-knock properties has changed over the years, but lead was the first used in the WWI time frame. Now we move here to a very key point in gasoline, and one argued to death for ages. Assuming the same gasoline manufacturer (let's use Chevron), whether you use 87, 89 or 91 (or any other Octane rating) the amount of available power, BTU's or whatever you want to label it is identical. This is regulated by the fuels Specific Gravity (SG): Octane, or anti-knock components do not affect it. One more key point that must be stated is the burn rate of 87, versus 89, versus 91. I've heard everyone say that 91 burns slower than 87... Simply not true. Based on input from Rockett Fuels and Shell, once ignited the fuels burn at the same rate and provide the same energy. A summary of the above paragraphs reveals this basic statement: Octane is used to delay ignition of the fuel/air mixture (utilization of anti-knock compounds). Once ignited the fuel, regardless of octane rating, burns at the same rate and delivers the same amount of energy (power). That's quite a mouthful, but after tons of research and communication - I believe it. Now let's look at what octane is trying to accomplish: It's all about proper timing... Our goal is to time the fuel air explosion so that it begins it's critical expansion right at about top dead center. That means that sometime just before top dead center, we need to have a balanced mixture of fuel/air (stoichiometric), it needs to be properly compressed, then it has to be ignited - Preferably by the spark plug! Herein lies a combination of many factors - Compression ratio, engine timing (spark), engine temperature, and octane rating (resistance to ignition). So you can see that in timing octane plays a very large role. I think that gets the basic fundamentals out of the way - And hopefully gets your brain engaged - Good or bad as I continue... Let's focus on the TW200, an air/oil cooled fixed ignition engine. We have relatively low/low-mid compression and Yamaha recommends a minimum Octane of 86 (R+M)/2 - RON of 91. RON is the European measure of anti-knock quality, but let's just focus on US measure for now. So that means we just fill ti up with 87 and ride our booty's off right? Well, maybe... We need to look at other than standard requirements we may need to factor in. The first that may become a factor for many is fuel storage. Octane can deprecate 1-2 points per month depending on what type of container it is is - Plastics are worse, metal is better. Do you fill up with 87, then it takes you a month or more to go through the tank? If so you are not meeting the recommended requirement. Is that a bad thing? Maybe not - It depends on your riding style and conditions. Another very key factor that raises octane requirements is engine temperature. This is the big-daddy exclamation point for the TW200, or any air/oil cooled engine. How many of you have been riding out in the desert, or pushing a tough headwind, or pulling steep grades/trails, and detected detonation (pinging)? These all have one very important thing in common - Higher engine operating temperatures. As engine temperature increases, our fuel ignites sooner and that can be absolutely destructive in short order if we don't back off the power - The good news is we can use octane to help regulate and correct timing. Yamaha hints at this on the side panel and in the Owner's Manual by stating: "Your Yamaha engine has been designed to use regular unleaded gasoline with a pump octane number [(R+M)/2] of 86 or a research octane number of 91 or higher. If knocking (or pinging) occurs, use a gasoline of a different brand or premium unleaded fuel" Okay that's a mouthful - But a hint... Two key points I want to pick at from this quote are highlighted. Or higher simply opens a door for you - Permission as it were to use a higher octane fuel, and premium unleaded fuel hints at a grade: 91 octane or greater is the definition of premium fuel. Let me try to sum things up a bit: * If you are using 86 and you're not pinging - Celebrate and be happy * If you are pinging for your riding style, or if you even THINK that you may on a proposed outing due to load, temperature or terrain - Pony up for the premium, or try 89 etc. As summer approaches keep this in mind and listen to your engine. We only have 196cc's, and we can really work the little bugger hard (I know I ask a lot of her). Let's see if we've got the myths covered then I'll present my testing. 1. Premium burns slower: No - It only ignites later because it is more heat and ignition resistance. Once ignited it burns just as quick as the low octane fuel 2. Premium has more power: No - Power is based on the fuels specific gravity (SG), not octane rating. SG is consistent throughout a manufacturers specific product line 3. Premium won't completely burn and leave bad deposits - See number one, while ignition is delayed (slight) there is more than enough time for the fuel charge to completely burn in almost all cases - If there were some residual unburnt fuel it would not leave deposits, since deposits are created by the burning if fuel. It may in fact provide a cooling affect 4. You're wrong Warren because I can tell my engine has more power with premium: This can be the case in an engine that has carbon buildup which has artificially increased the compression ration, thereby requiring premium fuel. Before the use of premium fuel you were likely pre-igniting and reaching full combustion before top dead center 5. Your engine will run hotter if you use premium where not called for: No - The anti-knock (octane rating) does nothing to change the actual energy of the fuel - The actual burn itself and energy released is the same irregardless. I know I am getting tired of writing, and you are probably tired of reading, so here is a summary of my testing and I'll be finished. I wanted to focus on the temperature debate: i.e running premium makes the engine run hotter. I decided to fuel with 87 (lowest available here) and pull Interstate 8 East up to Descanso from Alpine. On this roughly 10 mile uphill stretch, the last 2ish miles or so is a wide-open throttle stretch where I hold around 55 mph, so I thought this would be a perfect place to check speed and engine temperature (a good hefty load). I planned on running 60 mph fixed until the point it required me to hold full-throttle - Then take the temp/speed measurement at the Hwy 79 exit sign. I used a small IR thermometer set to record max temperature. I practiced throughout my Saturday ride holding it on a specific spot on me left leg so I could consistently point it at the same spot at the base of the cylinder head. During this I did notice that moving it around was insignificant as the temperature in the head/cylinder area was very consistent. I completely de-fueled the TW (including laying it on the side to empty the secret reserve), pumped 5 gallons of 87 into my Jeep, then put 1/2 gallon in the TW. Outside air temp before both runs was 72.1 Engine temp before initiating each run was between 190-197 degrees Two runs on 87 revealed the following: Speed (GPS): 54 and 55 Temp (peak): 256 and 262 I completely de-fueled the TW, pumped 5 gallons of 91 into my Jeep, then put 1/2 gallon in the TW. Two runs on 91 revealed the following: Speed (GPS): 53 and 55 Temp (peak): 257 and 261 What do I make of these numbers? Insignificant... The only conclusion that can be drawn is that octane had no affect on the runs regarding temperature, power or speed. So in conclusion - Do not be afraid to use 89, 91, 93 or whatever if you feel you may be in a scenario that increases engine temperature. For me, I was quite often pinging on 87 through the hills and deserts of San Diego, and so far 89 has been good... As summer fully blooms I expect I'll put in 91... Just in case...
first tw200 ride, took the twout the truck and fired it up. before i could get my helmet and gloves on, the bike dies. nearly killed the battery before just bump startin it. fires up and off to work i go, about 5 miles. after work i tore the carb down and cleaned the pilot jet, and drilled the main jet up 3 sizes...making it equivilant to a 132. put back together, its no longer cold blooded and no longer back pops after hard decelleration rode it at about 50mph indicated the 11 miles home with a grin on my face, even though it decided to rain on me the whole way home so pleased with this bike as of yet.
Nice write-up Warren. One thing that people might consider though is that detonation starts before you can hear it...