Yamaha TDM Riders

Man seeing this thread pop up again gave me the jones BAD. Had a 92 in blue with a corbin and kerker cans. Got a lot of what's that but on a road any road with any bike it was always right there. Also ran some Pirelli Scorpions on it and it did a damn fine job off road for a street bike. Had to go look see what's for sale. I do wish amaha would import the new 900 version. The Bulldog look like hella good fun too.

Mandango what front tire is that. I always hard a hard time with that 18" in front. Sweet looking bike...

Greetings everyone .......

First, for the 2 posts that complimented my TDM .... thanks you so much. As I said before ...... I really love that bike.

Tires ......
Good Fucking Gawd ...... I belong to another list site that's specifically for TDM's, they haven't had much going on lately, but back in Jan. there was a major thread about the "Front Tire" issue. I did'nt know what they meant at the time, since I just acquired my TDM in November of 05, and out here in western Oregon, it's mo-fo raining at that time ..........

And no, back then I didn't have the proper gear for riding out in the P.N.W. during the rainy season ....... Hey! I'm originally from Chicago ...... waddaya want ?!?!?!?!?

Well .... I found out what the "front tire" issue was when I started looking for tires ..... I went from the US to the UK, to AU ........ fuck. I thought I centered on a cross pair of Metzelers ...... A Tourance in the back and an .... MK4 something or another .... this goes back like to Feb of this year .... the tread compatibility between the 2 Metz. were good, and I found this out from a post of that other site. The only place I could get the front in my rim size was the UK, so I said ....... OK ..... I call a shop in London, and just F'ing order them from overseas ............. well it started fine, and the shop in London found out from there distrib. that Metz. no longer carried the MK4 something-or-another ......... It took a couple weeks of fairly intense research only to start at square 1.

Then I read another post of a person who ran Distanzia AM44's on both rear and front, cept the front was a ............... yup! you guessed it, a rear rotated proper way round and put on the front. So I did a little more research, and even contacted the PNW distrib of Distanzia ... and even though he could not "officially" support the idea of a rear on the front, he said he knew of a great deal of people, due to odd rim sizes that did just that with no problems ..........

So ..... my rear is a Distanzia AM44, and my front is the same .... fitted proper way round. I've put about 2000 miles on them, and they've been F'ing great. No problems, no abnormal wear on the front .... And ..... when I first got the TDM, she had street tires on her, and lemme tell ya, I didn't feel comfortable with them, as I've been riding dual sport tires for quite a while ..... on my previous love .... my Transalp ........
So if any of you want dual sport tires for a TDM-850, about the only choice you are going to have, unless something new is out, are AM44's.
You could go with a mix of Dunlops, but I personally didn't like the tread compatibility.

As for my TDM compared to my Tiger .........
And I have to be honest ....... A few weeks back, dumb-dumb me, fell off my back deck (I lost my balance) while moving a ladder while I was cleaning my gutters (I was not on the ladder) and broke my right foot (small and clean - but still a break) that I just got out of the cast! And I'm working on rebuilding my calf muscle. Yes ....... I have a chicken leg. :huh

So I just acquired my Tiger like, what ...... 3 days before my mishap ...... WHICH LEMME TELL YA EVERYONE, GETTING A NEW BIKE, AND RIDING IT ONLY TWICE, BEFORE ONLY BEING ABLE TO START IT AND LOOK AT IT (while having a tastey beverage) HAS SUCKED !!!!!!!!!!! :huh

About 3 more weeks, and I'm back on ......

So to compare the 2 bikes, for the little I've road the Tiger ......
To me, power band seems similar ... but I need to take her (the Tiger) out more, obviously.
Balance, cornering, and feel seem slightly the same, but the Tiger has wider grips. It took me a bit to get use to the TDM's stock bars .... they're narrower ..... which I really like now-a-days.
I think the reason there's a great deal of similarities with the bikes as far as power band, gear ratio - to the extent I've ridden the Tiger, is that one bike is a carbed 849 displacement, and the other is a carbed 885 displacement.
Though part of me feels the V2 on the TDM has more gumption off the line, though I need to test this out more .........'
The big difference off the bat that I saw / felt, was my posture and seating between the 2. With the TDM, and I have a Corbin for her, I feel perched up front more, like slightly leaned in to the front, which again I had to get use to, and I think this is due to how much the TDM is a hybrid out of the Tenere .....
Whereas, the Tiger, for posture, feels more like my Transalp, just a bigger bored bike .... Where I'm sitting basically straight up, with no lean .... at least none that I can really tell of, cept if I'm cutting it through some nice twisties, where I'm leaning into shit.
The TDM, with her tires, does really well on groomed trail roads, and I haven't gotten the Tiger out there just yet. First I want to put on new tires.

Anyone have any suggestions ?????? Rim size for the front is standard so it won't be a bitch trying to find d.s. tires for her ........

So anyhow that's my report about the TDM compared to the Tiger, and come Sept ...... ummmmm, maybe 5th or 10th, when I start riding again, I'll be able to give a better comparision report.

I've subscribed to this thread so I won't loose it again ..... and will most definitely talk to ya all later ........

Take care everyone, and take it easy .......

G.

Here's another pic with the Corbin on, and out where she belongs, and not just on my access road ............

Take it easy everyone ......

Not sure I understand what you mean, "rotated proper way round ".
Is your front tire mounted with the rotation arrow pointing in the direction of rotation? Or Rotated 180°?

Am running a fairly new Pirelli Scorpion ST on the rear, & a new Pirelli Scorpion AT, actually made as a rear tire, on the front.
However my front is mounted backwards, arrow pointing in the opposite direction of rotation. Was advised that this was the way to go if you must mount a rear designed tire on the front. Tread pattern for rear is designed to accelerate forward, so if on the front, it would be correct to decelerate. Makes sense to me.
Had to make a choise ASAP, front was shot. Did not realize the 'right' front was that hard to get. Seemed like the best match for the rear.

I doubt that it would be a big problem either way, maybe not as good wear. We also had some discussion about mixing radial with bias ply tires. Never mix 'em on a car, I know that fer sure, drove somebody's years ago. Whoa! :eek1

Same guy that really did not think much of using a rear on the front - but, did say if you needed to do that, mount it backwards, did not think much of mixing radial with bias ply either. But that was a "may-may not handle funny" thought. I do value/trust his opinion.
My last set was mixed, radial & bias ply. As are these. Seem to work ok, but I may not be the one to judge.
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Man, you guys and your sweet looking TDMs make my rat bike look even rattier.

I'm at decision time; do I sink a couple grand into fixing up the TDM [shock, body work & gas tank (crash damage), possibly carbs (for more power), possibly rings (using oil)] or do I sell it and buy another bike (like a DL650). What to do, what to do.

TomS thats the same tires I ran on my 93. They worked pretty good but I was always leary of the lower speed rating of the front tire especialy tagging the throttle on the slab. They definitly worked better on the fire trails but as the front wore it gave up some on the tarmac.

Only my opinion and I truly love my TDM, I wouldn't drop a couple thousand in mine. As much as people say they would love to have one, you won't get your money back if you sell. Hard parts are getting hard to find and are expensive, as is the plastic. When mine reaches the stage you sound like yours is at, it is going to find itself stripped to bare bones, a proper skid plate fitted, some AT tires added and let see what it can really do on a proper trail.

It's your luck day! Here's one for sale:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158485

hi, I also own a TDM900!

DP tire options is THE issue...

In the 900 the rear rim is a 5.0x17 and front is the 3.5x18.

My plan is to swap the front rim to a 3.5x17 (yamaha yzf r6/r1) and use supermoto rain tires or pirelli MT60R... 120x70 and 160x60...

Other problems for DP convertion is the bashplate and low level side exhausts...

Greetings everyone ......

K ... I do have this somewhat strange issue going on with my TDM that I have yet been able to truly deduce.

First, I'll give ya all the symptoms, and then a little history on what's been done on her ...

Symptoms:
It seems like, if I don't start and / or ride her (mind you all I just got out of a cast for a broken foot so I haven't been riding for the last 7 weeks) so if I don't at least start her like every 3 days this happens;

She labors while running, seriously. Like I have the choke all the way out, and she labors to keep the idle (even after the engine warms up) at 1.5 rpm. If I put the choke in, she'll stall. With the choke out and you apply throttle, she still labors, like the engine is definitely not running smoothly.
I'm an o.k. mechanic for minor things, and I can follow instructions in my Haynes manual to do stuff, but for advanced troubleshooting on what might be wrong .... welllll ....... I really am more of a jockey.

At first I thought it was a total fuel related issue, but this can happen when there's still gallons of gas in the tank ..... so that has led me to think that maybe it's more of an air issue ..... dunno.

After the mystery symptom happens, if I go out and start the TDM every day after work, it will get better and better, and finally after about 2 or 3 days of starting her with the choke all the way out, she's fine again. If I run her every other day after that she's fine. If I wait, let's say, 5 days before I start her, the problem could (but not always) happen again, and the cycle repeats.

History:
Back in Jan of this year, while replacing the battery in her, I got a break in one of the fuel lines ..... not fun. So I trailered her into the shop and they did the following;
Replaced the fuel lines
Cleaned and synced the carbs
Performed an over all tune-up on her

So. Unless there was something up with the actual tank, I can't see how it would be a fuel delivery issue, which also really doesn't fit the cycle of symptoms, at least not in my mind.
I can't see how it would be related to the carbs, since they were worked on 8 months ago.
Before my little fall off my back deck, when I was literally her every day, she had no, as in zero, problems with this ....... so the only thing that I can find as a pattern, is that if I don't run her for a number of days, this problem may, or may not, happen.

And as I stated above, when it does happen, it seems to work it's way out after a couple of days .........:huh

Does anyone have any suggestions, or has anyone ever encountered this with their TDM ????????

Take it easy everyone ......

G.

Could be fuel pump related. With the old vacuum pump my bike, if not run at least once a week, would only run on one cyclinder if it would start at all. Usually it would clear up within a few minutes and be fine. The fuel pump sits lower than the carbs and if fuel in the float bowls leaked out or evaperated, the fuel pump would lose its prime and be difficult to start. It got to the point that i would have to pressurize the fuel tank by blowing into it with a piece of fuel line sealed with something like a plastic bag, this got adequate gas into the carbs to start. A good cure is an electric low pressure pump off an older R1 or R6. Not only cured my problem, actually make em run smoother.

^I agree with itsatdm. Some people on the TDM mailing list reported similar issues and solved it by replacing the fuel pump. Here's a link for some details on swapping for an electric fuel pump. I want to do this mod myself.

<tt><tt>http://www.carpe-tdm.net/ipb/index.php?showtopic=201</tt></tt></pre>

TDM's rule

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158911

I'm gonna pm ya as well .... but what manufacturer made your crash guards? I want to get some for my TDM, and I like the looks of yours!

Also ... what tires are ya runnin on that thang? They look great!

Cheers .............

G.

IRC shows the 110 as a tube type... Any issues running it as tubeless or are you putting in tubes?


Also, how is the wear on a big bike like these? will they last a long tour - trip?

Initially tried tubeless but wasn't successful so I am running a tube at the front.

Great handling and sure footed braking.

5,000kms so far with about 1/4 worn.

The TKC 80's is a different matter, much faster wearing, but I did find some fantastic roads recently as per the pics & couldn't help myself having fun.

Still very happy with result.

Cheers

I'd like to find one somewhat cosmeticaly chalenged just for that reason. Unfortunatly most for sale are pristene street bikes for more money than I'd like to spend. Now if I could find one ready to strip I have some crazy ideas in my head. The only thiong that stopped me on the last one was the cost of repairing the crank. Spun a rod bearing I think. Now looking back I wish it was still in my garage.

Sorry to butt into your thread, but as some of you may have noticed, I'm trying to sell my TDM to help pay off the KTM.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158485

There has got to be somebody who needs this bike!! If I can't sell it, I may go the route of Masterbrewer (Outstanding job, by the way). I would have to change my name to Goose or the Lord Humongous to duke with that damn thing. God that thing looks tough....