Yamaha TW200? Looking for feedback
- Thread starter Undergroundroot
- Start date
CampStewart
Observer
What is the typical used price range for a well maintained TW200?
Great niche bike and regardless of what some have said here the TW will go places none of these other bikes will go. It is the atv of motorcycles. The front tire is dirt bike rear tire width and the rear can actually use ATV tires. It has a lower seat height than anything mentioned here, is dead reliable and fun. The perfect exploration bike. It is not a speedster and the suspension can be improved significantly for cheap money. The harder the trails the more fun this bike is. It won’t outperform these others on gravel roads but in the truly hard stuff it certainly will.
I went a step bigger on the front sprocket as I am about average size and don’t need the torque. It still pulls like a tractor and can do 60 all day long and 65 for stretches. I think it would be great for what you are doing. So easy to ride and learn on that even a beginner will have a blast so your SO or friends can enjoy it.
I went a step bigger on the front sprocket as I am about average size and don’t need the torque. It still pulls like a tractor and can do 60 all day long and 65 for stretches. I think it would be great for what you are doing. So easy to ride and learn on that even a beginner will have a blast so your SO or friends can enjoy it.
Ole Chipper
Member
Maybe a Honda CT125. Little smaller and a lot cheaper but will do the same thing.
mog
Kodiak Buckaroo
CT125 front tire- 70mm wide, rear tire- 100mm wide
TW200 front tire- 130mm wide, rear tire- 180mm wide
Sand, silt, loose dirt, snow, some types of mud might disagree
TommyG
Adventurer
I have never smiled or giggled more riding a bike than I have on a TW. I have ridden tons of trails and raced enduros and hare scrambles, etc. over the years. I can't remember who started it or why but a group of us from my riding circle got them to tool around in town and on the local trails one year. We had a ridiculous amount of fun with them. If you think it would fit into your plans go for it.
nickw
Adventurer
I'd love a TW, they look like a lot of fun to rip from camp to the store, gravel roads, mild offroad, turn off brain and twist throttle, nothing but good things come of that. I actually got my motorcycle endorsement riding one years ago. If had the room I'd 100% have one with rear rack and some nice panniers.
Not to disparage anybody, but no, they can't go places a proper dirt bike can in the hands of a competent rider. The fat tires limit their use on trails with ruts and lack of suspension limits their use on rough terrain / woops, say down in Baja. While they may be ok for loose sand at slow speeds any proper offroad DS bike with good tires ridden by a solid rider is going to go further, faster with more comfort in 95% of terrain. Not saying that to be ornery but setting expectation, if you want to take the time to learn to ride a full size DS bike, a full size DS is likely a better option. If you want to dabble in motorcycles and don't want the option of harder single track, TW200 may slot in nicely.
I think as some others have said, a TTR230 or CRF250F would be my overall choice and a platform that is a bit more flexible.
Not to disparage anybody, but no, they can't go places a proper dirt bike can in the hands of a competent rider. The fat tires limit their use on trails with ruts and lack of suspension limits their use on rough terrain / woops, say down in Baja. While they may be ok for loose sand at slow speeds any proper offroad DS bike with good tires ridden by a solid rider is going to go further, faster with more comfort in 95% of terrain. Not saying that to be ornery but setting expectation, if you want to take the time to learn to ride a full size DS bike, a full size DS is likely a better option. If you want to dabble in motorcycles and don't want the option of harder single track, TW200 may slot in nicely.
I think as some others have said, a TTR230 or CRF250F would be my overall choice and a platform that is a bit more flexible.
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I’m late to the party, but thought I’d add my observations to the list. Background - rode dirt bikes alot as a teenager in the late ‘60s early ‘70s (back when bikes had two rear shocks). Honda Trail 90, Hodaka 100, Penton 125. Mostly desert, a little motocross. Most fun was on my own getting into new-to-me country. Least fun was trying to pretend I was a motocross racer because that’s what the cool folks did. By myself I was always fast enough. With a few friends I was always fast enough. On a track I was never fast enough. Too bad I was too young to interpret that pattern.
Shifted back to road bicycles through university and graduate school. That level of hard effort suited me better and I was fast enough more often. Stayed with bicycles for the next 30 years until a West Nile infection left me with double vision & I was unable to safely ride in peloton (which of those two gaps is the real one?). Decided to try motorcycles again as a neighbor had just bought aTW200. Bought one to ride with him. Immediately brought back all the smiles of my early teens on the Hodaka 100. But I kept reading that I should get a real bike so I could cover real miles & I moved “up” to a Kawasaki KXL 250 & then a Husky 610. Both of which where potentially a lot faster loaded with camping gear but alot harder to pick up after a fall & much more difficult truly soft sand. After three years i realized I was losing fitness & gaining weight so went to solo gravel & adventure bicycling. My niche just seems mostly within the self powered realm. However out of those 6 motorcycles the two I really miss are the Hodaka 100 and the TW200. Most smiles & most explored country (at least by motor).
My advice is to try the TW200. If it puts smiles on you face what more matters?
Howard
Shifted back to road bicycles through university and graduate school. That level of hard effort suited me better and I was fast enough more often. Stayed with bicycles for the next 30 years until a West Nile infection left me with double vision & I was unable to safely ride in peloton (which of those two gaps is the real one?). Decided to try motorcycles again as a neighbor had just bought aTW200. Bought one to ride with him. Immediately brought back all the smiles of my early teens on the Hodaka 100. But I kept reading that I should get a real bike so I could cover real miles & I moved “up” to a Kawasaki KXL 250 & then a Husky 610. Both of which where potentially a lot faster loaded with camping gear but alot harder to pick up after a fall & much more difficult truly soft sand. After three years i realized I was losing fitness & gaining weight so went to solo gravel & adventure bicycling. My niche just seems mostly within the self powered realm. However out of those 6 motorcycles the two I really miss are the Hodaka 100 and the TW200. Most smiles & most explored country (at least by motor).
My advice is to try the TW200. If it puts smiles on you face what more matters?
Howard
Ole Chipper
Member
Yes but a TW is street legal and is a powerhouse, race bike compared to a Rokon.
Hodakaguy has a current thread on his new TW200 modifications & how the bike fits into a stable that includes KTMs and you guessed it Hodakas!
Howard
Howard