Ok, i picked up my new to me and practually new 2006 with 490 miles. This was the first item I bought off ebay, the bike is perfect, not a scratch on it, it was as clean as you would get from a dealer. The previous owner had just changed the oil, and had 2 extra oil filters, plus a binder with the service manual, the owners manual and the parts manual. Wow. I rode the bike, first time, it was fine, it seamed kind of peppy for such a small engine, what am I saying, my first bike was a Honda 55 trail back in the 60's, so I gladly bought it. I loaded it on my trailer, easy as pie. I love the light weight. Got it home and went for a ride, after awhile I felt that I was a giant on a miniture motorcycle, very different from my V-Strom where I was a small guy on a big bike. The bike hit 63 mph on speedo, so thats about right, I had a good ride, and decided right away it's not a long distance bike, except maybe off road, then it will shine. First gear off road with me standing on the pegs was too slow, so I have a JT 47 tooth sprocket on the way, I tried to find Fastway pegs that would fit, but no luck so I have a set of Chinese crap on the way. Also when standing on the pegs the bars are a little low so maybe ATV high bars will work. I also ordered a white Clark tank. Next will be a Cycleracks, add my trunk and soft bags and I'm set,... maybe a cam down the road. Anyone know where to get a folding shift lever?
First ride
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Hey Everyone! Enter your bike HERE to be a part of this months Bike of the Month Challenge!
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Welcome and congrats on the new bike. Sounds like you picked up a nice one. I'm pretty new here myself but this is great resource for TW's. You're jumping right in there with customizing the bike and making it yours. Post so pics so we all can see your work.
I really love the lightweight, my ST 1300 weighs about 650 lbs. The sold V-Strom was at about 500+ pounds with all my gear. I'd like to keep this bike under 300 lbs with all my crap. So I have an ebay 47 tooth JT rear sprocket, Chinese pegs, Clark tank and Pro taper Hi ATV bars on the way. Also Cycleracks rear rack, they will send it to me and I pay them after it arrives? Then I can add my old Chase soft bags, old Givi rear trunk and I'm set to go even slower. I'm really surprised Yamaha hasn't upped the engine size in all these years. This will be a good, trails, around town and RV bike. I'll just have to intercept the packages before my wife sees them.
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82 Posts
Don't think I could part with my Strom, it's my baby, but the TW makes for a nice dirty mistress!
Let me know how you fare with adding the Givi to your Cyclerack. I've got a spare E45 in the rafters, but the bar at the back of the Cyclerack makes fitment a little difficult. I've seen a couple members that have either chopped the hump out of the back of the rack or elevated the mounting plate to the height of the hump to allow the trunk to be placed far enough back that it doesn't sit over the back of the seat.
I still need to make some side bag supports for my old Givi side bags, but haven't found the inclination to get started with the project. I was thinking about getting a Harbor Freight benchtop tube bender and make some that can bolt to the bottom of the Cyclerack.
I went with the MSR high bars and wish I would have picked something with less pullback like the ProTaper bars. Good choice there.
I gave up on intercepting the packages long ago, now the challenge is getting the wife involved with the install. Prolly have better luck hiding boxes, but it makes for good fun when I win...
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796 Posts
2.7 gallon designed for the TW200 bolts on easy, looks great.
And some in this forum have put the XT350 tank (3.5+ gallon ??) on with minor modification to the seat pan & tank bolt hole.
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82 Posts
I went the XT350 route. 4 gallons...haven't had to fill it up a second time yet!
Guess that means I'm not riding enough, huh?
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