[GISdood]

Hey everyone,



Just thought I'd post up in here as I'll be spending a fair bit of time in the near future sifting through the collective knowledge and wisdom of all things T-Dub. I recently acquired a 1992 TW200 from a coworker who was going to junk the entire bike. The conversation (slightly paraphrased) went kinda like this...

"Do you know anyone that wants a trail bike as a fixer-upper project?"



(I'm already interested, as I just finished rebuilding my DR last winter)

"What is it?"



"92 Yamaha TW200."



"Hmm.... how much do you want for it?"



"Nothing. If nobody wants it, I'm hauling it to the dump."



"I'll be right there!" >click<

A little about the bike's history - my coworker is a professional forester, so he had originally purchased the bike new to use as a 'bush bike'. Something easy to load and unload (vs a quad) when he was going out into the bush for work-related tasks like timber cruising, etc. All was well and good until they got some summer students on staff. Apparently some people just 'assume' they can ride a bike as easily as a quad. Well, the TW shows the scars disproving that simple-minded theory

Total mileage on the bike is extremely low, but they were hard-fought and well-weathered miles. Well... technically kilometers, but you know what I mean...

As you can see, the speedo is slightly busted. This was the final crash which shelved the poor little T-dub. Headlight and speedo were both smashed up and torn clean off the bike in a bit of an endo, it seems. There's also some notable abrasion on the left side of the frame, and the passenger footpeg mount on the left side is gone.

So after the bike had sat idle in the back of a garage for a few years, the owner decided to go out and start it up. The battery (after being charged for a day or so) cranked the motor over fine. The kicker worked fine as well, but the bike would not run. The fuel was checked and although there was fuel in the tank, the colour was a tad 'off'. Probably due to this:

Obviously, something is going to have to be done about that tank. Based on the limited reading I've done (so far) it looks like the easiest way around this will be the 2.8gal Clarke tank. I've never reconditioned a tank before, so I'm not yet sure what's involved. If there's a relatively simple process that is cheaper than the $200 Clarke option, I'd be interested in hearing it. Also, I've gathered that there are a few other tank models that can be easily adapted... if those can be inexpensively sourced, I'd be open to that option as well.



For now, I'll just leave you with a few more photos that I took last night while I start sifting through the collective knowledge and wisdom here in hopes of saving you all from answering a pile of uninformed (aka: stupid) questions.



That red seat has GOT to go.

Needs a new front fender, as well.

Chain and sprockets look to be in good shape (as they should be with under 1000km of use) but I may still replace them to adjust gearing and to upgrade to an O-ring chain.

That's it for now... more pictures to come as teardown begins. I'm really looking forward to fixing up this little beastie and getting it out on some trails!

 

[evan]

looks like ur gonna have fun. Try taking tank to local motorcycle shop and see how much they want to clean it out and put that stuff call "creme"? in it. suppossed to seal inside of tank.

 

[evan]

Oh, and my 89 has that great looking red seat and I love it....LOL

 

[Bagger]

Dood, congrats on a great find! I don't know if you've ever had a TW before, but I sure love ours.



Have fun and please keep us posted with pics and narrative (like this GREAT start!).



Two things.

1.) Drop Zombiestomper a PM, he's outt's town for a couple days, but he cleaned/coated a tank that was pretty bad on his Zombie bike and it turned out fantastic, so he should be able to walk you right through it.



2.) If you decide to ditch the whole red seat, let me know! I'm looking for a whole seat.



Welcome!!



Bag

 

[qwerty]

If the tank isn't leaking it doesn't need to be cremed or PORed. Take the petcock off and remove the filters. Replace the petcock. Pour a cup or two of kerosene in, add a handfull of odd nuts, bolts, and washers, and shake it about until the rust is knocked loose. Rinse with kerosene, Replace the petcock filters, and good to go. All it will cost you is a bit of kerosene.

 

[peruano]

I agree with Qwerty, your tank does not have serious rust visible - just a superficial film shows in the photos. I'd do the abrasive stick mentioned by Qwerty. Shake and shake, and shake some more. I did mine with diesel fuel instead of kero and I go some flakes, not just rusty tea. Maybe you will too, but if its not flaking big time, I'd clean it and run it with a fuel filter. Creme and sealers are for tanks that are leaking due to rusted seams or perforated rust spots. I have a blue fender that is cracked next to the bracket, but probably could resurected if you wanted to invest $5 or so in postage. But then again you are talking kms so where are you? I could also provide the headlight from a 93, but the cowling is gone to another TWer on this forum. Let us know what you need and maybe we can keep this as close as possible to a free buildup. Tom

 

[David G.]

My brother had his Honda quad gas tank acid dipped and seald on the inside. He then painted it all new for less then 100.00. It came out looking new.

 

[bangkokbonk]

Hi Nice find.



I agree that Por 15 and kreem are not nessacery. I did use Por-15, great stuff and easy to use. better than Kreem aparently. I used it because after removing the rust i wanted to seal it to prevent rust coming back in the future if my tank was left sitting with no gas in it. My tank was not sealed when it was built. I belive there are various ways to seal it once clean, Galvanize and chemicals and sealers (epoxy)



I looked through a ton of info on cleaning tanks, here are some of the ways to do it. Some require homemade chemicals, electrolosis, store products and some just a lot of elbow grease and shaking. It was quite a workout even using the Por-15 process!! But it's a great finish and i dont have to worry about rust comming back.



lots of ways here (Including coke zero!!) My link



1. Dump out all gas/funk from tank

2. 1/2 jar of naval jelly dissolved in 2 liter bottle of water

3. Dump in tank (fill completely with plain water) and let sit 24hrs

4. Dump naval jelly and rinse w/ fresh water

5. 1/2 cup baking soda dissolved in 2 liter bottle of water

6. Dump in tank (fill completely with plain water) and let sit 2 hrs

7. Dump baking soda and rinse 2x w/ fresh water

8. Shake all or as much water from tank as possible

9. Use 1/2 can or more wd-40 on tank to help emulsify water so rust wont start again



Nice clean shiny tank w/ no gunk or rust in it

 

[GISdood]

Hey all,



Thanks for the welcome and the info on the gas tank, everyone! My SUV runs on diesel, so I think I'll try some of that first and see what kind of result it yields.



As for the seat, I think I'm just going to have a replacement pad & cover made. Seat Concepts makes a great aftermarket product. I have one of their pad/cover kits on my DR650 and on my wife's DR-Z400SM. I simply can't recommend their stuff highly enough - awesome quality and amazing comfort. Sadly, I didn't see the TW seat listed on their website, but they replied right away to an email inquiry, quoting me a price of $200 for a replacement pad and cover for the TW200 (which they have in the works, but is still a ways down the list of prototypes to produce).



Bagger, when I get the new pad & cover, you're more than welcome to the existing red cover and stock seat pad (assuming it can be removed without damaging it) for the cost of shipping.



I plan to tear the bike right down to the bare frame and get that blasted and powder-coated. Everything will come off, bearings and races inspected and replaced if needed, and a thorough detailing of all parts and components.



Other possible improvements I've been going over in my head today...

• Headlight shell and small windscreen - other model take-off, or just a headlight + generic bar-mount screen, not sure yet
  
• Dual-beam 35W HID bulb - I can get these locally for under $50. Low power draw for amazing light output
  
• LED tail/brake/signals to save a little more draw on the stator
  
• Heated grips (just in case it evolves into a winter-bike)
  
• New color scheme - this will depend on how the tank reconditioning goes. Still eyeing up a white Clarke tank and thinking white fenders and plastics to go with it. We'll wait and see on that one. If the tank cleans up nicely, I'll just give everything a good clean and polish and see how it looks.
  

That's the short list of relatively inexpensive stuff for now. I'll think about big ticket items like exhaust and tires later.



For now, I'm off to siphon some diesel out of the SUV and we'll see how the tank turns out over the weekend.

 

[qwerty]

Might want to reconsider the HID headlight conversion If your headlight only comes on when the engine runs there will not be enough juice to keep the arc going at idle. If your headlight goes on and offwith the key, you're good to go. Be sure to wire a shut-off switch to avoid killing the arc when starting the bike. HIDs really hate low voltage--it burns them out.

 

[ronnydog]

Welcome and have fun. Nice to find one that you can build the way you want. I bought my bike new in 1995 stripped it down the the frame and started all over. I started by spending $3100.00 for a new bike and you start at $0. Nice place to start!



Ronnydog

 

[ronnydog]

Try Metal Rescue.



youtu.be/Hb7jyf7A4WE

How to Remove Rust from a Motorcycle Gas Tank (De-Rust)

Ronnyog

 

[ceramite]

Best deal ever!!! Welcome to the club

Adam

 

[Malkop]

Hey Dood,



That is definately the best deal you can find. Wow. The bike looks in great shape and shows how th T-Dub is made of stern enough stuff to survive ignorance and neglect in the hands of philistines. Nice to rescue her from oblivion and bring her back to glory. Look forward to seeing the progress.



Malcolm

 

[GISdood]

The only downside of getting a bike for free seems to be the lack of restraint required to resist farkling the crap out of it.



Since I hauled the TW into my workshed, I haven't really done much with it apart from pulling off the seat and all the plastic, yet I've already shelled out for a couple new additions for it. I jumped in on the group buy for the Seat Concepts deal - couldn't resist, seeing as we already have two of their seats; one my DR and another on my wife's DRZ. HUGE improvement over stock on both bikes.



The discussion on dirt bags in another thread (the luggage, not the personality type) got me thinking about eventually needing racks for the TW. Both our other bikes are equipped with Wolfman Expedition bags and racks, so I started pondering how I could use those bags on the TW as well. Well... a couple emails exchanged with the good folks over at Wolfman, and I've learned that a pair of their first-generation hoops can be had for $65 + shipping.



SOLD!



Once the hoops get here, I'll cart the bike over to my welder friend's garage and have him fab up the connections to the bike.



For those of you who haven't seen the Wolfman racks, they're incredibly sturdy. They practically double as crash-bars for the rear of my DR, and are mounted securely enough that I can easily pick the bike up after a spill just by using the racks as a handle.

I have a feeling this 'free' bike might get expensive over the winter... I still need a speedo (thinking Vapor), a new headlight (likely a generic round shell with a 35W HID), footpegs, etc, etc... *sigh*

 

[joeband]

sweet deal on that bike, $0 is really hard to beat.



though i think your bike may actually be a 1994 and not '92 as that color scheme was one year specific, and i doubt someone redid a '92 as a '94. i have the same bike, and swapping out the red seat was money well spent.



can't wait to see the progress.

 

[lizrdbrth]

Bikes in other markets worlwide had different color schemes to U.S. models over the years. Kinda`hard to nail them all down to a year model by color.



I'm with Qwerty. If it ain't leakin', don't seal it. Rust can be removed about 20 different ways including common muriatic acid. Electrolytic removal with a simple battery charger and baking soda renders rust harmless permanently.



Creme and POR15 are last resorts.

 

[Stromper]

Oxalic Acid will eat rust but not metal so its good for tank rust



SOME deck cleaners are also Oxalic Acid.... NOTE IT IS POISONOUS

 

[joeband]

i didn't know that about different country bikes, but that makes sense... i forgot to add, i like the doug fir cone wedged in there. a token for good luck?

 

[lizrdbrth]

Oxalic acid is wood bleach. Sometimes you can find it at pro paint stores and places that sell leatherwork supplies.



It's`also the main ingredient in Barkeeper's friend, a paste of which will remove light surface rust on most things if you're patient.