After selling my TW125, in the quest for the perfect TW200 I ended up buying two of them. The first one was not so perfect, so that I eventually got a second one even after I had put money and effort in rebuilding my first purchase. The bike I am now using to get around town is a blend of the two: chassis of the first one, engine of the second one. I had posted the story in the old forum and the project is detailed in my signature.
I spent quite a lot of time wondering what to do with the second TW200 and its noisy but apparently fine 27k mile engine. I've been calling it "the third bike" since I got it because there were already two TW200 in our garage by then. So... I was quite definite about putting it back together without spending any more money on it, and selling it off for a cheap price. Well, last week I reassembled most of it, installed a spare tank that I had around, filled the engine with oil and cranked it up... as you can imagine, now I can no longer bring myself to sell it!!
The third bike when I bought it:
I thought - what the heck, 2 TW are still cheaper than 1 bigger bike. If one of our engines decides to die, we have a spare. And even if we get one or two bigger bikes sooner or later, we still want to keep our T-Dubs don't we? So here I am buying parts for "the third bike". I was going to customize it "Japan-style" but I think the off-road spirit of this forum somehow changed the way I see my TW. I love how most of you guys fit it with all the gadgets that one can imagine and use this bike to explore. So, even if there's not much wilderness here, I decided that my Red Max will be a tourist bike (Jimbo shield and panniers coming soon!) and this one will be the off-road (or maybe urban badass) bike.
This bike already has 14/50 gearing and a nice steel handlebar.
The few changes I am making:
- rusty stock exhaust will be replaced by a titanium one
- white handguards
- folding mirrors
- red TW125 tank, just because I have one
- rubbery black seat cover as on my other bike
- knobby tires (as soon as I manage to get a pair from the US)
Cool, This one can be your fun bike because you can be a little more relaxed (its not needed as your daily rider). I like the red tank. I wish I knew someone going to Italy with extra room in their luggage to carry your tires. My third bike (and the one least likely to be ridden often) is a Honda CT 110. I need to go work on it today and your message reminded me of that. Good luck with the offroad rider. Tom
I think there are the Cheng Shin or something like that... but I'm not sure how good they are. Some of my French friends got a US seller to send them tires so I think it's feasible, just a bit more expensive due to shipping and customs.
Thanks for the kind words! Will have to check with the insurance company so I can try this one out on the road as soon as it's ready.
The distance from the tire is okay, it's just the perspective of this photo. The pipe is also a couple of millimeters away from the frame... this time the curve they made is slightly different from my other exhaust, hence the off-center hole. I guess I will send them this picture to check with them if they can move the support up a bit without making a mess.
Update: the manufacturer admitted that he used a larger pipe, 45mm instead of 42, hence the mistake... he's willing to take it back and modify it but I think I will just add a metal plate...
The distance from the tire is okay, it's just the perspective of this photo. The pipe is also a couple of millimeters away from the frame... this time the curve they made is slightly different from my other exhaust, hence the off-center hole. I guess I will send them this picture to check with them if they can move the support up a bit without making a mess.
Update: the manufacturer admitted that he used a larger pipe, 45mm instead of 42, hence the mistake... he's willing to take it back and modify it but I think I will just add a metal plate...
I was just concerned because I'm not sure how many aftermarket pipe makers know how far out the silencer needs to be....What may be perfectly fine for those street tires can become a problem with dirt tires, especially some of the ATV tires.
gregg, yes I'd love a Clarke tank, maybe Santa will deliver one
I don't know anything about the internal structure of this exhaust, with the noise damper the power and noise level should be the same as with the stock exhaust, without the noise damper the bike has probably more acceleration and less top speed - I say probably because it may be just an impression due to the engine roaaaarr
On my other bike I have an Akrapovic exhaust, they claimed it would add about 1HP and quite a lot of torque to the TW125 and told me that the performance gain should be even higher on the TW200. This exhaust is very similar to the Akrapovic...
Actually I only change exhausts because the new ones look and sound better!
Does anyone know if you can saw off the nipple on the exhaust? Does it serve a purpose or is it just a leftover from 1980's styling? I'm just looking for a cleaner and slightly more modern look.
I love this damn bike! I’d like to be a little more stealthy as I live in Montana and there’s lots to see if you’re quiet enough. What’s your best ideas/solutions for a replacement exhaust system that gives me the best muffled noise reduction I can find. Here’s a pic of my playground this...
Hi,
So it seems everyone likes the Shinko 241 on the front.
Unfortunately I don't think we can get them over here in the UK. :(
So I was wondering what other options there are in the UK for something a little more off road bias than my current Bridgestone TW203.
Nothing extreme that will be...
I extended my swing arm 14 inches, but haven't ridden it yet. Does anyone have any experience with this much extension? What will I have to change on the rear shock? Thanks
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