[sinophilia]

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)



By now I got here:

My new exhaust:

More to come in the next days!

 

[peruano]

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

 

[lizrdbrth]

I've always liked the paint on "Red Max". Can't wait to see how this one turns out.



I'm told Europe has more tire options for our bikes than do we. Is it really necessary to get them from here?

 

[sinophilia]

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.

 

[Sly Fox]

Hi!

I got some Vee Rubber copies of the original Bridgestone from Germany for 187 euros including post.

Try Alfred at MC Reifenservice '[email protected]'

Took about five days to get to UK.

 

[sinophilia]

Hi!

I got some Vee Rubber copies of the original Bridgestone from Germany for 187 euros including post.

Try Alfred at MC Reifenservice '[email protected]'

Took about five days to get to UK.

thanks for the hint, I just saw that Sebastian carries them too.

how are these tires? did you get a pretty new set or were they manufactured a lot of time ago?

 

[TeeWee]

My new exhaust:

Nice. Where did you bought this? Any experience of the sound world?

 

[Sly Fox]

thanks for the hint, I just saw that Sebastian carries them too.

how are these tires? did you get a pretty new set or were they manufactured a lot of time ago?

I can't tell you, I didn't look at the date and the bike isn't here for me to check but I've been riding well on them!!!

 

[sinophilia]

Nice. Where did you bought this? Any experience of the sound world?

I got it from www.xracing.it, they're hand made to order. Finishing is not the best but I can live with that.

The sound is very nice! Check this one

@Sly Fox

thanks for the info, I will order them from Sebastian!

 

[sinophilia]

Today's progress... and problems.



I installed the handguards and I like them a lot.

And yes, those blue fork covers and the purple "Electric" stickers have to go

The exhaust looks good... but there's a catch! Not that I didn't expect it. There is always something wrong.

The support on the pipe is off-center. Either I send the exhaust back or I add a spacer... nothing too difficult to make but I'm pissed.

 

[TWrider]

Today's progress... and problems.



I installed the handguards and I like them a lot.

And yes, those blue fork covers and the purple "Electric" stickers have to go

The exhaust looks good... but there's a catch! Not that I didn't expect it. There is always something wrong.









The support on the pipe is off-center. Either I send the exhaust back or I add a spacer... nothing too difficult to make but I'm pissed.

That looks awful close to the subframe tube

....and the tire

 

[sinophilia]

That looks awful close to the subframe tube

....and the tire

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...

 

[TWrider]

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.



I like your website

 

[805gregg]

You need a Clark tank. Does the exhaust add power? I've noticed alot of after market exhaust actually decrease power.

 

[sinophilia]

Thanks TWrider!



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!

 

[sinophilia]

I ordered the Vee Rubber VRM 274 & 275 tires... thank you again Sly Fox, I spared quite a lot of money!

 

[TeeWee]

The sound is very nice! Check this one

I like the sound too. Have you tried it with the noise damper (dB-killer)?

 

[sinophilia]

I like the sound too. Have you tried it with the noise damper (dB-killer)?

yep check this other video in my gallery.

the titanium exhaust is a bit longer than the carbon one, I hope the sound will be as good.



today I painted the fork covers with matte black paint... not too bad! but it's definitely a temporary solution.

 

[sinophilia]

Another bike, another seat cover... back to female chores, for once!

 

[thumper]

Another bike, another seat cover... back to female chores, for once!

You go girl! Wish I had your skill with making seat covers.