[philipkroberts]

Hello chaps,

I currently own a 2002 TW 125 (UK) and I love it!
I have seen a fair few comments around with people asking if they can get there 125 TW to go faster, If I am honest I don't care for speed at all.

As I'm sure anyone from the UK who's reading this is aware you can easily get on the road on a 125cc bike for little cost!
The bike cost me £700 (Roughly $1000) and had done around 18k miles, Yes I am aware this is a lot however I was in a rush and needed wheels immediately.

The most I have had out her is 40mph, this being due to most the speed limits around here and I hardly need to travel further than 2miles at most daily. As mentioned earlier, I am no speed freak, I use to muck around on DT's, XL's and alike when I was a young lad however I only recently went legal.

I'm only a skinny runt and the bike is very, very forgiving. The huge rear tyre really does make the difference!
However it's now winter and time for me to do a bit of maintenance.

I have bought a new heavy duty chain and new front and rear sprocket, also a new battery.
I have today noticed I am in need of 6 new rear sprocket stubs, I am not sure where is the best place to get these?

The exhaust is a little worse for wear, and there are a few small holes, I am going to be puttying and taping them up followed by some exhaust bandage (I can't afford a new exhaust just yet so this must do.) Where the manifold connects to the engine one of the bolts has sheered clean and flat What are my choices for getting it out.

I don't want to spend a fortune of this bike as it's just to get me around till summer when I do my full motorbike licence (DAS to UK readers).

I know I said I am no speed demon however I would like a little more response from the lower gears, would changing from a 51 to a 47 rear sprocket be worth while, or will it not be worth it in the long run?


Forgive me if I sound new, I have only been riding a few months! Google failed me, So yeah any suggestions, advice etc would be great.

Thank you guys.

 

[philipkroberts]

Completely forgot to mention, My bike was mad low on oil, I filled it up and followed a tutorial, however no oil came out from the phillips bolt:

The bike feels very sluggish and backfires lots!

Am I right in guessing the oil filter may need a clean/replacing

 

[littletommy]

If no oil came out of the screw, STOP RUNNING THE ENGINE NOW.

You may have or are headed for worse problems.

 

[philipkroberts]

It's currently sat in my garage, So what do you suggest littletommy? A complete oil change and clean/replacement filter?
Cheers

 

[littletommy]

Change oil, clean filter and screen, check level in oil window, start and try again for oil when you remove the screw.

Do this first, then we will go from there.

 

[philipkroberts]

Ok pal, Thank you kindly. I will do a complete oil change, my topup seemed to of done nothing so a change seems the best thing.
I will follow the tutorial on here, From what I have read the O-rings may be knackered, is there a preffered place people get these from?

Kind regards,

 

[littletommy]

Not sure about O rings over there. Yamaha TW200 Parts and Performance - ProCycle These folks have some.

The popping and backfiring is probably caused by the holes in your exhaust system. You really should go through the whole bike and check stuff, like valve adjustment, carb and plug inspection, etc. Check everything, then you know, and don't have to wonder if stuff is right.

O... And welcome to the forum!

 

[philipkroberts]

Not sure about O rings over there. Yamaha TW200 Parts and Performance - ProCycle These folks have some.

The popping and backfiring is probably caused by the holes in your exhaust system. You really should go through the whole bike and check stuff, like valve adjustment, carb and plug inspection, etc. Check everything, then you know, and don't have to wonder if stuff is right.

O... And welcome to the forum!

I know, however I am short of time currently and funding, The wiring needs a look over as the front indicator on the left is a tad fast.
To be honest I just thought, shit, I need a way to get to my new job! I chose the TW for its meaty wheel and it has not disappointed.

This machine deserves a good look over however I simply won't have time for a month or so, also I don't dig riding in the winter, England is shit.
I am getting a new plug tomorrow iridium and what not.
I shall make a start with the oil change and filter clean/replacement and report back here.

Thanks for the welcome and the speedy response, Once again apologies if I seem like a noob, I can set up some shit hot hyper v virtualization on a VMware setup and anything tech related. When it comes to engines I the biggest noob going.

Thanks for your patience

 

[littletommy]

No problem, keep us posted. Great little bikes all in all and pretty easy to work on.

 

[philipkroberts]

No problem, keep us posted. Great little bikes all in all and pretty easy to work on.

Compared to other bikes of a similar style and engine size I rode as a youngster, the bike feels like it handles lovely and hugs our horrible british roads!
I owned a Honda XL for a good few years and she was a lovely bike and had amazing throttle response however the overall ride when on roads was horrific, Are there other bikes similar to the the TW with bigger engines (400cc+) I only ask as I need to think about what I want to buy this summer and would love recommendations

Are there any TW 125 Forums? I have searched high and low but couldn't find anything.

Thanks.

 

[littletommy]

Suzuki Van Van is similar.
No 400's that I know of, only the 200 TW.
We have had other 125 riders over here on the website as there may not be a TW125 website. I personally don't know.

 

[srs713]

If there was no oil coming out the check bolt, look at the oil filter and make sure it has the 4 small holes!!! Many engines have died from top end oil starvation because of the wrong filter!

If you have Marvel Mystery Oil over there I highly recommend using it in the oil and fuel at least until the next oil change.

 

[macbig2k1]

Are there any TW 125 Forums? I have searched high and low but couldn't find anything.

Check this out:
http://www.tw125.com

I know, the site is in German, but everyone is welcome.
And the most of us Germans are speaking English too.


I don't recommend to change from a 51 to 47 rear sprocket, that will be a too long transmission ratio for the small 125 cc engine.
If you want more performance to be competitive with the newer 125 cc bikes, than you have to make the transmission shorter.
14/54 would be a good choice.
13/54 is much more better. Perfect for city rides, but not good for highway rides (90 km/h [56 mph] = 9000 rpm).

And you should say "Good bye" to the fu**ing CV-carb.
This carb is in the most cases the reason for the bad performance of the TW125 type 2 (frame number JYADE05).
The Mikuni 26 mm round side carb is 2 mm smaller as the original carb, but the bike performs better.

The perfect combination for a bit more performance is the 140 cc kit with 26 mm carb.

Best Regards,
Sebastian

 

[philipkroberts]

Check this out:
http://www.tw125.com

I know, the site is in German, but everyone is welcome.
And the most of us Germans are speaking English too.


I don't recommend to change from a 51 to 47 rear sprocket, that will be a too long transmission ratio for the small 125 cc engine.
If you want more performance to be competitive with the newer 125 cc bikes, than you have to make the transmission shorter.
14/54 would be a good choice.
13/54 is much more better. Perfect for city rides, but not good for highway rides (90 km/h [56 mph] = 9000 rpm).

And you should say "Good bye" to the fu**ing CV-carb.
This carb is in the most cases the reason for the bad performance of the TW125 type 2 (frame number JYADE05).
The Mikuni 26 mm round side carb is 2 mm smaller as the original carb, but the bike performs better.

The perfect combination for a bit more performance is the 140 cc kit with 26 mm carb.

Best Regards,
Sebastian

Just had a quick look around, However I can't seem to source the carb you mentioned. This will be a change made after the oil issues however I'd like to pre-empt what the cost is.
Bigmacs TW site is great, however my german sucks and google translate is not too forgiving.
Ich wasche meine Käse in das bet, is all I know from school! Washing my cheese in the bed is not a great amount of knowledge to carry over tho.

I have a few mechanic minded friends, they will be able to help me

Once I get my full bike licence I will be keeping this a play bike
Would anyone know of any places that are good to source a bigbore kit?

Once again thanks for the help!
Kind regards

 

[philipkroberts]

MOTO SHOP GORO : 215 Bore Up Kit [20033]
If linking to external sites is not allowed, please can a mod remove this link! Thank you.
Would this be a good option? Also along with the big bore kit, what else will I be needing (new exhaust without a doubt).
I presume I will need new jets too?

Thanks

 

[philipkroberts]

This carb is in the most cases the reason for the bad performance of the TW125 type 2 (frame number JYADE05).
Best Regards,
Sebastian

Is this your website pal? If so THANKYOU for helping me get my manuals! I searched high a low for them!
Where will I find this information, on the front on the frame on my bike it states: Type DE051

Forgive my naiveness.

Thank you.

 

[littletommy]

Sebastian is a great help around here with a wealth of information. You are in good hands now.

 

[philipkroberts]

Sebastian is a great help around here with a wealth of information. You are in good hands now.

Yeah I guessed as much, I'm thankful for the manuals, they are a bastard to source from elsewhere. I will make a torrent for them shortly too in a bid to save anyone like me a little effort.

May I ask why do the TW's (200cc mainly however all cc's) seem to have such a massive german following and amount of riders? I presumed most germans would prefer homegrown bikes like BMW's etc.
I personally have never seen a TW of any engine size in the UK other than my own, they seem very uncommon here in the UK.

Also does anyone know the major difference between the 99-02 TW 125 Compared to the newer ones?


Once again, thanks for all the help guys!

 

[philipkroberts]

/Side note/
For anyone who is ever looking for a manual for this bike then here are the links:
http://www.tw-parts.com/macbig2k1/doc/tw125-2003.pdf
http://www.tw-parts.com/macbig2k1/doc/tw125-2002.pdf
http://www.tw-parts.com/macbig2k1/doc/tw125-1999.pdf

Massive thank you to macbig2k1, That same website TW-Parts.com - Tuning-, Zubehör- und Ersatzteile für Yamaha TW125, 200 und 225 all sells many spares etc (Prices based in euros).

These guides have proved a massive help to me and I hope that a google crawler indexes this page and makes your life easier too.
/Side note/

 

[littletommy]

Yeah I guessed as much, I'm thankful for the manuals, they are a bastard to source from elsewhere. I will make a torrent for them shortly too in a bid to save anyone like me a little effort.

May I ask why do the TW's (200cc mainly however all cc's) seem to have such a massive german following and amount of riders? I presumed most germans would prefer homegrown bikes like BMW's etc.
I personally have never seen a TW of any engine size in the UK other than my own, they seem very uncommon here in the UK.

Also does anyone know the major difference between the 99-02 TW 125 Compared to the newer ones?


Once again, thanks for all the help guys!

Well..I'm a Massive German myself. ha ha
These bikes are all over the world. The 200's are harder to find in the European countries. I think the licensing is cheaper as well as the taxes and such. Yamaha sent a lot of 125's over there and not the 200's, not really sure why... Anyone know for sure?

BMW's, Harley's, TW's, whatever floats your boat I guess...

Sebastian would know about the differences. Did he have a early and later manual? Might look there.