[catamount]

In Tokyo for 10 days on business. Seeing lots of crazy bikes, but thought I'd document the TWs here. Enjoy!

 

[Gerry]

Catamount, I don't think I have heard anything from you in a while.. Your pictures reminded me of the phrase, "when in Rome, do as the Romans" or something like that. When I see Japanese mods, they are 'always' street oriented. Certainly make sense when I think of the country.



Don't want to pry into your 'personal stuff', but if you feel comfortable, what kind of job brought you to Japan. It is good to know you are still moving about. Take care. Gerry

 

[old mad max]

Me likie the purple one. (o;. 15 years ago while in japan I noticed all kinds of white cars and bikes... Is it still that way? OMM

 

[catamount]

I thought you guys would be interested in the one with the extended swingarm because it is using a REALLY different looking shock. Any ideas as to what that is? Maybe some ideas for the "shock thread".

Don't want to pry into your 'personal stuff', but if you feel comfortable, what kind of job brought you to Japan. It is good to know you are still moving about. Take care. Gerry

Hi Gerry! I'm a software developer. The company I work for had some work required at our Tokyo outpost so I am enjoying all of the bikes, food, and culture here for a little while. Actually renting a bike later this week and hope to get some riding in! I will post a link to those pictures if it actually happens.

 

[lizrdbrth]

That "shock" is a rigid strut. Appears to be made from a joist jack.

 

[RisingSun]

That "shock" is a rigid strut. Appears to be made from a joist jack.

Nope its just adjustable rigid strut. I got a couple of books but never posted any of them. It looks cool but your lower back will argue different

 

[catamount]

Didn't see this one with my own eyes, but this is one of the wackiest I've seen yet.

 

[Gerry]

Like the shifter, not so sure about the front brake and cable setup. Gerry

 

[GapRunr]

Like the shifter, not so sure about the front brake and cable setup. Gerry

I'm not so fond of it either. Looks like a "linked brake" setup. It would appear that the rear brake pedal also actuates the front brake. That's kind of scary and would take constant adjustment to make it 'right'.

 

[lizrdbrth]

It's a practical casualty of the suicide shifter. If you've ever ridden with one, they're a blast. For about the first 12 seconds.



Linking the brakes means you'll be slightly less "busy" when panic downshifting. Having one hand on the bars while squeezing the brake tends to lead to involuntary left turns.

 

[elime]

How did he get the Radial T/A on the rim?

 

[lizrdbrth]

With earplugs, grease and crossed fingers.



Been there, dun dat.



BOOM!



Raked triples make life interesting, too.



But it kinda looks cool.

 

[Jon H]

Shazam. Lsdbrth, you da man. If you ain't attempted it, it prolly shundt be done.

 

[lizrdbrth]

Car tires on bikes aren't anything new, 'cept nowadays they have a werd fer it. They call it "darksiding".



It's an iffy deal, but when they go on without exploding, you're golden.



A 14" bike rim's bead is intentionally slightly larger than a 14" car rim, and this is true of all rim diameters, so they have to be forced on the rim by overpressuring. Not real healthy for the tire carcass, but if it survives the mounting process it could theoretically live forever.

 

[elime]

I was thinking, a Radial T/A with an off road tread, or perhaps a snow tire type tread, might be the perfect tire for the 50% off road / 50% asphalt rider. Longevity must be around forever. It has a steel belts. It is designed for the weight of car -- probably could ride it flat if you had to. To bad the fit is off. I bet it would be a big hit in the TW world if it could be safely done.



Is there any way to mount a car rim, the outer part, to the TW center using spokes? How difficult could it be? You know, make a custom wheel. Somebody must do it.

 

[PalmStateCrawler]

That is by far the craziest/coolest bike i've ever seen. So many things on here to appreciate.

 

[Gerry]

I was thinking, a Radial T/A with an off road tread, or perhaps a snow tire type tread, might be the perfect tire for the 50% off road / 50% asphalt rider. Longevity must be around forever. It has a steel belts. It is designed for the weight of car -- probably could ride it flat if you had to. To bad the fit is off. I bet it would be a big hit in the TW world if it could be safely done.



Is there any way to mount a car rim to the TW center using spokes? How difficult could it be? You know, make a custom wheel. Somebody must do it.

We musent forget a major inspiration; DynoDave (I think). Some where he gave us a nice write-up of modding a 14" trailer rim to the back of the TW. This fellow is very clever. Gerry

http://tw200forum.com/forums/83474/ShowPost.aspx

 

[elime]

This fellow is very clever.

Not only clever, but I bet he has on heck of a machine shop at his disposal.

 

[lizrdbrth]

I was thinking, a Radial T/A with an off road tread, or perhaps a snow tire type tread, might be the perfect tire for the 50% off road / 50% asphalt rider. Longevity must be around forever. It has a steel belts. It is designed for the weight of car -- probably could ride it flat if you had to. To bad the fit is off. I bet it would be a big hit in the TW world if it could be safely done.



Is there any way to mount a car rim, the outer part, to the TW center using spokes? How difficult could it be? You know, make a custom wheel. Somebody must do it.

Like I said, been there, done dat. Done it successfully here and there with some big road bikes in the past but the learning curve was a bit expensive. Gave it another shot awhile ago on the TW:



http://tw200forum.com/index.php?/to...ighorn++truck++tire__fromsearch__1#entry11751



What Gizmow is saying is that the only way to do it right (if a squared-off car tire that climbs its own tread face and changes trail like light switch could ever be said to be "right" for a motorcycle, anyway) is to give it a proper rim. Trust what he says or risk great bodily harm.



Aside from the window dressing, functionally there isn't one thing on that bike worth copying. If you started over from scratch and built it with the same "look" but did everything the right way instead of cutting corners it might be fun to ride.



The raked triples on that disaster prolly cost more than the whole bike. Cutting and welding the neck correctly would probably have cost 1/10 the price of doing it the wrong way.



Those who don't know their history are destined to repeat it. A lotta dead guys from my generation and before led to such "accessories" as raked trees, slugs, and spools, falling out of fashion. The overleveraged rigid swingarm is a more modern twist. Do your homework. Build cool, but build right.



Sorry for hijack AND the rant, Catamount. Lotta good builders over there.

 

[catamount]

Last update. I've concluded that TW200s are some of the most popular motorcycles in Tokyo. There are FAR more scooters than motorcycles, but TWs make up a large majority of the moto population.



My only regret while there was running out of time to buy an extended swingarm. I think I could've gotten one pretty reasonably. I have a co-worker who is still there and may have him try to source me one.



Here are the pictures, enjoy!

I actually met the owner of this one. We couldn't communicate at all, but I did get that the headlight was off of a D_Z or D_X where _ is a character I am not sure about. He was proud of a peacock of this bike, and when he left he winded it all the way out.