Just joined the forum as i own a little TW 125, ive had lots of bikes in the past, GSXR1000 K1 x2 and K4, an 04 r6, a 99 GSX1300R, an 04 triumph 675, a GSXR750 on an 05 all used on tracks at some point even the hyabusa and now have my tw125! (Pics below)
Ive always had road stuff but since moving to the countryside and all my friends having quads i thought id get a little bike to simply use in the fields and chose the TW125 due to it being quet and wont annoy people who live locally or out on the trails.
Reliability is my number one priority with any vehicle, id rather sacrifice power just to have a machine that wont let me down.
My TW is a 2000 model with 27000miles showing on the clock and has had 7 owners in its life, it even came with all the history and previous bills inc a £690.00 bill done in 2009 which im assuming was an engine rebuild at that price but i cant be sure.
so got the bike, removed an alarm it had, changed the oil and oil filter, fitted a new air filter, changed the plug, fitted punctursafe to the tubes to stop punctures, serviced the brakes as the wheels were not spinning as free as i would have liked and fitted an inline fuel filter with none kink fuel line,it has a 14 tooth sprocket on the front and 52 on the rear fitted by the previous owner who claimed he changed the rear to improve top speed.... he claimed 75mph!!!!
After some research im not so sure the 52 teeth option was right as im sure that would have improved bottom end not top? anyway if it has a better bottom end thats what i wanted for the fields so i decided to leave it.
I went out yesterday for the first time in the dead of night with my friends, they were on a Yamaha breeze 125 quad and a ram 170 quad, the weather was real real wet so was looking forward to getting nice and muddy but more importantly testing the bike. the top speed is around 60mph ish on the road but i have dropped my psi to 14psi in each tyre as ill mainly be off road riding so i did get the feeling that wasnt helping but its only a 125 and to be honest id have been more that happy with just 50mph.
I threw everything at the bike, deep muddy puddles, sticky mud, sand, grass riding,steep short hills and technical stuff and the bike did exactly what i asked of it, i find with the motor being small you literally have to point the bike and just go wide on the throttle without shutting off or it will run out of steam on the steep climbs or deep mud, I do openly give the bike mechanical sympathy as i dont want to kill it riding it like its a drz400 or anything so im never real high in the revs, it is what it is an under powered little bike but god did i enjoy it.
At first i found myself slipping the clutch on the hills to get the power up when it dropped off the power but soon learned the clutch wont last long doing that so got it off the clutch as soon as i could and just used the throttle.
Even the standard tyres did well, yes i dropped the psi but i didnt get stuck once and actually noticed the TW would go up inclines the quads couldnt, im sure it must have been down to the fact i have more suspension travel on the real steep stuff.
Anyway not once did it get stuck, not once did it die which i found incredible as it was sooo wet, it just did what i asked it, ticked over perfect when we stopped and after being turned off fired straight back up! what a good little bike.
Id be interested to feel the difference power wise between the 125 and 200, just out of interest.
I have been reading some owners of the 125 complaining about the power but i think if you just accept its a little 125 and it is what it is than what a bike!
I have some pics so will get them uploaded for you guys as i see you like pics.
most people on here bemoan the lack of power with the 200, or at least wouldn't mind a bit more pull, kinda refreshing you're happy with the 125. looks like you've got slicks on... i'd think something with a bit more bite would help in the mud.
they're great bikes and the mods you can do are endless, enjoy!
most people on here bemoan the lack of power with the 200, or at least wouldn't mind a bit more pull, kinda refreshing you're happy with the 125. looks like you've got slicks on... i'd think something with a bit more bit would help in the mud.
they're great bikes and the mods you can do are endless, enjoy!
First before setting off i replaced the chain for a dedicated hardened off road chain as the standard one was about shot.
Friday night................ we did the river ride which was interesting to say the least! lots of long trails that were flooded with deep mud meant i was on the floor more than on the bike! well i fell off 3 times simply as my standard tyres cant take what im asking of them...... decided they must go! again what a laugh and the little bike just took it, firing up everytime etc and just getting on with it, we ended up doing 37miles round trip with no issues to report of the TW.
Decided to go out again the following night in the torential rain! all the trails were flooded and again deep deep deep mud! the mud has gone from being fun at this point to just annoying as the tyres just cant take it plus im always concerned about over reving the bike and as you no its all too easy to do that when theres no grip at the rear, we played in a local quarry for hours and again the bike just did as i asked, the chain has made a real difference to the performance!. At some points the water was splashing over my head there was that much water around!. we did 14 miles in total.
A strange problem i do have is ill start the bike up from cold and ride 2 miles or so nice and steady, ill hit the first deep puddle and the bike will stall, ill then fire it back up and then no matter how many puddles its fine? its happend twice now always in the first puddle? any ideas what that could be? i can live with it however id be interest to no what it is!.
Will upload the pics now and i have my new rear tyre on order! Bridgestone tw34 and i will select which front im going to go with after a bit more research.
Ive had 63mph out of it but thats with 15psi in both front and rear tyres due to only doing off road work on it.
As reguards fuel consumption ive honestly no idea, again as i dont ride it on the road but it does seem real good on fuel but not as good as the yamaha breeze 125 quads my mates all ride.
The 125 is the only TW we can get here in the UK, we cant get the TW200 unless we import it.
Sprocket wise im running a 14 up front and a 52 on the rear, the previous owner claimed it would do 75mph but i can see that at all.
Im more than happy with the power, as stated earlier in the thread its just a 125 but i still just change gear often and use the torque it has and it does what i ask of it, it has 27 thousand miles on it so i dont kill it when riding.
we dont use LPG on bikes here, just normal unleded and off i go.
It is worth mentioning i do leave the yamaha breeze quads for dead but they do have more torque as the have a bigger bore i belive
so finaly decided on the new tyre set up... as previously mentioned on the rear i have on order a bridgestone TW34 and the front which after looking at every sutable option i had available ive gone for the Vee rubber VRM229 which is a 120/90/18.
As many of you guys have done this is a rear tyre which will go upfront.
I wanted a kendra but we dont have them here in the UK and the shipping plus import tax would have made the price silly. i picked up the front for £30 which was nice and cheep.
The Vee rubber is not for road use which is fine for me and the new set up should hopefully see me through the sticky mud with little wash out unlike the standard tyres i have at the moment which are crazy.
Ill keep you updated, the front should be here in no time as its coming from the UK but the TW34 is coming from the USA so will take around 15 days.
Sounds like the carb vent tube. Start there. I believe theres a write-up on modifying the vent tube and placing a "Y" connection on it and running on tube up towards the air box snorkle.
A strange problem i do have is ill start the bike up from cold and ride 2 miles or so nice and steady, ill hit the first deep puddle and the bike will stall, ill then fire it back up and then no matter how many puddles its fine? its happend twice now always in the first puddle? any ideas what that could be? i can live with it however id be interest to no what it is!.
Hey gang,
Just wondering, who carries and uses a Rotopax fuel container and, what size? I'm dangerously close to pushing the order button on Amazon for one of these little 1 gallon containers. And of course, a mount too. There are of course, a few dozen imitations as well to consider. But...
Oh Great Alpha Nerds of the TW200 Forum! I beseech thee for some of thy hard-earned wisdom.
My 1993 TW really has a hard time starting in the cold. It's got a new carb, clean gas, and new battery but just doesn't like it when it gets a little nippy outside (30 F). In fact, it won't start at...
I snagged this idea from the other forum I check daily (www.infamousnissan.com) because it is super popular there.
I replaced my old grips with a nice set of Pro Grip 714s ($9.99 shipped from www.motorcycle-superstore.com), swapped out my fuel petcock because it was nearly impossible to...
This format is terrible.
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The graphics are distracting.
I never cared about ads.
What does it take to get rid of this or to go to a different format.
This is the worst format in the world. Nobody should use this format...
Anyone tried dealing with Procycle in the past few days?
I went to buy some "stuff" but when I tried to login, it tells me they've moved to a 'new system' and that I need to reset my password. I enter my e-mail and it says that instructions have been forwarded, but of course...nothing has...I...
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