Turning The TW200 Into A Street Bike (Mostly)

I've shopped around, sat on several motorcycles, studied specs, talked
with others, read reviews and have finally decided to go with the
Yamaha TW200, mainly because it fits me the best and the 196cc SOHC 4-
stroke single provides all of the power I need.

I know some will question this since the TW200 seems to be some
people's ugly unwanted "stepchild" so to speak but to each his own and
the TW200 fits my bill and that's what really matters.

80% of the riding I do will be on pavement and I have no plans for any
serious off-roading as that other 20% will just be on dirt and gravel
roads and therein lies my project...how to change that bike from a say
50-50 dual sport to an 80-20.

One person already related how he changed the front sprocket from a 14
tooth to a 15 tooth and the rear sprocket from a 50 tooth to a 45
tooth. This increased his mpg and quietness at highway speeds of 60
mph. Most of my street riding will be at speeds of 45-55 mph tops.

Next would be to lose those tires that look like they came off of an
ATV and replace them with either a straight highway tread or at least,
as some manufacturers advertise, an 80% on-road---20% off-road tread.
A slight problem there surfaces in the odd tire sizes of the
TW200...130/80-18 on the front and 180/80-14 on the rear.

Now some will say just forget trying to make a turnip into a rose and
just buy yourself a street bike. Well, I've checked that angle out
and have arrived at the conclusion, as I stated earlier, that the
TW200 is the one for me, plain and simple.

So there needs to be no discussion regarding any other machines I
should buy because I'm simply not interested, just please offer any
help you can in my "conversion" of the TW200 to primarily a street
motorcycle.

Any and all ideas regarding the sprockets and tires and any other
modifications to achieve the goal will be appreciated. Thanx.

Bill

 

Lace some sensibly-sized rims to the hubs to replace the utterly daft
sizes fitted as standard. That'll increase your choice of tyres
immensely.

 

That would make a lot of sense and I would like to have 14" wheels in
both the front and rear. But how does changing that front wheel to a
14" to match the size of the rear one affect other things such as
front disc brake, cables, balance etc.?

Bill

 

<Holds head in hands>

No, sweetie-pie. Ditch the 14" rear rim, *because that is the one you
can't get decent tyres for*.

Stick a 16" rim in it. OK, so that's going to jack up the rear end by
one inch. You may get tyre/mudguard fouling on suspension compression,
so find some shocks that are slightly longer.

Front wheel: keep the 18" diameter but go for a more sensible profile to
match the 16" rear wheel. If possible, drop the forks through the yokes
to jack the front end up to offset the jacked-up rear end.

As for cables, yes, you may need to source cables and brake pipes an
inch or so longer. Or find bars that are an inch or two narrower.

Or, better still, and I know you don't want to, throw the idea of buying
a TW200 and then changing loads of stuff to make it more streetable
*into the fucking bin* and buy a 250 or a 225 Serow.

 

If I wanted to put different-sized wheels and tires on a TW200, they
would be 17-inch Excel rims on both ends because there is a far better
selection of 17-inch tires than 18-inchers nowadays.

However, such a conversion would NOT be cheap, Excel rims are expen
$ive and the wider 17-inch rims may be hard to find. I suppose it
would cost you
at least $400 for the rims, re-lacing and tires, and spending $400 to
save money on gasoline just doesn't seem cost effective to me.

 

On Aug 9, 5:10 am, Blattus Slafaly <>
wrote: I like the big knobby tires and they wear quite slow. Also
their replacement cost on the internet is comparable to standard
tires. And on the occasion that I go off road, damn glad I have them.
Blattus Slafaly

So you kept the knobbies and really don't think there'd be a steering/
handling/mpg advantage on-road with a change to a more highway-
friendly tread?

Bill 

 

You are correct. Not economically feasible. So I guess it just boils
down to finding tires that fit the current wheels that are more
"highway-friendly."

How about these two? They're purportedly 80% on-road and 20% off-
road.

REAR:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...ne-TW204-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx

FRONT:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...e-TW203-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx

Of course, if the major Japanese manufacturers hadn't abandoned the
125-150 cc street motorcycle market and turned it over to the scooter
crowd, this discussion wouldn't even be taking place as I would have
already bought me a nice new Honda CB125 and been on my way. But for
that to happen, I guess I should have been born 25 years earlier.

Bill

(Who even heard that Kawasaki, the last holdout, is dropping the
Eliminator 125 for 2009).

 

Bridgestone's MC tire site might be helpful in researching those
tires.

http://www.motorcycle-karttires.com/


The tread pattern looks like it would be much better for pavement
riding. You will see similar tread patterns on big adventure tourers
like BMW.

Those big heavy bikes will wear out a dual sport tire in a few
thousand miles, but it's hard to say what the tire life would be like
on the TW200...

 

"Bill Miller." <> wrote in message So I guess it just boilsdown to finding
tires that fit the current wheels that are more"highway-friendly."


There is nothing "unhighway-'unfriendly" about the tires that come on the
TW. If you want a street bike, why not just buy one and ride that
occasionally/seldom off road? I've done that with my VStar and would much
rather have knobby tires on the highway than street tires off road.
Sue
Minocqua, WI
Yamaha '00 VStar 650
'04 TW200 (mud = fun)
Kawasaki '95 Vulcan 1500 V#15937

The cage looks awful empty, don't it pa? Opie
Yea, but don't the trees look nice and full. Andy

 

On Aug 9, 5:10 am, Blattus Slafaly <>
wrote: I like the big knobby tires and they wear quite slow. Also
their replacement cost on the internet is comparable to standard
tires. And on the occasion that I go off road, damn glad I have them.
Blattus Slafaly

So you kept the knobbies and really don't think there'd be a steering/
handling/mpg advantage on-road with a change to a more highway-
friendly tread?

Bill

Lurking here and was wondering how the knobbies would handle in the corners
on wet pavment?
Ray

 

On Aug 9, 5:52 pm, "Susan \(CobbersMom\)" <>
wrote:

in message   So I guess it just boilsdown to
finding
tires that fit the current wheels that are more"highway-friendly."

Except for the fact that the tires I linked to would be "more
friendly" on the highway than the straight knobbies of the stock TW200
and still remain somewhat friendly to off-road use.

Because, as I stated, the TW200 provided me with the best fit and the
196cc motor with enough power to fit my needs. It's just too bad that
Yamaha doesn't produce a street bike in the 150-200 cc category and
this conversation wouldn't even be happening. And the tires I linked
to are not straight "street tires," just more of an on-road style than
the stock knobbies on the TW200. And I believe that most would agree
that the front tire I linked to would provide better steering and
handling than the stock TW200's fron tire, especially perhaps in wet
weather. Here's that link again...

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...e-TW203-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx

I think if you compare the tread on this one with the stock TW200
you'll see how it is perhaps more highway-friendly while still
functional for light off-road riding.

Bill

 

Tread patterna have surprisingly little effect on street riding (within
reason - huge gaps and big blocks are a different matter). Their main
function is water clearing.

Actual dry weather tyre grip is much more a function of the type of
rubber used..

 

I'm not saying that the stock knobbies on the TW200 are road
unfriendly or that they're terrible. We're not talking about black or
white here but about degrees.

Anyone looking at the stock knobbies on the TW200 can clearly see that
they are primarily designed for off-road (non-pavement) use. True or
false?

Then when you look at the two tires in the link I provided, anyone can
clearly see that the tread on those tires leans more toward on-road
(pavement_ use than off-road.

That's all I was saying---that these two tires ...

FRONT:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...e-TW203-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx

and REAR:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...ne-TW204-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx

....are not "superior" to the stock tires but only that they appear to
have a tread better suited for on-road (pavement) use. True or
false? Nothing more!

And if that's the case, and most (approximately 80%) of my riding will
be on-road (pavement) then why wouldn't I replace the stock tires with
these? No need to carry this discussion into any other areas. It's a
rather simple selection...pick choice A (stock tires) or choice B (the
tires shown in the links) for a bike that going to be driven on-road
(pavement) at least 80% of the time and the other 20% of "off-road"
use will be very light and easy trails and/or dirt/gravel secondary
roads.

If you truly think, based solely upon the planned uses I've described
for my particular situation, that this idea has no merit, then please
give me the facts and data to refute what I've just said regarding
these two choices of tires. No generalizations needed about this or
that but please just pick choice A or choice B and W-H-Y. Thank you.
Bill

 

TW200 was designed as a beach cruiser. If you go to ride the dunes at
Pismo, you'd want a paddle tire.

The knobbie tire is designed to dig into loose soil and find traction
below.

The height of the knobs depends upon how deep the loose soil is on top
of the hard packed surface below.

Radical knobbies have widely-spaced knobs that are an inch tall, less
radical knobbie have lower knobs that are more closely spaced.

The relative softness or hardness of a knobby depends on just how hard
(or deep) the substrate is.

The more street-oriented tread relies more upon the pavement surface
digging into the rubber and providing traction like a street tire does.

 

Two questions:

1) Did your Da know you were a hanky prancer?

2) Do you keep your hankies in the same drawer as your women's
underwear?

 

*Sigh*

 

Probably true, yes.

True. But still far from ideal.

No, fair enough. But still far from ideal.

 

Well, Blattus, you got me there on two points.

1--The mpg of a 250 street bike probably varies with the bike.

2--How in the world does the question you posed have anything
whatsoever to do with my post and selecting either Choice A or Choice
B on the tires, the questions I asked?

Bill
(shaking head)

 

A simple "True" would have been sufficient, especially since I've
already clearly stated the following...."and most (approximately 80%)
of my riding will
be on-road (pavement) ... and the other 20% of "off-road" use will be
very light and easy trails and/or dirt/gravel secondary roads. IOW, I
know what knobbies are designed for but I don't want
'em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IOW, I want the bike, but not the tires!
I really don't know how to be any clearer on this.

digging into the rubber and providing traction like a street tire
does.

Okay, that's what I said wasn't it? The tires would be better for
mostly street use.

 

Yes = true, not "probably true." And when you have a clear black and
white choice as presented there is no room for "probably," only true
or false. And if you say false, you are clearly and absolutely
refuting the following statement. "Anyone looking at the stock
knobbies on the TW200 can clearly see that they are primarily designed
for off-road (non-pavement) use." Therefore, by saying false or
"probably" you are essentially stating that knobbies are not PRIMARILY
designed for off-road use. Ergo, the only possible answer is T-R-U-E
without any qualifications. Yet my Uncle Jay has told me how dificult
it is for you to ever agree totally with someone or to agree to a
statement that is true that someone else, and not you, came up with,
so I understand.

clearly see that the tread on those tires leans more toward on-road
(pavement_ use than off-road. That's all I was saying---that these
two tires ...

And I previously clearly stated that I knew the change would not be
"ideal" as per my earlier statement ...Except for the fact that the
tires I linked to would be "more friendly" on the highway than the
straight knobbies of the stock TW200
and still remain somewhat friendly to off-road use. I was talking
about degrees of road riding improvement, not nirvana.

And we still have been in agreement from the beginning of the thread
that "ideal" was not an option in this matter.