What can I say? Honestly, I think my carb runs a little lean. It runs really crappy when the air is cool. But! After it warms up, lookout. I pulled off another tank close to 100mpg. Once the weather warms up, I'm confident of 100mpg. Sorry all, I have a fixation. -TheRider
Hi The Rider: ___It doesn’t matter if you drive a P/U, Sedan, diesel powered whatever, Hybrid, scooter or bike, that TW is punching out some impressive numbers and I want to congratulate you for it! ___For 2008, Yamaha is rating the TW200 at 78 mpg and by knocking that number out of the park, you are an excellent example of how to drive fuel efficiently and safely all at the same time! ___Good Luck ___Wayne
Funny that you ask about the tires. I've got 9300 miles on the bike. The front tire began to buzz so loud at about 5500 miles that I changed it out. Mileage went up a few mpg because it wasn't wasting power in sound and rumble. The new tire is still an offroad pattern but just a little less aggressive. Maybe not less aggressive, just a better design. Anyway, I've got almost 4000 miles on this tire and its not even showing any uneven wear. The rear tire looks to be about half worn out but the key is that it appears to be wearing smooth. It will rumble a bit when I bank left or right but just rolling straight I can hardly feel the knobs. I'll get somepictures of the tires. I'll try and get a picture of the old tread. I find it fascinating how tires wear. The tires appear to do great on the road, especially in the water. I can slice through 2-3 inches of water on the pavement and hardly feel it. (Yeah, I ride *ALL* the time. I figure being on two wheels is dangerous enough because of the way most people drive that the added danger of lightning, etc is so small that it would be stupid to consider it.) Offroad, they do OK. Nothing like really open knobs on a dirt bike. You can't have everything. The only thing they really lack is traction in really gooey mud. The bike is to heavy to be doing offroad work in that sort of conditions anyway. The bike is dirty this morning so I just have tire pictures so you can see the tread. There are a few other pictures on the blog. Go to http://PocketChangeExpress.blogspot.com and you'll find the pictures and more info. -TheRider
Hi Rider: ___Thanks for sharing your blog! Great to see that you are holding 90 through the last three tanks as that is a sign of success in my book! ___Now about the TW … I should spend some time in the TW forums you linked but what is up with the high sidewall tires on it? Was it for road comfort because the rest of Yamaha’s lineup including the off-road/street bikes have nothing so ominous by appearances. That 196 cc engine is still singing all the way to the bank as you pass station after station but those tires have to be god awful heavy to ramp up to speed from the 200? Are there other size wheels/tires that would keep the speedo/odo true and does 30 really turn the little girl into a bucking bronco with ill handling or just a rough ride? So many questions and so little knowledge about bikes anymore ___Either way, keep up the great tanks as you are making some Insight’ers jealous ___Good Luck ___Wayne
The fat tire are for offroad floatation. They work too. I've had it in mud/soft conditions and it doesn't "knife in" like other bikes. The tires are heavy. They are so excellent for running on trails but I they are just way too aggressive for the road. I've got almost 10,000 miles on the rear tire. Why it has worn so well must be due to the fact that its so big. I changed out the front one at 5500 miles. It sucked. Rumbled REALLY bad! The tires on the TW200 are the GOOD and the BAD. Good for offroad and fiddleing around. I mean it goes places other bikes just don't wanna think about. There is a more roadlike pattern you can get but as far as sizes go, not much available for the rear. The front, however, is just a standard 18in like on the back of many dirt bikes. There are lots of options for that, but, with that wide rim, you wouldn't want to go too narrow. As far as the handling goes, its not all that bad. It just that those big tires like to resist anything you do. After you ride it for awhile, you'll think you don't need a kickstand anymore and swear Yamaha built in some kind of high tech levitation device. It is by far the most stable bike I've ever riden offroad. Slow speed handling sucks. I 'mean llike below 10. Its not a trials bike. It seems to do really well between about 20mph and 40mph. After that either I'm chicken or its just the tires fighting back. -Rider
Thanks for all your kind words, but, Dang! What can I say? I think I just happen to have a killer combo. I'm pretty good about hypermiling techniques but I'm not that good. What about a Hot Air Intake? Can't hurt... With my new shield, the taller front sprocket and little work to make a HAI, we'll get 100mpg, I can feel it! (I might even cheat a little and air the tires back up!)
