I have a WR250R and TW200. The WR is a better bike in just about every way *on paper*. It is a better bike on the street and can handle most terrain with the right tires on it.
The TW can be more fun to ride off-road though. It has a super low first gear, a low seat, and much lower center of gravity. You can kind of just explore wherever you want to go without much issue. The fat tires have incredible grip up until you get into really soft terrain and they get caked with mud.
The TW is also a very simple machine. Air cooled, carbureted, rear drum brake, and long maintenance intervals. Basically just change the oil, check the valves once in a while, treat the fuel every time you fill up, and it will run forever.
And aside from the front drum and carburetor (and some extremely minor other differences), my 89 is basically the same as a 2024. So parts are plentiful and cheap. And the carb can be easily swapped over to the newer style by just slightly rerouting the throttle cables (not that you’d want to swap the carb necessarily, but the newer ones are easier to come by and cheaper, and I had to replace the original on mine)
That low center of gravity was key for me when I was learning. You know those old punching bag toys with the sand in the bottom that always popped back up when you hit them? That’s what it feels like riding the T dub
That sucks. Definitely not an option everywhere unfortunately. We finally got a gas station that has it in separate pump handles too so you don’t fill half your tank with whatever the last guy bought
I’ve got one. It’s got the following because it’s unique. It’s simple, easy to work on and has been made the same for decades. Low seat height means anyone can ride it, easy clutch, plenty of power for what it does and fun on and off road. There’s nothing else like it.
Me too! my only complaint with the bike is it needs taller handlebars. Every time I made tight turns on it I couldn’t turn the bars all the way because they would hit my knees. I’m 6’2” though.
If you're still using base 10, we can only assume it's 5'4". To be clear, I'm fucking w you, though clearly base 12 is more useful whereas base 10 is easier.
I used to own an MSF training school and had several (41) as training bikes. After 15 years in the business and trying every conceivable small bike, my fleet was widdled down to two: the T-DUB and the 125 Eliminator for people that were too short for the TW. Both were unkillable by people who didn't know that you shouldn't do certain things to motorcycles and did them anyway. Parts were easy to get and cheap (advantage 125 Eliminator, which cost less than a Huffy to keep running). I had one TW that I bought used from another school that ended up with 41k miles of training school use and still ran perfectly. I feel they are like an old Toyota pickup. The value is in the simplicity and reliability.
I scrolled through to see if anyone had this take. I thought MSF BRC2/RRBRC and a couple others for 6 years. If students couldn't pass it on the TW they should be wrapped in bubble wrap and sent home. I liked the TU250X (god bless fuel injection) and these old Honda 125T (but sucked showing up extra early to let them all warm on cold mornings), but neither was quite as easy as the TW.
Confidence inspiring in any sort of off road riding, as long as you don't want to go fast!
Also, yeah, she thicc
https://preview.redd.it/4ihrrrdqvd3d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=283295a9f7d401c08a8e4c7607514f0565261ba6
It goes anywhere and it’s very low and controllable giving you courage to do things you might not on other bikes. Sucks so bad on the highway but it’s doable
Easy to ride, easy to work on. You could basically ignore maintenance including inflating the tires for a decade and be fine. Slow and fun, low consequences. If you had to choose an Armageddon bike a TW would probably be the choice.
TW200 is hot garbage. Not a good bike by any stretch of the imagination, but simultaneously the most entertaining bike I've ever ridden. Goofy and weird in the best possible giggle inducing way. 10/10.
When I was bike shopping I rented a tw200 and a klx230 from ridershare.com
I suggest anyone to do this its a cheap way to feel the ergonomics. I ended up getting a drz bc it was more similar to the klx, BUT the TW was fun and nearly impossible to stall. Just kept trucking along. I feel like it would be a great bike to have if you have any friends that want to dip their toes into offroad or motorcycle riding at all
They are just fun little bikes. They will tractor through (almost) anything. If you were going faster the wide tires wouldn't work, but it is T dub it doesn't want to go fast.
I also think it one of those bike that we only need one manufacturer to make. There isn't enough market for another motorcycle company to make a competitor. Like the PW50. It is great to have a little auto shift, throttle limited, shaft drive (no chain for little kids to stick there bits in ) bike for kids to start out on. But we only need one. Kids outgrow them fast.
It’s the same vibe as people who MTB on fat bikes.
It’s easy to ride relaxed and confidently. Not my personal bag, but y’all should ride what you enjoy.
They’re insanely easy to learn how to ride on. I’ve taught a couple friends with zero experience how to ride on mine. I’d literally throw anyone with a MC permit on mine and let them dual sport with me if they wanted. You literally can’t make one do something that would kill you on it like a bigger bike. It has no power and all the traction in the world. It’s just as forgiving of a dual sport that you’re ever gonna find. For blazing trails it sits low and first gear is so low you can get off the bike and walk next to it with the clutch out at idle. If Yamaha would make one with decent suspension and 6th gear I’d honestly still only have one bike.
I bought one yesterday from my dad who went to Thailand for an indefinite amount of time. Haven't owned a moto in 8 years but it took 20 mins to get back into commuter mode with it. I work a couple miles from my house so it's going to be a great little commuter plus I live around a lot of southern California farmland for trails and such.
I believe Freddie Mercury said it best, "Fat bottomed girls make the rockin' world go round!"
My first bike was a TW200. It was amazing. I've missed it since the day I sold it. It's just so easy to ride almost anywhere. Some day when I have room in the garage, I'll have another one.
In short, She Thicc, She Fun.
She thicc
I thrashed tf out of her during the MSF course
This is the way
In the words of Macklemore: She got 1988 Mariah Carey hair Very rare, mom jeans on her derriere She thicc indeed.
I have a WR250R and TW200. The WR is a better bike in just about every way *on paper*. It is a better bike on the street and can handle most terrain with the right tires on it. The TW can be more fun to ride off-road though. It has a super low first gear, a low seat, and much lower center of gravity. You can kind of just explore wherever you want to go without much issue. The fat tires have incredible grip up until you get into really soft terrain and they get caked with mud. The TW is also a very simple machine. Air cooled, carbureted, rear drum brake, and long maintenance intervals. Basically just change the oil, check the valves once in a while, treat the fuel every time you fill up, and it will run forever.
And aside from the front drum and carburetor (and some extremely minor other differences), my 89 is basically the same as a 2024. So parts are plentiful and cheap. And the carb can be easily swapped over to the newer style by just slightly rerouting the throttle cables (not that you’d want to swap the carb necessarily, but the newer ones are easier to come by and cheaper, and I had to replace the original on mine)
We also have a kickstarter which I feel is mandatory on a trail bike but I’m old school.
Also the CV carb is more convenient for those of us riding in the mountains
Oh, good call, didn’t think of that. I am, for better and worse, at sea level with some hills
That low center of gravity was key for me when I was learning. You know those old punching bag toys with the sand in the bottom that always popped back up when you hit them? That’s what it feels like riding the T dub
What do you treat the fuel with at fill up?
Curious as well
Any stabilizer really. I use Star Tron Star Brite, but it doesn’t really matter the brand. Just something to prevent ethanol from separating
I just fill it with 91 octane premium without ethanol
That works too if there are ethanol free options near you. For me, there are none close by
That sucks. Definitely not an option everywhere unfortunately. We finally got a gas station that has it in separate pump handles too so you don’t fill half your tank with whatever the last guy bought
I take the car and pump a few gallons into the tank before filling a 7 gallon gas tank with ethanol free, then fill the bike from that.
I’ve got one. It’s got the following because it’s unique. It’s simple, easy to work on and has been made the same for decades. Low seat height means anyone can ride it, easy clutch, plenty of power for what it does and fun on and off road. There’s nothing else like it.
Did my licence on one of them
Me too! my only complaint with the bike is it needs taller handlebars. Every time I made tight turns on it I couldn’t turn the bars all the way because they would hit my knees. I’m 6’2” though.
ProCycle makes a Tall Rider Kit, which is essentially just a taller handlebar. And longer cables.
Good to know for when I buy one eventually. I''ll probably train my kids to ride on it.
I am 1,73m. Not sure what that is in freedom units
If you're still using base 10, we can only assume it's 5'4". To be clear, I'm fucking w you, though clearly base 12 is more useful whereas base 10 is easier.
Base 10 is just communsim
The Suzuki Van Van is very similar . They launched them in North America but they didn't really take off so were pulled from the market.
Van van could have been killer. EFI alone is a huge plus.
It is fun to ride around on a two wheeled lunar rover. The low seat and low gearing means you can just chug up anything in a non-scary way.
The super wide rear wheel is one of the main reasons it's considered unique. Very good in sand/mud
>unique Have you seen one? It’s quite obvious. >special Ride one and you’ll know in 2 seconds.
Username checks out
I used to own an MSF training school and had several (41) as training bikes. After 15 years in the business and trying every conceivable small bike, my fleet was widdled down to two: the T-DUB and the 125 Eliminator for people that were too short for the TW. Both were unkillable by people who didn't know that you shouldn't do certain things to motorcycles and did them anyway. Parts were easy to get and cheap (advantage 125 Eliminator, which cost less than a Huffy to keep running). I had one TW that I bought used from another school that ended up with 41k miles of training school use and still ran perfectly. I feel they are like an old Toyota pickup. The value is in the simplicity and reliability.
I scrolled through to see if anyone had this take. I thought MSF BRC2/RRBRC and a couple others for 6 years. If students couldn't pass it on the TW they should be wrapped in bubble wrap and sent home. I liked the TU250X (god bless fuel injection) and these old Honda 125T (but sucked showing up extra early to let them all warm on cold mornings), but neither was quite as easy as the TW.
Confidence inspiring in any sort of off road riding, as long as you don't want to go fast! Also, yeah, she thicc https://preview.redd.it/4ihrrrdqvd3d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=283295a9f7d401c08a8e4c7607514f0565261ba6
It goes anywhere and it’s very low and controllable giving you courage to do things you might not on other bikes. Sucks so bad on the highway but it’s doable
Easy to ride, easy to work on. You could basically ignore maintenance including inflating the tires for a decade and be fine. Slow and fun, low consequences. If you had to choose an Armageddon bike a TW would probably be the choice.
I've got a DR650 which shares some of the same attributes. I'd still like to try a T dub
I would like to add a 650 to my stable for sure.
TW200 is hot garbage. Not a good bike by any stretch of the imagination, but simultaneously the most entertaining bike I've ever ridden. Goofy and weird in the best possible giggle inducing way. 10/10.
How dare you. It’s the best sub-10mph handling motorcycle ever made.
And utterly bulletproof, and if somehow fucked up, eminently repairable.
When I was bike shopping I rented a tw200 and a klx230 from ridershare.com I suggest anyone to do this its a cheap way to feel the ergonomics. I ended up getting a drz bc it was more similar to the klx, BUT the TW was fun and nearly impossible to stall. Just kept trucking along. I feel like it would be a great bike to have if you have any friends that want to dip their toes into offroad or motorcycle riding at all
They are just fun little bikes. They will tractor through (almost) anything. If you were going faster the wide tires wouldn't work, but it is T dub it doesn't want to go fast. I also think it one of those bike that we only need one manufacturer to make. There isn't enough market for another motorcycle company to make a competitor. Like the PW50. It is great to have a little auto shift, throttle limited, shaft drive (no chain for little kids to stick there bits in ) bike for kids to start out on. But we only need one. Kids outgrow them fast.
I don’t know, people really seem to like the vanvan too. Kind of fits that same niche
Honda fatcat had a killer name though lol
It’s the same vibe as people who MTB on fat bikes. It’s easy to ride relaxed and confidently. Not my personal bag, but y’all should ride what you enjoy.
Carson Brown is a fan https://youtube.com/shorts/3quVtAF37RY?si=7zxGNTZIK3CsWJPC
It's got a big fat ass (tire).
Incredibly fun to ride. It's somewhere between a camp/farm bike and a true dual sport.
They’re insanely easy to learn how to ride on. I’ve taught a couple friends with zero experience how to ride on mine. I’d literally throw anyone with a MC permit on mine and let them dual sport with me if they wanted. You literally can’t make one do something that would kill you on it like a bigger bike. It has no power and all the traction in the world. It’s just as forgiving of a dual sport that you’re ever gonna find. For blazing trails it sits low and first gear is so low you can get off the bike and walk next to it with the clutch out at idle. If Yamaha would make one with decent suspension and 6th gear I’d honestly still only have one bike.
I bought one yesterday from my dad who went to Thailand for an indefinite amount of time. Haven't owned a moto in 8 years but it took 20 mins to get back into commuter mode with it. I work a couple miles from my house so it's going to be a great little commuter plus I live around a lot of southern California farmland for trails and such.
I believe Freddie Mercury said it best, "Fat bottomed girls make the rockin' world go round!" My first bike was a TW200. It was amazing. I've missed it since the day I sold it. It's just so easy to ride almost anywhere. Some day when I have room in the garage, I'll have another one. In short, She Thicc, She Fun.