Yamaha TW200 Trailway Discussion Forum

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11-09-2007, 4:42 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! Yosh! After much toil and back breaking effort my Japanese style build is done. Here is everything, I'll try to be as detailed as possible. Headlight - I wanted a dual headlight and didn't see any in Marco's catalogs in Japan so I found this one at http://www.electrosport.com/electrosport_streetfighter.dual.html , it's a little pricy but it's the only one I could find that matched the proper voltage output for the tw. I used plumber's strap (painted with truck bed liner, big thanks to Steelfist for this one!) to mount it to the stock housing for the original headlight. Electrically it was super easy to install. I removed the front fender completely and removed the stock fork boots in favor for fork plugs bought from Japan. Front fork was easy to get out once I realized I hadn't disconnected the front brake yet, doh! The turn signals are also from Japan and instead of getting the aftermarket housing I simply mounted them to the stock headlight housing. Electrically these were a real pain and I blew 3 fuses before I get the correct connection. This was hard because the stock headlights come with 3 wires, were as the aftermarket came only with two and I think I did every wrong combination before I did the correct one. Replaced the stock speedo with a km/h speedo from Japan which was also very easy to install and looks quite nice! As my bike only had 700 miles on it I'm not going to consider it cheating:) I removed the gas tank, sanded it down a little and again applied truck bed liner paint. Then made myself a stencil and used standard outdoor spray paint to do the design. Aftermarket seat from Japan. I actually like the comfort level of the old seat more, but it's to long. Removed the stock airbox and replaced with k&n air filter. If you do this your going to have to remember to remove the stock rubber hose from the stock air box or the k&n filter won't reach. 130 jet from local yamaha dealer, $10. Get it, it's worth it. Stock is 126 but you can tell the difference. Make sure not to remove the clutch cable lever as it was a real bitch to get back on. Try to get into that carb without removing, it will be worth it! Built a holder for battery out of plumber strap again. That stuff is super handy and strong! But you need tin snips to cut it. Brake light and signals from Japan. Look great but having some issues getting the brake light to get brighter when I brake, if anyone has advice, let me know. Aftermarket pipe and muffler from Japan. I think it sounds great. Very beefy sound. Finally after market chain and swingarm from Japan. Came as a set and the funny thing was that I tought it would be a snap to put on because it's a set. But chain was to short. Then I realized from looking at the forums that the stock rear gear is 45 in Japan and 50 here in the U.S.. So I bought a 42t from JT on Ebay and that did the trick. The bike runs amazing now. I can get up to 20mph in first gear and I haven't tried top speed yet, but I'm guessing by the new gearing, paired with the jet, exhaust and air intake, that it's going to be around 70-75 easy. If anyone has any question for me please don't hesitate to ask! Long Live the TW200!!!    Report

11-09-2007, 4:59 PM mrgizmow Joined on 10-21-2006 Paradise, Calif. Posts 1,223 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! Pretty nice. Not really my cup of tea since I use my TW for off road exploration, but I can appreciate and applaud your work. The knobby's seem out of place. How does the rig handle? Thanks for the photos. Take care, Gerry Be safe my Friend.    Report

11-09-2007, 6:39 PM Sloppy Joined on 03-25-2007 Shenandoah Valley Posts 137 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! I like the look, especially with the knobbies.  You did a really nice job.  The only thing I don't like is the extended swingarm...I'm not a fan of them on any bike really.    Report

11-09-2007, 7:00 PM riccio Joined on 08-17-2007 macon county Posts 160 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! very nice, grasshoper, nice find on the dual headlights, i was trying to get two 55 watts to work with no go, gonna get the two 35s thanks on that, does that speedo have the trip odom on it it looks like it wheres the reset? what about you indicater lights? highbeam, turns and neutral? now my 2 worthless cents, lose the cap on the exhaust and any soild disks, it will sound way better! get some bar end mirrors from ebay, i have that same seat and its hard on the ass, go back to stock! get a mini sealed battery from batteries plus and install a kick start. and most of all get a headlight modulator and some blinking led add-ons for the brake light. it will save your life! by the way if no has figured it out im also steelfist when im being banned!    Report

11-09-2007, 7:08 PM riccio Joined on 08-17-2007 macon county Posts 160 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! did you add grease fittings to your swingarm? when it gets to far into winter and i cant ride i will be doing this by welding 2 nuts into the arm and screwing in the nips! NICE!    Report

11-09-2007, 7:47 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! The rig rides nice as spice that I want to say it twice...haha. I actually really like the knobbies on there, it's like a jeep on two wheels. Looks cool but tough. If you don't like the longer swingarm then you should be happy I did't get the longer one, this is actually the shorter of the two you can get from Japan! Steelfist rides again!  I agree the stock seat is way more comfy but it's to long for my taste.  I really need to get some of those alternator things for the tail light, I'm feeling a little dangerous right now. I greased up the rod as I slide it through (oh la la) so I'm not to worried about the grease points and I don't have the equipment to add them myself, but maybe in the future. The trip does have a reset, it's on the side.    Report

11-09-2007, 8:15 PM riccio Joined on 08-17-2007 macon county Posts 160 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! ryanmm, as for your brake light, i had the same problem hooking mine up, you must try ever combo of colors with the wires for the after market wires dont mesh up with the yamaha colors,    Report

11-09-2007, 9:48 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! Really! That sucks, but if that's all there is to it that's ok. I'll give it a shot and hope I don't blow to many more fuses:)    Report

11-10-2007, 3:30 PM aussiedub Joined on 04-06-2007 Posts 83 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! Where did ya get those seals that go on the top of the forks, they look the goods. Nice work on the bike but if ya gonna use it as your everyday ride get  some road tyres they hold the corners much better in the wet ( dont ask me how I know).  P    Report

11-10-2007, 3:44 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! I got the fork seals from Marco in Japan. But I do remeber seeing them on ebay as well for the same price $18. If you do need something from Japan you can see pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdmtw200/    Report

11-10-2007, 4:09 PM Fourcycle Joined on 08-01-2007 SE Michigan Posts 754 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! On your brake / taillight, the blk wire from the bike goes to gnd and is common to both the brake light and the running light.  The yel wire from the bike goes to 12 volts when either the front or rear brake is applied while the blu wire from the bike has 12 volts on it whenever the ignition switch is on and goes to the running filament.  There should be three wires on your new light.  Just try all of the combinations across a 12 volt battery.  There are three combinations that will light it up:  Dim, a little brighter and really bright.  Dim is when you have both of the filaments in series and you don’t want that.  You want a combination where one wire (grn or blk?) is left on one terminal and you can go from low to high intensity just by swapping the other two wires on the other terminal. If your only tool is a hammer everything looks like a nail.    Report

11-10-2007, 4:12 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! That is the kind of info I needed! Thanks a lot!    Report

11-10-2007, 8:04 PM fourwheeler Joined on 02-28-2007 Posts 21 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! ryanmm, the bike looks great. how much longer is the swingarm?, and where can i get one. i like the look and am thinking about installing one on my bike.    Report

11-11-2007, 12:08 AM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! Thanks for the compliment:) The new swingarm is about 2.5 inches longer then the old one. I got it from Marco in Japan, great guy. If you want to take a look at his catalog and email you can see them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdmtw200/page2/ And I got the shorter of the two he has listed.    Report

11-11-2007, 2:13 PM fourwheeler Joined on 02-28-2007 Posts 21 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! ryanmm, just a couple more quick questions .  how much is the swingarm, which one is it(i couldn't tell from the catalog, if you have a style number, that would be great), and then did you have to buy a longer rear brake connecting rod?  thanks for your help.    Report

11-11-2007, 3:13 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! It was $550 for the swingarm, the yen is stronger then the dollar, so everything is kinda pricy unfortunately, but it did come with the chain and an extender for the brake connecting rod. If you go to the second page of the photos the caption above the picture is TW200 Extended Swingarm, catalog number is 207-073.    Report

11-11-2007, 6:53 PM fourwheeler Joined on 02-28-2007 Posts 21 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! ryanmm, thanks for the info.    Report

11-12-2007, 5:53 AM Stu Joined on 07-23-2007 Port Townsend Posts 50 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! I'm inspired. Only trouble, is I'm having too much fun in the dirt. But, I see one of these in my future. TW200 2004 CB750 Z650 CB125 Kona Dawg Dee-Lux Kona Hei Hei Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road Tour-Extreme Quimper Trails Association    Report

11-12-2007, 8:40 AM CorrectCraft65 Joined on 03-08-2007 Hew Hampshire Posts 330 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! how about a P/N for the K&N.    Report

11-12-2007, 6:51 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! KandN air filter part # RU1780 remember that your going to have to take the rubber hose from your air box out (which isn't easy!), otherwise the air filter won't reach the carb.    Report

11-13-2007, 8:48 AM fromveedubya2teedubya Joined on 05-16-2007 Posts 544 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! It's probable that you need fenders front and rear to be street legal here in California.  Just an FYI. I'm not a big fan of K&N air filters, they do a marginal job of filtering out and catching dirt, giving your engine a quickie bore job. "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein    Report

11-13-2007, 5:00 PM ryanmm Joined on 09-17-2007 los angeles Posts 145 Re: japanese build, aka IT'S ALIVE! Thanks for the tip, I've still got the fender if I need it.    Report

11-14-2007, 4:13 PM motegi Joined on 05-19-2007 Sydney, Australia P