My mods

I seem to be on the fringe when it comes to Mods. They have all served me well but my needs may be pretty unique. Take a look, they may give you some ideas. Gerry

If you are new to the TW forums, you will see alot of question regarding the ideal gear ratio. You will soon learn there is no 'ideal' for all riding situations. I put together a duel sprocket that now offers me two options, a 47 and a 55. The plus is convenience, the minus is faster chain/sprocket wear and of course loosing a chain at speed if you do not keep it properly tensioned. I have 1500 miles on current combo and no problems.

Airhawk seat cushion for comfort. This is a bit pricey, but in my opinion worth every dollar ($145). Other TW riders have found a cushion at Walmart that they like very much, and it is far less expensive.

Here is my removable home made rear rack and my one gallon Tour Tank.

To the left is my Yamaha XT225 engine protector, compared to the old stock unit. I ride some rough offroad and this works great. Some other TW rough riders are now buying the new Ricochet unit made in Utah (I think). Everyone seems very happy with their purchase.

Here is an odd one. Since I ride slow and conservative, I am looking for comfort not 'motocross' strength. I replaced the crossbar on my aluminium Protaper handlebars with this homemade mod. A couple of pieces of flat stock bent to embrace a urethane suspension bushing. This seems to allow the super strong motocross bars to flex a bit more for comfort, but yet (I hope) prevent all but the most horrific impact from causing the bars to flex to the point of braking. I guess since I am showing off all my 'goofy' stuff, note the white cylindrical container on the right side of my forks/handlebar. In this container I carry a can of surveyors spray paint (it works upside down). When I am on a new trail, I use it to mark the route I travel to minimize the chance of getting totally disoriented and wasting time figuring what I have just ridden and which is the newest option to try. It might also make it easier for the Wife to track me down if I don't come home after a rider. It all works for me........... Gerry

Well, it is New Years day and kind of rainy outside so I figure I might as well update my mod post. Many if not all of my mods have been inspired by others. Ideas can be generated from some unusual sources, I am as well fortunate to have a very active imagination and a shop full of tools.

Here is an idea that evolved from the duel rear sprocket project. A member of the Yamaha TW200 Trailways forum suggested I give some thought to a duel front sprocket setup as well. The idea seemed viable so I proceeded. With the exception of the carbide drill I borrowed from a machinist at work, everything was done with pretty basic 'hardware store' stuff. This set-up allows me to run a 15/50 or a 14/55 combination using the same chain length and no misalignment. It takes me longer to pull the tools from my pack than it does to switch the chain.



Boy it can sure take some time getting the hang of picture posting if you have not done it in a while..

Here is another project that seems to have been a plus for me. The TW engine can run pretty hot, but suspect Yamaha has designed the bike with this in mind. A number of folks have come up with oil cooling 'systems' for their bikes, here's mine. It was mentioned that the TW has an oil feed through the primary shaft to an outboard bearing in the side case. I tapped into that feed and run the oil through 7 feet of 1/4" copper tube coiled around the frame. Oil pressure at this point is very low when the engine is hot, so I suspect flow is minimal as well. With that said, I seem to be able to shed 20 degrees.



To further the engine/oil cooling project, I adapted a nice 'tube axial' fan that was given to me by our Laser Technician at work. This fan outputs around 180cfm and is ducted around the right side of the engine and confined by my gas tank shroud. I activate it via a simple toggle switch using the oil temp. reading or the pending climb as my criteria. This cooling aid makes a noticeable difference in engine temp. and in my opinion, a worthwhile $70 project.



This is a picture of the gauge that allows me to monitor oil temp. and the effectiveness of some of the changes I made. Think the gauge ran about $40 with sender, which is mounted in the oil drain plug.



One issue that many TW owners have with the bike is its marginal suspension. A couple of solutions have been presented by Jeff and Rodrey on the other forum. Using their information and some imagination, I have tried a couple of variations. What I am now using is a Banshee (quad) rear shock fitted with a stiffer (V-Star) spring. On the front, I have modded my triple tree to accept a Yamaha Tri-Z (trike) fork. These modifications require lots of tinkering and some serious thought about how you put it all together, cause if anything breaks, you may end up DEAD. Proceed at your own risk.




Well, since I am at it, I might as well push some of you over the edge with my modding nonsense. As yet the imagined benefit of the intake system assist has not been 'proven'. I did this with the hope of dealing with the fuel-rich situation that you get when running in thin air at higher altitudes. The project was fun and cost about $50. I installed a 3" 145cfm bilge exhaust fan into the air intake snorkel. It activates over 3500 rpm by virtue of a mercury switch installed on carbs throttle cam.




Well, there you go. Happy modding and Happy New Year..... REMEMBER, when modding use care you can definitely put your life/happiness at risk. Gerry

Since I never have a passenger, thought it might make more sense to install a solo seat and with the extra room, I could reduce the overhang of my rear rack by moving it forward. Seat is from a fairly new Honda sportbike purchased on E-bay for under $50. Seat bracket is hinged at the front so I can tilt up to service the battery. The seat will also slide about 4" on it's mounting rail with the hopes of securing the most comfortable position. Gerry

Well, now I have all my gas in one location and most of my weight within the axles. This distribution should be better for off-pavement, but what I had never seemed to present me with any handling problems. Gerry

you remind of my dear old grandpa....that guy could tinker....nice stuff and very creative....

one question with those tri-z forks do you notice any drawbacks to them and the tube continuing down beyond the axle?

The time on the new forks has been very limited due to weather and projects. Seems to work fine so far, and much improved over stock for me. My thought is, for a time, many motorcycles had fork tubes drop below the axle line. I suspect it will be a non-issue. Thanks for the compliment. Gerry

Could you provide more information on how you added the extra front and rear sprockets?

Take a look here. If you have additional questions, let me know. Take care. Gerry

http://tw200forum.com/index.php?/topic/641-the-dual-sprocket-thread/page__p__4964__hl__%2Bduel+%2Bsprockets__fromsearch__1

Thanks for posting this thread! Lots of great mods & ideas...

Never cease to amaze Gerry!....well done lad!.

Great write up of your mods.
I really like the "turbo" intake fan.
I have seen sellers on eBay with electric turbo kits for cars that are the same idea.
It might even help some at high altitude!
Besides, it is totally trick.

Thanks Jag. I like to mod, for me, it is as much fun as finding a new trail. The fan likely is capable of doing a bit to lean you out at high altitudes. As yet, I have not gone over 6000 ft. so I did not move to far with the mod. When turning the fan on at 3800 ft. it would stall the engine (perhaps to lean). As has been suggested, there are many ways to skin a cat. This project showed some potential, but not enough for me to move beyond what you see. Think if I was doing a high altitude ride, I would install a "Dial-A-Jet". Take care, Gerry

I installed a similar fan in the heating duct in my 70 VW van and it really made a big difference.

The VW van air cooled engine ducted warm air from the exhaust heat exchangers forward UNDER the floor and then it turned up the inside of the front of the cab under the windshield.
That means the length of the duct is being cooled by the (often) below zero wind rushing under the van.

It was (is?) a common heater booster to install a 12 volt inline fan at the floor junction.
I had low expectations so I was very pleased with the additional warmth up front.
Yep, sometimes it was even warm enough to keep part of the inside of the windshield free of ice.
Air cooled VW van in Alaska. How dumb is that?!

Going to try something different.... Here is a wiring diagram for a turn signal beeper.  Amazon/Radio Shack 12v beeper and a bridge rectifier.  As this is not rocket science, volts/amps can vary a bit so don't obsess about getting the 'perfect' component.  For this picture I simply took a photo right from my computer.  Did not need a hosting sight as I used the 'Host my own' prompt.  07/09/2017.