Quote:[b]
[b]
[b]
[center]From the Motorcyclist article:[/center][b]
[center]TDM Review from the August 1992 issue of Motorcyclist Magazine.[b]
[b]I see by your outfit that you are a spaceman...
[b]
[b]The YAMAHA TDM850[/center]
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[b]
[center][b]Off the Record[/center]
[b]I like wierd stuff. So while everybody else was rolling their eyes, wondering what the heck this TDM was and praying they didn't breed in the sewers, I was snaking off with the key and wheeling towards Monterey for the weekend. And after 1200 miles of the coolest roads in the known world, I can tell you one thing: This puppy works.
[b]
TDM styling puts some welcome distance between me and every potato-headed, racer-replicated poseur on the road. Call it wierd if you want. But what else handles (almost) like a sport bike, delivers enough legroom for full-sized humans and even delivers great gas mileage?[b]
[b]
Once I found a way to cancel the turbulence behind the truely grim windscreen, I'd put this porker on a 50 pound diet and squeeze some real horsepower out of that genesis mill. Then I'd bolt on a on a pipe that allows the engine a little personality, add some stickier rubber, and lose that D. Just call it the TIM.[b]
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[b]
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[b]
[right]TIM CARITHERS.[/right][b]
[center]____________________________________________________________________[/center][b]
[b]
[b]It's definately odd, but I like the way the TDM850 looks. I'm afraid the styling theme of Sci-Fi Warrior meets Paris-Dakar Racer may turn away many potential buyers: is this something a grown man should be seen on? I guess in Europe it is, but it will be interesting to see how it plays in Pittsburgh. There are plenty of interesting shapes to catch the eye, and wherever the TDM goes, it never fails to get attention.
[b]
I usually don't digress on styling or price because I figure that those are two areas where you readers can make your own decisions, but the TDM is special: most people can't decide what to think of it. Think of it as a real-world sport bike that offers more comfort and more usable (read low-rpm) power than you will find in a race replica. It carves corners with all but the very best, yet it is as capable any standard for day-to-day transportation without looking like an early-'80's leftover. It took me a while to figure it out, but yeah, I like it.[b]
[b]
[b]
[b]
[b]
[right]LANCE HOLST[/right][b]
[center]____________________________________________________________________[/center][b]
[b]
[b]I've got a great deal for you. I'm the guy who normally gets excited by by motorcycles with practical virtues, but not this time. The concept of the TDM - torquey twin cylinder engine, ergonomics designed for humans and some wind protection - sounds great. Alas, the reality - sloppy drivetrain, quirky clutch, sloping saddle, poor detailing and finish, one of the worst horns in motorcycling and a bunch more weight than a twin should be packing - dilutes my enthusiasm to well below the neutral point, even though I like the power characteristics and the high viewpoint that goes with the tall saddle and the upright seating position.
[b]
So here's the deal:[b]
Instead of buying the TDM, go buy a Honda 750 Nighthawk and put a fairing from Targa or somebody on it. If you are as satisfied with the result as I think you will be, lets split the $2000 my advice has saved you.[b]
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[b]
[b]
[b]
[right]ART FRIEDMAN[/right][b]
[center]____________________________________________________________________[/center][b]
[b]
[b]A forty-something guy is picking up his newly restored Triumph at the shop. He stares in horror at the rust, dents and dings and the pool of oil accumulating on the sidewalk. "You wanted it exactly like the bike you had 25 years ago," the mechanic says.[b]
[b]
Twins have always thrilled me (as in four-stroke twin-cylinder motorcycles of course), and the TDM thrills too. Stopping and parking the machine in motorcycle hangouts inevitably leads to comparisons with older machinery - more so than any other current bike, because the TDM reinvents the classic parallel twin, an engine configuration that most thought (and some hoped) was gone forever.[b]
[b]
The TDM is a machine for the well-heeled enthusiast with a touch of middle aged spread who fondly remembers those days but doesn't want to relive them.[b]
[b]
It's certainly one of the most powerful non-italian twins, probably the best handling and not the most expensive (it's a positive bargain next to BMW's R100R).[b]
But one aspect of twin-cylinder motorcycles is missing here: the agony[b]
[b]
[b]
[b]
[b]
[right]ANDY SAUNDERS[/right][b]
[center]____________________________________________________________________[/center][b]
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