Sold Yagi, the Yamaha TW200

 2026, it's turning out to be a year for many changes as forks in the road of life have become evident.

The TW200 had become unreliable to me for quite a while now.  Yesterday,  she started to have charging issues again and it looks like the replacement stator has failed.

One of the forks in the road I mentioned above is whether to keep a motorcycle-centric blog going.  It hasn't really been one for the last couple of years or more with RV camping and non-motorcycle exploration and travel being more the norm.

So, I sold her to a guy in the neighborhood who likes to work on cars/motors and then resell them.  

Sure, I could pay a dealership to fix her but I wouldn't trust her for solo riding, which is what I do.  Also, being at least 20 years old, the dealer wouldn't even look at her without a $330 deposit due to her age.

Due to age and miles, not much money to be had but oh well, I think I got my money's worth over the last 7 years or so.  Had I not found a buyer, I would have been donating her to the Gary Sinise Foundation I think.

Turns out, the previous post's pics of Yagi will be the last for the blog, only fitting I suppose.

Here's some that show some of the awesome places Yagi took me to:

Note:

Got her in 2019 with 7500 miles on the odometer, sold her with 24,500 miles.

More Boondocking...and now back home

Saturday, August 8

Saturdays are definitely the busy time here on Rampart Range Road. I stopped counting the number of vehicles passing by after 20 or so. The only annoying bits were the idiots on dirt bikes growing up and down the trails raising up dust and disturbing the peace with their seemingly unmufflered bikes. 

Did a little bit of exercise at camp, nothing major. Just trying to strengthen my core and lower back muscles mostly.

It's definitely a cooling trend this weekend, pretty cloudy most of the day and the breeze cool things off almost to the uncomfortable level. 

Sunday, August 9

A quieter day, less cars/trucks and the Motorcycle I saw had mufflers on them, go figure. 

Relaxed all day, did some light hiking, but mostly read books.  I also started work on the posts that'll celebrate this blogs upcoming 20th anniversary, stay tuned.

I'm presently leaning towards selling Yagi, my 2006 TW200.  Since she's 20 years old and with over 24,000 miles on the clock, Google AI did not estimate more than say 1500 for a pristine condition model. 

I've ridden the stuffing out of Yagi over the years, pristine she is not!

Sundays sunset was meh, post-processing was required.

Monday, August 10

Overcast, mostly, with brief periods of sunshine in cool temperatures while the I-25 corridor baked with temperatures in the high 80s almost 90 I think. 

Since Yagi, the Tw200 is deadlined, again, I did some exercising and I went for an almost 2 mile brisk walk.

The local chipmunks have grown comfortable with the RV and my presence it seems.  I count at least six of them running and darting about the site.

This one popped out of a hole next to my chair:

3x optical zoom

This one watched me from underneath the RV rear bumper:

Digital zoom 10x

It rained overnight, cleansing the haze/smoke particles from the air allowing this morning view of 18 mile away Pikes Peak.

No post-processing 

With post-processing 

Tuesday, there's a cooling trend inbound and so I decided to come home a day early. 

Warm Days at Hot Well Dunes

Wednesday, March 04

 I am not doing much of anything, not even doing a lot of soaking in the hot tubs for which this r inecreation area is known. 

I've never seen the area so full of campers.   

The skoolie/rainbow family group I mentioned in the previous post is still here, they somehow managed to talk their way into being allowed to stay I guess. Disappointing but not surprising.  More of their ilk have appeared as well, crowding more into the area near the hot tubs. 

Here's yesterday's sunrise:

I spent the day hanging out at the campsite, venturing out after 4:00 p.m. for a brief ride into the dunes with Yagi, for the golden hour lighting. 

Sunset was pretty good too:

Thursday, March 05

Another lazy day at the campsite. The good news is the rainbow family bunch are gone.

I rode out after 5PM to check on current population, still at least 3/4 full I think.  

Here's Yagi on the back side of the high dunes, with a view of Javeline Peak as the Golden Hour was in progress:

Returning past the campsite areas, I motored about trying to cate the small pond that forms due to the drainage of the hot tubs upstream.  Had some difficulty finding it and Yagi's front wheel was feeling "heavy".

Finally found the dried up pond, no water, just barely dry mud surface which of course I didn't ride anywhere near of!

Trying to find my way back, I got slightly mis-orientated, shall we say.  Ended up in some deep, sandy and curvy whoop-de-dos which weren't much fun on two wheels.  Deep sand is quite challenging and Yagi's heavy front wheel didn't help.

I ended up dropping her twice, the second time the repeated impacts on her right hand hand guard twisted it.  This meant the throttle grip didn't turn easily and of course didn't return to idle by itself.  It was pressure from the hand guard you see.

Still, my conscious twisting of the throttle back and forth, I got back to camp with no issues.  Once I was off the motorcycle, I noticed the flag pole was broken off, probably during the fall.  doh 

Friday, March 06

I spent some of the morning untwisting the right hand guard to allow the brake lever free movement along with the throttle grip.  

That squared away, I rode over to the scene of the fall and there was the rest of the flagpole and flag.  I stuck the fallen remnant onto the saddlebag, you'll note it's much shorter.

Got back to camp and reattached one of the two flagpole segments back onto the flag pole:

Not as tall as before to be sure.  To be clear it was probably too tall before, since it was a pole that I repurposed from the standby tent that I carry in the RV.  I think this current setup will work just fine. 

It's supposed to be cooling down today, and the breeze does bring a slight chill to one when in the shade, but out in the sun it feels just fine! 

Oh, and the heavy feel of the front wheel on Yagi, it turned out that there was no measurable air pressure in it!  I thought I had aired it down to 5 PSI to deal with the loose sand around here but I guess I went too low.  Aired it up to 5 PSI and all is good for now.

Installing HF Moto Carrier onto the Aluma Trailer

July 4:

Using a 25% off coupon, Martha and I went to the Harbor Freight store to pick up one of these:

source: Harbor Freight

Haulmaster Motorcycle Carrier

When they first came out, some reviewers made sure folks knew the mounting plates were "not great", lots of breakage apparently.  They now come with a set of steel mounting plates, one welded to the carrier and one to the tow hitch assembly.

I won't be using the tow hitch assembly, just the carrier and associated hardware.  It's got a 400 lb capacity so the sub-300 lb weight of the TW200 should be fine.

The front tire will sink into the opening as shown in the above pic and be secured somewhat by tire clamp hardware..  Yagi's rear tire is too wide and will require a separate strap to secure it to the rack.

The carrier rack is as wide as the outer edge of the trailer's fenders.  I'll be using hardware brackets that came with the system for tie town points and instead use them to secure the rack to the small wall at the forward edge of the trailer's cargo area.  This to help support the ends AND prevent lateral movement of the U-Bolts.

July 6

Got the U-Bolts I needed Saturday, installation was pretty straight forward but I ended up using only 2 of the 3 U-Bolts for now, the installation is pretty tight and when I shake it, the trailer shakes too.

I'm not sure adding a third U-Bolt will buy me anything.

Wood spacer to eliminate spacing between U-Bolts

and the trailer tongue assembly.

Above is one of the two brackets I'll use to prevent both

upward and downward movement of the ends of the carrier rack.

Miles provided a safety as we figured out how hard it was to load Yagi onto the carrier by myself, using the engine to move the motorcycle up the ramp:

July 7

Sunday, retrieved the RV from the storage yard and tested clearances with the TW200 and Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol loaded onto the trailer.

The spare tire should contact the rear bumper of the RV before the carrier rack or the handlebar ends contact the side of the RV.

Then it was time to test how much weight was on the tongue of the trailer.  Used the bathroom scale method with the trailer loaded as shown below:

We got 268 lbs on the trailer's tongue, which works out 15.9% of the GTW or Gross Trailer Weight capacity.  The specification on the tongue says 15%, so I think we're OK on that.  It's best to have be heavier than lighter when it comes to the trailer tongue.

I'll have to go to a truck scale to be sure but am estimating a combined weight of 1100 lbs by Yagi and Scarlett.  So still have over 500 lbs additional capacity for the wood levelers (they were part of the platform for the bathroom scale, a five gallon gas can and the usual gear carried on both motorcycles.

Still experimenting with ratchet strap setups for Yagi, It'll probably end up being three straps:  One on each side, putting pressure on the triple tree and one final one attached to Scarlett as a safety.  I'd rather she fall towards the rig and cargo area rather than forward onto the tongue!

Note: With both vehicles onboard, I can no longer lift the tongue without the aid of the support wheel assembly!

Need to purchase smaller straps to secure Yagi's wheels to the rack, for extra security.

Carrying both motorcycles now means I've options on the longer camping trips but it also means an end to easy loading and unloading of Yagi.....When the Ural rig is present, I must move it back enough to be able to walk the T-Dub off its carrier! 

UPDATE:  Aluminum proved not strong enough, cracks were caused by oscillation induced by extending the trailer tongue and placing the TW's weight where it shows above.  I've since removed the front rack.

A Little Bit of Red

I think it was SonjaM, who told me before I acquired Scarlett, my red 2014 Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig, that National Geographic photographers liked to have a dash of red somewhere in their pictures.

Over the years, people remarked how well Scarlett's red color showed up in pictures.

Yagi, the newest motorcycle in the stable (or harem as Martha calls them) is a mix of black/blue and silver colors, but mostly black.

This color scheme makes it really hard for Yagi to be seen clearly in some of my pictures.  Of course, over the years, my focus has been to minimize the presence of the motorcycle and emphasize the scenery I see in my rides; but I do want folks to notice Yagi when she's present.

So, here's a thought that's been rattling around my brain of late.

A rattle can paint job, with the brightest red I can find that is good for plastics and paint the presently black plastics (most of them) on Yagi:

Yagi as she is now

 Minimalist Red

Redhead Minimalist

 A bit more red, would involve a red seat cover too so

now we're talking more money than a can of spray paint.

 Over the top Red

Your feedback, my few faithful readers, is requested.  I may end up not doing any painting but your thoughts would be appreciated.