A bike before it's time (Yamaha TDM850)

Member Name: Imrhien

Product:	Yamaha TDM850
Date:	12/03/06 (3898 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reliable, sensible when you need it ...but up for a laugh at any moment,

Disadvantages: no centre stand, range, weak headlights and a pig to clean (use a jet wash)

I've had this bike for just over a year, trading up from an unrestricted ER-5. It has been a fantastic buy; I bought a Triumph Speed Triple yesterday but couldn't bear to part with my TDM. I paid £2600 for it last year at 9 years old, 2400 miles on the clock, fsh, and in mint condition. I thought that was expensive until a gave it a test ride and realized what a fantastic bike it was. It's very tall, but then at 5'8" I'm tall (for a girl)and have a long inside leg so don't find the height a problem; its quite heavy but well balanced; and the fuel tank is good for 130 miles at best. Yet it's one of those bikes that gets under your skin, you'll love it too.

I commute around 40 miles a day, most of the journey down twisty village roads, but the journey ends in a torturous stop-and-start through nose-to-tail traffic. With hard panniers on the bike is just a bit too big to fit down the white line between the rows of cars, but we do our best. The TDM is well balanced and feels secure at slow speeds; you can load it to the gunnels and it still feels nimble. If you could swap your legs for wheels, it would feel like the TDM.

Take it out on the empty roads and the TDM really comes into it's own. It is fast...even two up and packed with luggage. Going to see Green Day at Milton Keynes with my teenage daughter was a doddle, we both arrived fresh as a daisy and up for fun. How many bikes could you ride for 3 hours on a hot day and still walk? Even the pillion?

It wheelies if you crack the throttle a bit too fast (that's my excuse) but its stable enough when you go round the roundabout on one wheel. I can ride it all day (the ER-5 used to send my bum to sleep), the ride position is ideal and the seat is a sofa. Yet don't think it's dowdy, I saw one done up like a street-fighter and it looked sexy. Mind, mine gets plenty of admiration as it is.

Things I would change:
- wouldn't have bothered with the hard luggage, cos they ruin the looks of my bike.
- might remove the fairing and street fighter it...but then people would only think I'd dropped it (got round that by buying the Speed Triple).
- the fairing directs cold air onto your fingers, so need hot grips even on summer nights.
- the range is poor, but a bigger tank might upset the balance. An extra fuel tank in the frame (like Buell) or the rear mudguard (like the XTZ) might help.
- I put high wattage blue halogen bulbs in the headlights and it's made a huge improvement to visibility.

Summary: The Tedium - buy, steal or borrow one....but you can't have mine!

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