Yamaha TW200.. the swamp donkey

[Deviant1]

Ha! I knew you’d love the chrome, Levi.

 

[SONICJK]

Fuckin' PO's
Am I right?
The worst.

 

[Deviant1]

Got the swinger painted (again) this time I think I’ll let it be. Laid four thick coats on it. It’s a little more grey than silver, but I like it. And now that it’s got all that paint over it I feel pretty good about it not rusting as easily.

 

[4eyes]

If you ever get away from the beachbum sticker covered look on the tank, please consider painting it back red and doing the twin headlights.
Thus facilitating the perfect look for adding this logo:

The color scheme had me picturing this as it was being built:

 

[Deviant1]

I’ll keep that in mind for future refreshes. I keep thinking about making it street legal, but I don’t ride it on the street and don’t have much need to.
Got the swingarm put back on this evening. It looks pretty good. I also put some new shoes on the brake and cleaned the piss out of the rear wheel. Ran out of time before I hooked up the brake linkage and chain so I guess I’ll start with that next time.

I’m also going to look for some blue Yamaha decals for the swingarm sides tonight.
After the rear is buttoned up it’s time for the front end. I put it off for last. I’ll be doing a lot there; new fork seals, repainting the center part of the wheel, painting the top triple clamp, cleaning up the fork lowers, and trying to clean the dirt staining off the front fender.

 

[ridesolo]

Keep it up and you are going to have the old Donkey looking almost respectable.

 

[Maritime]

Wow Alex, taking it to the next level. Should get a few years before it will need work again.

 

[4eyes]

I bet that bike is a ton of fun on the beach. It just fits.

 

[Deviant1]

It’s been a while, but I’ve got a big update. Last time I said I was going to find some blue Yamaha decals for the swingarm. I did and ordered them. When they came in I put one on and knew immediately I didn’t like it. So into the trash that went. The other one I slapped on a cabinet in my shop. I had been having some issues at the carb and thinking that trash from the tank had gotten past the in line fuel filter. I decided to order a new carb ($30 shipped) and keep the old one on a shelf. I also ordered a higher end fuel filter and cleaned the tank out with Screws and gasoline. Some crud was removed.

Once I got everything cleaned and the new fuel filter on I hooked up the carb. But that didn’t go well. Fuel was pouring out of the air filter! I got into contact with Hurco to see what sort of black magic I had brought down upon myself. He was super helpful. So I pulled the new carb off three or four times, taking it apart and cleaning it, checking the floats and the needle valve, beating my head against the wall. Every time, same thing. Levi spotted it in a pic I sent. I will now share with you my shame...

The carb had come in the box with that drain tube hooked to those two nipples. It was causing a vacuum and pulling fuel through. Once I unhooked the tube from the top and ran it out under the bike like it should have been the bike fired up on the first kick and leaked no more fuel. I’m a dumbass.
Next it was on to the front end. I pulled it apart and cleaned everything.

Then I replaced the fork seals and put new fork oil in. That was fun. The Swamp Donkey came with a box of parts that included new fork seals, new gators, a new shifter and tons of other stuff. Always nice when that happens. Thanks again Levi!

 

[Deviant1]

Up next was the front wheel hub. The salt air down here had not been kind to it. Every scratch and nick has started to rust. So I pulled the wheel apart. Here’s the hub after a good cleaning but before any prep:

So I prepped it and painted it with the same paint Levi used on the rear hub. It came out nicely.

Then I cleaned the hoop to get all the old fork oil off and reassembled the front wheel.

I tried and tried to clean the staining from that front fender. I tried scrubbing it with wd40, I tried scrubbing it with Clorox Cleanup. I even left it soaking in a bucket of bleach and water overnight.

Minimal improvement. So I gave up. It’s not a big deal and I probably spent too much time on it already.
I did end up finding a pic with both fork tubes in. I pushed them up about an inch and a quarter strictly for aesthetics.

After all that I put the front end back together. I also checked the valves while I had it down, and they were in spec.
I took it for a quick ride around the shop to make sure everything worked and it did. The front suspension is much better now.

 

[Rider52]

Well done!

 

[Deviant1]

And today I took it out and thrashed it a bit. It held together well and performed admirably. Here are some pics from the ride.

 

[Maritime]

nice clean up. hope you get a few seasons before having to do it all again

 

[irk miller]

Looks like you're really enjoying those trees.

 

[3DogNate]

Awesome! that thing looks like a hoot...

 

[Hurco550]

you're sure treatin the ol girl right.