Ttr230????

[Michelle]

Anyone got any experience with one of these?

I was joking with the local dealer that when yamaha put the 125 engine in a yz85 frame is the day I trade my TTR in. He then proceeded to show me the specs on the 230. Henk has also offered to put a new exhaust on my bike, but he's a bit loathe to do so with the increased noise.

What I'm looking for is a lightish bike, low seat height, fun to ride, e-start if 4 stroke, easy to kick if 2s, ready to be totally thrashed (body-wise, somehow I just haven't figured the throttle bit). It'd be a replacement for the 125, which is used for following kids, following learners, putting up arrows on every tree (seems that way sometimes), taking the arrows down off every tree but able to take me on "proper" rides, too. Oh, using no gas is a good thing (I forget to check, often) so with a reserve. When I'm putting up or pulling down arrows, I don't always find neutral, hence the e-start or real easy start requirement.

The 125 is almost perfect, except it is too small and seriously lacks grunt for the road sections.

I'm not interested in anything that is usually mentioned (Pampera - not easy to start, I know when I've ridden one I've been paranoid about stalling as it's been the owner who's started it for me - I just don't have the nack for kick-starting damn dirtbikes).

I was looking at posting this in Kathy's thread, but didn't want to hijack it and just haven't heard anything about the 230 (I know the 225 is a dog which is what I thought the dealer might have been talking about). I'm in no rush whatsoever, I'm just looking around (continuously, I'm a bike junkie these days).
Cheers for any info
Michelle

 

[chewgravel]

Zippo advice. Sorry. I am also interested in this bike. How it would handle the mx track. Not as in for racing, just for toying around. A little jumping. No 70' doubles, just a little air. Anyone have one???

 

[CJ Rider]

Hey Michelle-

You ARE a bike nut lately, ya crazy woman! You also made my heart pang a bit whenever ya mentioned that Yamaha came out with a new model. Could this be the smaller performance bike that we've been waiting for? So exciting! So, I looked up few select specs from the new TTR230 and compare that with my fav Little Grasshopper:

New TTR230:
Front Suspension: 36mm telescopic fork 9.4" travel (23.9 cm)
Rear Suspension: single shock; 8.7" travel (22.1 cm)
Front Brake: 220mm Disc
Rear Brake: 130mm Drum
Ground Clearance: 12" (30 cm)
Seat Height: 34.8" (88.4 cm)
Dry Weight: 242 pounds (110 kg)

Little Grasshopper:
Front Suspension: 36mm inverted telescopic fork (with compression damping) 10.8” travel (27.4 cm)
Rear Suspension: single shock (with compression and rebound damping) 10.8” travel (27.4 cm)
Front Brake: Hydraulic disc
Rear Brake: Hydraulic disc
Ground Clearance: 15” (38.1 cm)
Seat Height: 34.3” (87.1 cm)
Dry Weight: 150 pounds (68 kg)

242 lbs with a rear drum brake? Nope. Guess we'll keep waiting.

I looked all that up last night. This morning, I was at the shop buying brake pads and noticed a TTR230 on the floor next to the CR230F. Pretty much the same. I have ridden the CR230F, and it does feel slightly less slug-like than the TTR225, but not anything to get excited and write home about.

I can feel something on the horizon. The manufacturers are *almost* there, but not quite yet.

Michelle- Didn't you just get a DRZ250? You are TOO FUNNY!

 

[chewgravel]

Nuts! I like the styling and want to stick with the 4 stroke. (at least I've made part of a choice) . Would this bike hold up to some jumping? Easy ride? Still avoiding the taller bikes. Think I am a bit too novice for something as big as the YZ250F.

 

[CJ Rider]

Hey Chewgravel- If yer riding at the mx track and jumping at all, don't think you'd be satisfied with the CR230F (and I assume TTR230 too looking at above specs). To heavy; not enough suspenson. They are more of a beginner trail bike that could be dual-sported pretty easily. Bummer, huh?

 

[Michelle]

i guess I should explain something. I no longer drive. Last year I bought a cheap roadie to decide if I liked riding on the road or rather, could even handle it. It wasn't until Henk broke his back that I was allowed to ride my bike full-time to work. The first day of weather conditions being less than ideal (it was our winter, which looking out the window, was a lot more pleasant than our summer lol) Henk asked me if I was going to be okay and was I sure about taking the bike. I'd been enjoying my rides to & from work but the weather had been fine. I now no longer get asked if I'm okay on the bike, we'll just have a debate as to whether we should wear wet-weather gear or not - is that dry spell going to last 1/2 an hour?

I bought the DRZ with the intention of doing adventure (dual-sport) rides and didn't/don't know how we're going to fit them into our schedule - but it's an option that's now available to me. We're also debating which road bike to sell, as I find Henk's too heavy and the gs is fun to ride.

Grocery shopping is an experience as you've got to think how much can fit into the pack and basically, what do we really need. A bag hanging off the arm can't be too light or too heavy (it'll either be blown around a heck of a lot or break), so even packing the pack has to be thought about (inevitably I have extras).

My name for the drz is "weeble" as weebles wobble but they don't fall down (riding on knobblies the first few times I kept having to think of that advert as no way did I feel secure in the tyres). I have to admit that at this stage I've picked the gs up way more than the weeble. The stand on the gs is marginal and any gust of wind makes her all tired and she just has a nap (I've looked at the bike parked then looked again a second later to see her lying there showing everyone everything). Hmm, she should be called tipsy.

I'm hoping that riding on the road will give me confidence to at least twist the throttle a bit off-road, which is working fine on gravel, but in the bush I don't know. Treating cars as moving trees is fun, just they really do jump out.

I'm looking towards replacing the kdx & ttr with one bike I'm happy arrowing & following learners with, but also able to hit soft sandy uphills and snotty clay hills (and easy to start). So far there isn't anything I can think of, so I'll keep looking and switching bikes depending on what/who I'm riding with.

 

[CJ Rider]

Ah, OK Michelle; you’re coming at this from a dualsport angle. Heck yeah! On-road, the TTR230 is similar to your DRZ. (My memory is getting cloudy, but I don’t remember too many long-straight roads where you’d need more cc’s except for that Hwy 1 on the central north island.) Off-road, it would be easier to handle than your DRZ since its a little shorter/smaller ergos. The TTR230 comes with electric start, which is nice for work. Looks like you’d just need to put a light kit on it. Just curious… Do you have street or knobby tires on your DRZ for riding to work now? At first I found knobbies somewhat disconcerting on the street, but got used to em. I like the Dunlop 606s on the DR650. Wonder if you could get those or MT21s for the TTR230?

Ooooo, I could totally see you riding to the start of one of your farm-land organized events on those wonderful twisty roads, then riding in the event, then riding home. Oooo, THAT would be too awesome for words.