Gray Man, Inc.

[wayno]

Seems like you go thru a lot of motorcycle parts, and I am not talking about little shit, I never had to replace any major engine parts and I drove motor cycles as my major source of transportation from 1973 thru 1985/86(1972 Honda 750 engine/Santee Industries frame/Harley parts), and I considered myself hard on them(I went thru chains, sprockets, and tires), I was mashed into the throttle or the brakes, you must be really hard on them, or they do not make them like they did back then.

[DRIVEN]

All of the trail bike work you've seen has been elective. These TW200s have 14hp and a 5-speed. In recent years, a popular upgrade is to swap in an engine from an XT225 or TTR225. Both are 19hp and have 6-speed transmissions. A 5hp increase may not seem like much but it is, and it comes with a way fatter midrange torque curve. I'd say it's a lot like pulling an L16 with a 4-speed and dropping in an L20b and 5-speed. The TW and XT/TTR engines are in the same family. All of them are capable of 40-50,000 miles if properly maintained.

The rub is, those XT and TTR engines are tough to find. I built one for my white TW last year from ebay parts. I liked the way it worked out so I'm building one for my blue TW now. I bought a bottom end with a cracked case, then found a nice matched pair of replacement cases. The last couple posts were me swapping guts from case to case.

I'm actually going to shuffle some parts between the two engines. The blue bike will be built to 2002 TTR225 specs. The engine in the white bike will be a hybrid of an XT225 bottom end with the top end from a YFM230 Beartracker ATV. It should have more low-mid range torque.

I ride 80-90% offroad. The stock TWs typically need to be geared down to be capable in the hills. That leaves them with a top speed of around 50. After I did my 225 swap last year I had enough torque to be able to gear back up. It cruises comfortably at 60-65 and can probably hit 70 if conditions are right. The 6-speed has closer ratio compared to the 5-speed with 1st being lower and 6th being taller. It's a worthwhile upgrade.

[DRIVEN]

TTR bottom end sealed and curing.



I need the TTR head that was on the white bike so I swiped that this afternoon. While I had it apart I honed the cylinder and threw a fresh set of rings at it.


It all went back together and fired right up with no drama. Current combination in the white bike right now is an XT225 bottom end with a YFM250 cylinder, piston, head, and cam. It seems to run good but I can't really ride it hard yet.



Not sure when I'll get back to the TTR build for the blue bike.

[DRIVEN]

[BLUE]

Oooo...ahhh....What’s the story !?

[DRIVEN]

Story hasn't happened yet. I'm doing an 18hr turn-n-burn with my dad tomorrow to do the deal, unless it turns out to be worse than described underneath. His project, not mine. I'm sure I'll be working on it some though.

[DRIVEN]

[DRIVEN]

[BLUE]

Do work ! Looks cold. I hope you’re taking more pictures of this. I have some things to learn. We might be doing this in the future

[DRIVEN]

We've pretty much finished the structural portion. It's essentially a very rigid box. All 6 sides are 2x6 and will be insulated to R-21. We're waiting on the windows and tin siding at this point but at least we don't have to wory about it getting rained or snowed on any more. The tarps were a hassle. We'll just move on to other tasks until those items are ready.

[Taterhead]

Looks good to me. Generic Bob Villa down here approves.

[DRIVEN]

The roof is on too. No pics though.

[wayno]

What is the raised section about?

[DRIVEN]

It'll all make sense later.

[DRIVEN]

[DRIVEN]

[Taterhead]

Stick built container style tiny home. I like it.

[DRIVEN]

Windows, doors, more wiring, siding.








I've been chasing bearing noises on Supervibe. 3 of 4 wheel bearings, both front axles, re-centered and set the front Ujoint, and the transfer case. After all that, it still had a drone/hum. Turns out my LF wheel bearing was failing again after about a month's use. Thanks, Chynuh. Anyway, all better now. I'm actively hunting for it's eventual replacement. She still owes me at least another 25,000 miles.

[DRIVEN]

[BLUE]

Sweet ! Is the Vibe identifing as a Subaru now !?