2020 YAMAHA TW200
R I D E R E V I E W
P94
There is a reason the TW200 still
sells well and remains in Yamaha's
lineup after all these years; in fact,
there are many reasons but a few
quickly come to mind: it's inexpensive,
versatile, built like a tank, and anybody
can hop on one and go, and perhaps
best of all, it's just so darn fun to ride!
Fun to ride? How can that be?
Agreed, on paper, the TW200 doesn't
sound like a fun motorcycle to ride
because of its 1980s technology,
more specifically, because of its
drum rear brake, sub-seven inches of
wheel travel, archaic non-adjustable
suspension and, of course, funny-
looking tires. Performance-wise, it's
certainly not fast (and that's no secret),
it doesn't handle particularly great,
and its suspension, well, you can
only imagine. High-tech the TW200
certainly is not. Still, the TW200 is a
fantastic little motorcycle that's fun to
have around. Maybe that's because it's
not high-tech and doesn't require a lot
of maintenance but is instead simple
and easy to live with, and who doesn't
want that?
So, what is the TW200 anyway?
Some call it an ATV with two wheels,
others call it an ag bike, or a farm
bike, but most of us call it a funky little
dual-sport bike, which is how Ya-
maha classifies it (not the funky part,
though), as it should because it really
is a trail bike with a license plate on the
back. It runs off an unsophisticated but
proven low-compression air-cooled
196cc, two-valve SOHC four-stroke
The TW200 just loves to go over things,
that's what it does best.
