Yamaha TW 200 - do-it-all!

An unsung hero of a bike, a friendly 'puppy dog.' I bought it because my brother had gotten a BW200, to ride in the winter. They weren't available anymore, so I got the T-Dub. It worked great on the singletrack snowmobile trails, thru the woods; but @ the meadows, the sledders spread out, so I usually had to push, under power. I probably as in the best winter shape, ever in those years. Riding at night was actually safer, because we could see the approaching sleds by the glow of their headlight, over the crest of hills, etc. We were the only 2 bikes in a sea of sleds, at the local watering hole....I'd ride enduros with it, simply to get more trailtime. It was fun to come into a check, with the checkers goin' 'whoa! it's the guy w/ the TW!' :D The biggest liability, of course, is the lack of ground clearance. I had a robust skid plate fabricated, and used folding-tipped shift and brake levers. I moved the shifter up a spline; had to lift my foot sometimes to shift. Brake pedal was not so fortunate: in an enduro in PA, the course went along a ridge, all broken quartzite, w/ birch trees and blueberry bushes. I was also riding observed trials at the time, so I approached it w/ that mindset- yet I STILL needed to use the vice-grips to bend the brake lever straight, 6-8 times over a 10 mile stretch. :D