Yamaha TRX850

[LustyLew]

Hiya,

after my off yesterday, I'm working out my costs of fixing/wanting my bike, or getting something else now I'm not commuting.

I saw this on Auto Trader and put a smile on my face:
https://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD_web/servlet/media?id=169162732

Anyone ever ridden/seen one of these before?

Cheers.
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[0ni]

A quick google found..

Manufacturer: Yamaha
Model: 1996 TRX 850 (Unchanged for 1997)
Dutch Price: Fl. 19,995 ($10,800 U.S.)
Engine: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 5-valve Twin-cylinder
Bore x stroke: 89.5 x 67.5 mm
Displacement: 849 cc
Carburation: Mikuni BDST38/2
Transmission: 5-speed
Wheelbase: 1435 mm
Seat Height: 795 mm
Fuel Capacity: 18 L
Claimed dry Weight: 190 Kg (418 lbs)


The trellis frame is lovely
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Its a lovely day, just wait until some bastard spoils it.

[winwick]

very nice bikes, same motor as the TDM850, trellis frame as it was aimed at the ducati market when it was first released.
Very comfortable riding position, not as extreme as a sport bike but not as upright as a tourer/naked.
Fairing offers good wind proection too.
handle very well, not 916 well but very well.
firing order is offset so it give more torque and sounds like a V twin.
finish on them is very good and stands upto well to winter crud and road salt.
dont know about prices where you are but here in the uk you can get a good un from around £2200.
definately worth buying if you can find a nice one

[instigator]

Funny you should mention that LH - I want one too. Cracking looking bikes, characteristics of a vtwin "apparently" and pretty cheap too. Stinkwheel raves about them.

[0ni]

[McJamweasel]

Nope, it's a parallel twin but with a v-twin-esque firing order.
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BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[satans_BIG_helper]

I WANT ONE BUt i cant afford the fecking insurance yet i can afford insurance on a GPZ750 no probs... o well TRX next year

[LustyLew]

That'll be my next worry if I choose not to fix the ER5. Need to have a chat with a mate as it's parked in his garage.
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[0ni]

You will also need to update your forum nick
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Its a lovely day, just wait until some bastard spoils it.

[LustyLew]

Oh... Erm... Guess I'd have to ask Korn very nicely about that one. Not that fussed tbh...
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[El_Bandido]

Had a TDm kick my ass the other day. He really knew how to ride so tried to keep up but droppedback as I was going to die

Bandit was faster and probably handled better though
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Hold my beer and watch this!

[Zoffo]

They used them as track bikes at Croft a few years ago. You booked a course and used the Yams instead of dropping your own bike. Actually a nice scratcher. definite knee down capabilities.
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https://hyperbikes.forumsplace.com/

[stinkwheel]

[Stew]

Phoenix had one, but it didnt compare to his 'blades (obviously).

Magazines usually write about their charming character making up for their lack of outright performance. They do sound lovely and for a short time I was thinking of buying one myself (in fact I actually went to buy one but the salesman combined with M persuaded me that the YZF would be more my thing).
Another thing that I saw mentioned ina couple of magzines was that it was of italian style with japanese reliability. I presume this was due to the trellis frame being associated with Ducati et al.

I also seem to recall Mr Lucky mentioning that he owned a T-Rexup ( a TRX with exup motor??) although I would imagine that to be a different beast altogether.
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"Unlike public school you don't need to have your arse up and your head down to go a long way...."

[winwick]

Dont buy the one in the picture.
51000 miles for £1300, it just aint worth it and it aint gonna last too much longer.
if you go on autotrader theres a couple of others at around £1700 with less than half the milage, these would be much better buys and you could prabably haggle to around £1500.

[LustyLew]

Nah, I'd steer clear of that one. I was just using it for an example. I've seen a nice black one with R1 calipers, which would be interesting.

Lots of parts on eBay too...
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[Deano]

I'd love one of these and may chop my storm in for one if the insurance proves to be too much me.

Handling ability and torque always comes first over top end rush in my opinion. It's just not needed if you want to keep your license.

I've spoke to peeps on ridersite.ws about these as their are a few of them on their who have them and say you should treat it as a very well handling, torquey but overwieght 600. Don't start expecting it to be anything more and you wont be let down.

[LustyLew]

Well, I currently ride a restricted ER5, so I'm sure I will have fun.
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[TRXuk]

TRX's tend to be forgotten about hence the prices are excellent for those that know about the bike. Obviously I rate them highly as I've owned one for 5 years now. but

IMHO there is no better value for money motorcycle.
Most people have no idea what it is as they arn't that many about, so there is a certain exclusivity with owing one.
With some aftermarket pipes they sound great.
Enough useable power (70bhp) without getting silly/scary.
Loads of torque (just sit in 3rd on the twisites or 5th at 5000rpm and 90mph on the m/way).

Crap for pillions though.

sandy
https://www.trxuk.trx850.com

[Keen]

yeah I was wonderign why they're so cheap... no good to me as I still couldn't afford the insurance either... but look at this one for sale near my home town:

https://www.justwings.co.uk/index.php?id=5&tx_ttnews[pointer]=2&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=148&tx_ttnews[backPid]=3&cHash=288eb2e01c

looks nice for that money!
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[epz]

basicly the V twin market it amiming at is split between the sv650 which has the same power, cheaper insurance, much nicer looks and probably better reliability{1} or the big 1liter vtwins which have higher spec everything you can get a very good TL1000S or VTR for well under 3 grand private.

i deliberately didnt mention any italian V twins purely because though it may be a generalistion i highly doubt those type of buyer could be persuaded to buy a bike that ugly.

im not slaging of the TRX in any way it is a nice idea and the engine probably makes the front end rock solid but it is never going to be pretty unless it gets a new nose and tail.

i would say that £1400 is about the max you should spend on them since it is a very limited pool of potential buyers and the bike was only really made for a couple of years{2}, parts are going to be easy to get and assuming you look after the metalwork it would make an excellent value hack.


{1} suzuki's might not have the best build quality and i cant speak for the trx but ive seen some tdm's {3} in terrible nick due to corrosion.

{2} may be wrong but i thing the majority were made in 97 and any later plates just sat in the dealers court till they could finaly shift them.

{3} thats what it is primaraly based on

[winwick]

One word

MULTISTRADA

Now lets talk ugly.

The TRX was brought out as an alternative to the Italian trellis framed V twins, is was never supposed to be in direct competition with the 748 or 916 but it would give the dull looking and underpowerd ss750 or 900 a good run and it cost a lot less,
it was there to tempt people who were buying the cheaper ducatis purely because they were ducatis.
Some riders wanted the trellis frame style but with the reliabilty of a Jap engine and electrics.
It couldnt have been aimed at the market between the SV and the bigger TL V twins as those bikes didnt exist when the TRX was 1st introduced

[TRXuk]

[Suzuki]

A friend of mine has a TRX, which you can see in this picture.

https://www.pascoe.cx/bikes/small_images/133_3368.jpg

It's a lovely bike, and sounds absolutely gorgeous. Never ridden it though, so couldn't comment on the handling.

[G]

've found mine a bit 'boring', but I expected and hoped for that; I got it as a commuting bike.
(Also remember I have a 143hp zx9 sitting in the garage as well as an r6 race bike and a RS250 road bike ).

There's no reason you can't have fun on one, it's just my other bikes pull you into having fun, while you have to try a bit.

The handling generally seems ok, though I think something slightly odd's going on with my front brake pads/disc when hot.
Mine's shod with Macadams at the moment, so some race scrubs will be on their way soon so I can start to abuse the suspension rather than the slippy tyres .

A (wave) to Trxuk; been finding your site very useful, then reminded myself that spare set of r6 forks should probably stay as a spare rather than try and bodge them onto a 'commuter' bike.
Don't suppose you'd know anywhere cheap to get a cam chain tensioner, or if I could just bodge it somehow? .


All in all, for what I paid (£930, which seems to be a pretty good deal) I'd say it's good deal and I'd happily pay a fair bit more than that if I wanted more than just a 'get around' bike.

It hasn't got the "fuggin 'ell" kick up your arse of a 100hp+ bike, but can shift with a lot more ease than a revvy 60hp 400, so ideal if you don't want to be screaming everywhere and want to take it a bit easier on motorways.