Saying Goodbye
The time has come to say good bye to a very good friend. My Yamaha TDM850. It’s actually my second one. The first one I bought from one of my racing partners who had recently traded up to a BMW GS1150, nice bike but really big..I liked the TDM a lot. A little haggling and the TDM was mine. I had forgotten how much fun John had doing wheelies (the TDM wheelies real easy!) so first stop was new fork seals.
The Red Sled and I put a lot of miles on real quickly. Never hiccuped, never did anything weird, just a great bike.
Until…one morning on my way back down from visiting my sister in Northern California, a truck and I decided we should become close friends at a freeway onramp. Bike was pretty banged up and so was I. After it sat in the garage for a few months it was passed on to a friend of mine who had bought one with a blown motor. A little transplant surgery and Jeff is a TDM freak too.
One day a posting on the TDM list showed up…’1992 TDM 850, low miles, needs minor work but runs..$500′. An e-mail, a phone call, a couple of tanks of gas and I’m the owner of another red TDM. The ‘minor work’ included a couple of new electric components and tank of gas. Cheap.
So,here I am seven years and around 60,000 miles later saying goodbye. That TDM has taken me all over the western U.S and pretty much trouble free. Heather and I had our first road trip together, camping up on the Kern River, on the TDM. We have traveled mountains and deserts with friends, our son and his wife rode to Laguna Seca on it. I have ridden it in waist deep snow, I commuted to work on it ( I ride ‘The Mighty 350’ nowadays..better mileage) and even considered making a ‘track day bike’ out of it. All in all it has been a great bike.
Why am I selling it? Good question, but I believe the new owner will give it a good home. So, you know what…I’m going to get my helmet and take it out for one last ride.
Maybe one day a TDM will show up on e-Bay or Craigs list and…nah.
Ride safe, ride fast, I’ll see you on the road..but not on my ‘ol TDM
Paul