Yamaha TDM 850, the beast of cornering

With the off road Super Ténéré sweeping dealerships, the tuning fork brand thought of launching the definitive asphalt trail, and thus the Yamaha TDM 850 was born.

After launching the tremendous sports trail TDR 250 on Yamaha France they continued to push Japan to go further, even if outside of official channels.

And it is that, at that time, 1990, this type of motorcycle had a lot of pull in the country of Asterix and Obelix; and a large displacement asphalt trail would be a best seller, without a doubt.

So in Japan they took note and began to create the future Yamaha TDM 850 -which would go on sale in 1991, 32 years ago-, based on the twin cylinder engine from the new Genesis saga -it was half an engine- with a 5 valves per cylinder.

The Yamaha XTZ 750 Super Téneré was the inspiration, but nothing was used of it, not even the engine, since this TDM would have 100 cc reaching up to 849 cc

Thanks to this, this engine -4T, LC, 10V, DOHC- would have more power and more torque at low revs than the XTZ 750, reaching 77 CV -for 70 CV of the Super Ténéré, with a consumption of about 6.5 l/100 km.

The Yamaha TDM 850 was the first Japanese asphalt maxitrail

It was fitted to a Deltabox sheet steel double girder frame with a welded subframe, a very heavy part. It was completed with a conventional 41 mm fork and a linkage monoshock, which worked on a steel swingarm.

The suspensions had more travel than a road bike, but less than an off road bike. So it was halfway with 160mm in front and 140mm in the rear.

This caused a great seat height of 795 mm, which together with a weight of 200 kg did not make it the most manageable motorcycle in the world…

Another difference is that it was equipped with an 18” alloy front wheel and a 17” rear wheel -with a fat 150/70 tire, a strange set that made it somewhat stubborn.

To brake, it was equipped with a double 298 mm front disc bitten by four-piston calipers. At the back was another 245mm disc.

Aesthetically it was also different since it was equipped with a semi-fairing with a round double headlight that seemed to be mounted outside its plastics, with a very strange squinting and bulging look.

It was inspired by the explosive little Yamaha TDR 250, which had nothing to do with it.

It was not lauded for this detail, which in later versions was dropped in favor of a set of rectangular headlights and a new half-fairing.

The seat was enormously generous for both seats, with huge handles, the tail was quite small, and it was equipped with two exhaust silencers, one on each side in a low position.

The instrumentation was completely analog, with three spheres for speedometer, tachometer and temperature level, embedded on a sporty aluminum panel.

In gear it was impressive, with a somewhat rough and powerful touch engine, which behaved well and stable in fast corners, but in very winding sections it was difficult to insert it due to its weight, chassis rigidity and geometries.

It was also a very long bike, with somewhat abrupt braking and which, although it was intended to be a sports bike, ended up being a good, quiet sport touring car, with a top speed of 190 km/h if you were riding upright.

It was not exactly light, the feel of the engine was somewhat rough and it was not so agile in curves

One of its problems when it was young was that when it was parked for a few days on the side stand -it had no power station-, the Mikuni carburetor bowl on the left would fill up with gasoline and when you started it, it would only do so in one cylinder, the one on the right.

It took a long minute for the left cylinder to come to life, which it did when the left bucket emptied. Silly, but annoying.

In 1996 the second most modern version arrived, with a new fairing and a more rounded design, with a renewed engine in which the crankshaft is set at 270º, so that it has the feel and sound of a V2.

More changes followed in later versions until in 2002 it was completely renewed from top to bottom, giving birth to the TDM 900. It had a new, more powerful 88 HP engine, cast aluminum chassis, new bodywork and instrumentation, until it was discontinued. in 2010.

In 1991 it cost me 1,088,900 pesetas, about 6,500 euros to change -yes, I had one-, and I would have kept it longer if it had been lighter, had a little more power, more aggressive chassis dimensions and had really been a true cornering machine.

It never became a best seller, because its style confused the public, since it was halfway between a trail bike and an asphalt motorcycle. We weren’t prepared for TDM… But no one takes away from the fact that it was the first 100% asphalt Japanese maxitrail.

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