A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

Thank you very much for posting this Brian. It would be great to hear from anyone living in Australia who owns a TTR250 and has experience/advice for using one in the Outback. I'm aiming to buy another TTR in just over a week in Sydney so all replies greatly appreciated. I'll be traversing the country over 11 months documenting remote communities of Aboriginals and whites.

Mark, I remember you liked my FB posts when I was riding to Portugal in early 2015. Good to hear from you and thank you for getting in contact! I'm riding up from Sydney to see a mate in Boonah so could call by and see you on the way first. You're on the road I'll be taking. After that I'm heading 3,850kms further on up to Alice Springs and then into WA. After that I hope to go all over. Please do msg on FB.

I'm three hours north of Sydney 

I have done similar trips but on an xt 550 and 600. I recon the ttr will do it OK . in tough stuff and warmer days a bit more power is good maybe more economical . your first run is mainly sealed roads windy days are the toughest . avoid riding at dusk and dawn as wild life like to get out and about . I see a ttr every now and then set up and touring . ride to what's comftable on the day some days 110 is comfy some days more like 90 kph. Carry plenty of water allow enough fuel for a min of 300ks  . I had an extra tank but though I'd make it upto woomera on a tank but wind and a side track on a salt lake pulled me up a few ks short . check in with police when leaving on remote stretches and check in when you arrive at the other end . nothing's very difficult if the bikes set up and take it easy and enjoy the ride 

 

1000ks in a day is OK on a 600  which is handy one your away from the coast . on dirt the ttr would jyst about match the 600 

 

-- Edited by ttboof on Monday 10th of July 2017 06:52:14 AM

-- Edited by ttboof on Monday 10th of July 2017 06:59:37 AM

Hey TTRed.

Im in the south Aussie outback. Give me a yell when you get in if you want. I could put you up for a night if you are round my way and i am there at the same time.

Just read Saturday's Daily Mail and Ed has a two-page spread on his 3-week stay with an odd family in remote Alaska.

Be good to have a celeb tootling around the Outback on a TTR - especially one who would, I am sure, get some good shots with the TTR in focus 

All he needs is a mechanically sound TTR at a very cheap price 

Brian

Brian, thank you for your enthusiasm and help with this. I know the TTR will be great off-road and because I aim to go to the remotest places in Australia I'll be off-road alot. But on tarmac I'm going to have to be patient as I remember how wind slowed me right down (I used to draft behind trucks through France and Spain but doubt that'll be possible behind mammoth Aussie trucks!) 

The recent Daily Mail feature you mentioned is here: https://www.facebook.com/EdGold.co.uk/photos/a.348737641871921.82746.344603865618632/1473432379402436/?type=3&theater

Thanks Krum. Are you selling it? What is the nearest city your bike is at? Could I get a Greyhound over?

Thank you Terry. I'll be headed to where the remotest people are in Australia that is reachable by TTR. My last project in Alaska I had to fly in a 2 seater as it was really remote and only accessible by snow machine or air but this project in Australia will all be overland by motorcycle. I'd plan to get the Acerbis 22 litre (20) tank and carry two bladders of 12 litres each so that's a total of 44 litres of gas. Would that be enough? Also, I guess mobile phones won't work in some places so do you recommend I buy an 'In Reach' Satellite text device (cheaper than satellite phone). It sends texts and gives GPS co-ords. 

That is up in the Flinders Ranges, the photo is of a 73yr old TTR rider at Mt Samuel

 

Terry

-- Edited by TerryK on Monday 10th of July 2017 10:45:40 PM

TTRed wrote:

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Thanks Krum. Are you selling it? What is the nearest city your bike is at? Could I get a Greyhound over?

---

 Trying to, Longreach QLD (not the NSW one) is the closest major town.

As Terry said fuel is important, but with the TTR weight almost beats it to the top of the list. Just the weight of the larger tank and extra fuel is enough

to tip the weight vs fuel economy scale.

 

 

 

The larger tank should give you enough range . I'm sure the guys will agree water is a must I've always carried a min of four litres as a min . camp gear is light 

TTRed wrote:

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Just Googled where Mt Samuel is. That's impressive. Can you share anything about the story behind the photo and where the nearest gas was as that's only a stock tank...

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 Mt Samuel is on private land & is 1.5-2hrs around & only 20minutes from fuel at Angorichina.

The photo is at Mt Samuel after around a 20 minute climb then down to Buggery creek, see my videos, the rider is 73yr old Derek from Alice Springs.  Derek went everywhere & no stopping him, again check my videos for a uphill climb behind him & a trip along a creek behind him, in fact I'll link it

Derek along the creek bed

Behind Derek up a hill

Slideshow of the Flinders trip

Hope you don't mind the highjack, it would be possible to get from Adelaide to the Flinders with careful fuel stops....Adelaide to Blinman 500kms

Terry

If you make it to South Australia the Flinders ranges is a must on a bike, great people up there as well, I hope the videos/ photos were of some help in showing you our backyard

Terry

TTRed wrote:

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Krum, can you explain further? Do you mean that there is no benefit to the TTR's lightness once you fit the larger tank? I was planning on fitting a larger tank AND carrying 2 x 12 litre fuel bladders and 1 x 12 litre bladder for water. Plus my camping gear and cameras that might be too heavy for 250cc?

---

 If you're not going offroad with that kinda weight you might be right, it'll still suck fuel tho. Just do a fully laden run before you head bush to see what it does :)

Also, check before going to certain communities if you can take the fuel or not. Nothing worse than having to dump a couple of hundred dollars worth

of fuel cause it's not the non-sniffable type.

 

Ps: not very good at typing so i tend to be confusing sometimes and confuse myself :S

Good watching Brian, the TTR is calling my name...

Thank you Brian. I am now in Sydney and am looking at Yamaha TTRs on Gumtree and Bike Sales. There are a handful of the 250 out there for sale but none in my (low) price range save for one white model Open Enduro. I could buy it for AU$2000 with 10 months of REGO but it doesn't have a kickstart. I need to ask the question - "am I going to be safe buying a TTR with no kickstart as backup?" Where I am going is extremely remote and no hills to bump the bike on, just flat and I expect deep sand/no sealed roads. I've read some owners say they can't get their bikes to start with the kicker so should I be more concerned with just having a healthy electric motor instead and not rely on having both starter options?

Gotta move on making a choice as I have to leave Sydney this Sunday. 

I haven't found the TTR the easiest to start on the kickstart Ed but, on the rare occasion I have had to use it (leaving the GPS switched on and getting a flat battery), I have succeeded. Needs must and all of that.....

I think the kickstart is a bit low geared and only just turns the engine over once per kick I recollect...

If you buy a TTR without a kickstart then make up or buy a small pair of m/c jump leads. If you get a flat battery then you can start it off any 12v battery. I keep a charged UPS battery (cheap and light) just for that purpose but that only works if the flat battery occurs in my garage - which is usually the case......

Brian

Thank you all for your replies. I have brought a pretty comprehensive range of tools and parts with me from the UK to Oz. I also have the headlight switch to fit, as I did to my last OE and I always carry jump leads/electric mini air compressor etc. Tomorrow I will go to look at the OE which is 3 hours north up the coast by train. I'd much to prefer to buy the blue model but the price is right for me on this one and it has only 7,332 kms. Apparently it needs its fork seals doing, which I can change quickly and easily and I brought new seals with me...but it's a drag having to do maintenance already as I have to cover some ground starting early next week. Hopefully a new battery will cure my concerns. I too never had a problem with my last OE so fingers crossed. (I saw a vid of one technique to start a bike with no kicker and a flat batt. Lift bike rear wheel off ground, wrap rope twice around circumference of tyre. Put in gear and pull on rope like you're starting a chainsaw. Hopefully it won't ever come to that).

-- Edited by TTRed on Tuesday 18th of July 2017 04:41:05 AM

Hi Ed
Might have a blue bike for you - check your private messages.
Pendo

Hi Brian. Yes. For private reasons I wasn't able to buy a TTR in the Sydney area so yesterday flew to Brisbane and am buying a BLUE TTR this Wednesday 26 July. I'll be in this area, Boonah in Queensland for a week and then setting out on the journey to Australia's remotest community. City dwellers think I am mad - saying the journey is so perilous but the biker friend I am staying with, who has ridden 2 up across all the 'Stans, Mongolia, Russia and Siberia on a KTM 990, says I'll be just fine! Is there a mobile app for this TTR250 Active board so I blog on the move? Should I start a new post once I begin or continue on this page as I'd like keep everyone up to date with the project.

Thanks pricey and ttboof. I hope to blog as often as I can about the project, it would be cool if there is a mobile app for this forum. I'll be touring around Australia for 11 months visiting the country's remotest communities and will hope to loop down to Victoria in a bit. A high country trip would be great, especially if you know of anyone living isolated anywhere. I'll be buying a blue TTR on Wednesday and fitting it out with a long range tank and up to 24 litres of spare gas in fuel bladders, depending on how I'm able to distribute my luggage across the bike. If I can get a mobile signal for my smartphone I will use it to give my laptop wifi so during long cold nights in my tent I can sort photos and text out for here...

Brian, great to hear from you again. Since getting to Australia a week ago I have been in contact with at least 5 TTR owners about buying their bike. A couple of them are forum members and a couple duck in here to look for advice without having ever signed up. The seller I am going to buy from isn't a member unfortunately. If he was I reckon it must almost be a guarantee the bike will be a good'un as you can't exactly be on here and knowingly sell crap? It sounds as though there are more laws to pass in making the bike roadworthy in Queensland than other states and this is what the seller is doing tomorrow, which has included fitting new grips to pass a roadworthy test. (Would an MOT'er in the UK worry about grips without their rubber ends being intact?!) Anyway, I decided it is 100% necessary to have a kickstart as backup for where I am going - so going for a 2005 blue. 

Does anyone have a satellite texting device I can borrow please - like an 'InReach' to make social network updates when I cannot get a mobile signal? I can't afford one. I am going to have to post to this forum as well as posting to my own IG/FB & Twitter. Shame an FB feed can't be streamed to this forum. 

 

-- Edited by TTRed on Monday 24th of July 2017 11:48:34 AM