Best TW200 Mods [Upgrades For Performance & Comfort]

Are you looking for the best TW200 mods but not sure where to start? It’s easy to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on dirt bike mods, but not all of them will actually make your bike faster or more comfortable.

That’s why I made this article - to show you the top upgrades so that you can understand and choose which ones will be best for your Yamaha TW 200 based on your specific needs and budget.

Before you start modifying your dirt bike…

People make a couple of big mistakes when they start modifying or upgrading their dirt bikes which can cause major problems and frustration. I want to show you how I have learned through my own mistakes, as well as other people's so that your bike stays running great and reliable.

Mistake #1

The first big mistake is not planning ahead of what they actually want. For example, it’s easy to write down a list of the best TW200 mods, order all the parts, and then install all of them right away.

While this can work, you need to know exactly what you want your bike to do better instead of just copying someone else’s bike. If you want a better dual sport bike, then you probably don’t want a loud exhaust and gearing that’s better for acceleration (trail riding).

Mistake #2

Also, when you do everything all at once and find out there’s a problem or you don’t like how the bike runs/rides, it’s much harder to know what caused the issue - this can make you go crazy trying to troubleshoot or diagnose the problem.

What mods should you actually do?

With the Yamaha TW200, you have quite a few options when it comes to aftermarket upgrades, but not all of them will be helpful to you. First, you have to figure out where you will be riding most.

If you’re primarily trail riding and don’t need to ride on the road much, then you probably don’t want to add much weight or mods that are made for street riding. If you’re mostly riding on the road, then you won’t want off-road mods, such as aggressive knobby tires.

Airbox/Intake mod

The stock TW200 is starving for air, but there’s a good reason for that. Yamaha made the air box almost airtight because it will keep out most of the mud and dust you might be riding through, protecting the engine from sucking in more dirt (one of the leading causes of engine rebuilds).

But this also restricts the amount of air that can go into the air box and through the carburetor to the engine. When you have more air, you can potentially make more power.

So, you can either buy a Uni air filter vent kit (Amazon) to put some air vent holes in the side of the air box, or you can drill your own.

DIY air box mod for elevation

Some owners on the TW200 forum drilled ⅜-inch holes in the side and then plugged them with foam ear plugs. Then, as you ride up in elevation, you can remove the plugs to allow more air in.

This is the redneck mod for “jetting for elevation”. When you go up in elevation, your TW 200 will run richer. 

So when you remove the plugs, this will allow more air in and lean out the mixture so you might not have to change any jets. It’s not the best way, especially since you’re missing out on power at low elevations, but it’s one cheap DIY mod that can help.

Jetting

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to upgrade your dirt bike with a carburetor is by adjusting the jetting - it can improve your bike in more ways than you think. This is especially true with a stock Yamaha TW200 because it generally comes jetted lean from the factory.

With that said, if your TW starts easily (hot or cold) and runs great with a good throttle response at every RPM, then you most likely won’t see much improvement from making a jetting change. If you make a change to the intake, engine or exhaust, then you’ll most likely have to make a jetting change because the air-fuel ratio will be different.

Which carb do you have?

Yamaha changed from a round slide carb on the ‘87-’00 models to a Mikuni CV carb on the 2001 and newer model years. If you have a disc brake on the front then it’s the newer CV-style carb.

The stock carb on a 2001+ TW200 come with a 31 pilot jet and a 126 main jet. The pilot is often too small, making it hard to start when the engine is cold.

Jetting specs for 2001+ TW200 carb

Bumping that up to a 34 size pilot jet and adjusting your fuel screw to 1.5-2.0 turns out should help if that’s the case. Everyone’s bike is a little bit different, especially if you ride at different elevations, so don’t expect this to be absolutely perfect - you may just need to adjust the fuel screw a little more based on your specific bike, which can be done in just a few minutes with my free guide here.

The 126 main jet is not too far off, but some people find that a 128 can help if you have a lean bog under full throttle acceleration. Adding a shim under the needle clip can also improve throttle response at ¼-½ throttle acceleration.

Suspension

The TW200 has a soft suspension set up because it’s made for a beginner, which is fine if you’re a lightweight or conservative rider. The problem is if you start riding more aggressively, you’re adding luggage to your TW, or you just weigh over 200 lbs, then it's going to be too soft.

There are a few things you can do to upgrade your suspension performance, but the TW200 is truly limited due to the amount of travel the stock forks and shock have. Don’t expect it to feel like a high-performance enduro bike if you want to go trail riding with it.

Fork upgrades

The easiest way to make your TW200 front forks stiffer is by changing the springs in them. Going to stiffer progressive springs (Amazon) gives you a more controlled feel without bottoming out as easily because they progressively get stiffer the more they compress.

Another cheap mod is to use heavier-weight fork oil (Amazon). This slows down the damping of the compression and rebound - basically making it feel stiffer because the heavier fluid makes it heavier (slower) to move.

If you have a little more time and money, you can add a Race Tech Gold Valve kit to your forks for more tunability. So if you don’t mind taking your forks apart a couple of times to get them just right, this is a fairly affordable way to get upgrade the performance of your TW200 stock forks.

Shock upgrade

There isn’t much you can do to the stock rear shock other than upgrade the spring rate, which is 12 kg/mm when stock. If you weigh 220 lbs or less, the 15 kg/mm spring is what you want, but if you weigh over 220 lbs then you’ll want the stiffer 19 kg/mm spring rate.

If you have a hole burning in your wallet, then you can get a complete aftermarket Cogent rear shock from Procycle. It’s custom set up for your weight and is a big improvement over stock, but it comes with a big price tag.

Gearing - speed or acceleration?

Depending on the riding you’ll be doing, you can get a quick and easy upgrade in acceleration or top speed with a gearing change. The keyword there is “OR” because you can’t have both.

By changing the gear (sprockets), you’re not changing the power, but rather, changing the gear ratio, which affects the acceleration and top speed.

Higher cruising speed & top speed

The TW200 isn’t the best dirt bike for riding on the street because it’s limited by its cruising and max speed, but this can be easily changed - within reason. Upgrading from the stock 14T countershaft sprocket to a 15-tooth (Amazon) will give you noticeably more top speed and a lower RPM while cruising on the road.

If that’s not enough, then changing the rear to a 45T sprocket (Amazon) will give you a lower RPM over the stock 50T. There are two potential drawbacks to this gearing mod.

First gear will be taller and you won’t have as much acceleration, making it a little harder to ride on the trails at slow speeds. You will also most likely need to change your chain length to get the proper chain tension.

Better acceleration for trail riding

Don't need a higher top speed?  You can get more acceleration, which makes it feel like more torque with a quick sprocket change. 

Going up to a 55T rear sprocket (Motosport) is fairly cheap and easy. First gear will be super low so you can putt-putt up hills at a walking speed. 

Exhaust upgrade for the sound of performance?

The stock TW200 exhaust system is very good if you want the quietest exhaust sound, but this also restricts its power potential. On most dirt bikes you have the choice of upgrading to an aftermarket slip-on (muffler only) or a complete system with head pipe and muffler, but I haven’t found an aftermarket parts company that makes a header pipe upgrade for the Yamaha TW.

Best muffler/slip-on for TW200

If you care more about having better or more sound, then a slip-on is the best bang for your buck. A DG V2 slip-on (Amazon) or the FMF Powercore 4 (Motosport) is a fairly inexpensive upgrade that will give you better sound, better looks, slightly less weight, and a little more throttle response when you properly adjust the jetting.

Just be warned that it’s going to be a lot louder than the stock sewing machine sound, so it’s not a good modification if you live in a noise-conscience area.

TW200 Upgrades For The Engine

Unfortunately, there aren’t many real engine upgrades for the TW200 for a couple of reasons. For one, the engine can’t safely be bored out much bigger because it’s already basically a bored-out 125cc engine.

Aftermarket companies don’t see the TW200 as a good dirt bike engine to modify for more horsepower - you might as well buy a bigger bike if you want more engine performance.

High-compression piston kit

Adding compression is one of the easiest ways to get more power, but is it worth it? Well, for a little more than 100 dollars, a Wiseco 10.25:1 piston kit (Amazon) will give you noticeably more low-end and midrange torque compared to the stock 9.5:1 compression ratio.

It’s not a huge performance improvement, but it will help, especially if you’re adding an exhaust and a bigger camshaft. If you’re already needing to rebuild the top-end, then I believe this kit is a no-brainer if you just need to replace the piston and rings.

Hotter camshaft

With that said, Web Racing Cams offers a few different camshaft sizes based on your needs. You’ll want to upgrade the exhaust and increase the compression, along with a high-performance valve spring kit if you want to see good power gains while still being reliable.

Porting

The cylinder head is one of the choking points if you’ve upgraded all the other main parts (intake, cam, piston, and exhaust). It’s like trying to suck your drink through a tiny straw that’s too small - that’s an extreme analogy.

That doesn’t mean you can just make the intake and exhaust ports bigger and you’ll have a better TW200 engine. Nope, you have to make the ports more efficient so that the low-speed velocity stays up and still flows more air at higher speeds.

How do you do that? Find a shop or someone that is familiar with these 4-stroke air-cooled engines so that they can give you more power and every RPM.

Putting all the mods together for a performance package

Just doing one upgrade or modification might not get you the results you want. In fact, it can make your TW200 run worse or be less comfortable if it isn’t properly set up.

For example, upgrading the forks but not the shock can make your suspension unbalanced and handly poorly, making it harder for you to control. Or upgrading the exhaust without adjusting the carb jetting might make your dirt bike harder to start and have a bad throttle response.

That’s why you need to plan ahead and upgrade parts as a package to get the best results. I know I said earlier that you should make one change at a time - that’s mainly to make it easier to diagnose a problem after installing parts if there’s an issue.

TW200 Dual Sport Mods

Maybe you want to put more miles on your TW200 on the pavement or gravel roads and find that the stock setup isn’t very comfortable or is missing some essential accessories.

Don’t worry, these are the top dual sport upgrades for your TW 200 motorcycle:

Tires

Having big knobby tires is great if you want more traction in the dirt, but they don’t handle as well on the road. A popular set of tires for the street is the Bridgestone TW34 rear and Shinko 244 front (Amazon) with a little more performance over the stock tires that still work well in the dirt.

Just for reference, the stock tire sizes for a Yamaha TW200 are:

• Front: 130/80x18
• Rear: 180/80x14

Rear rack

Yamaha doesn’t give you any kind of accessory to carry luggage or gear, which is essential if you’re going on long dual sport rides or want to camp with your bike. Adding a PMRACKS top rack (Amazon) is an affordable way to safely carry gear, tools, or spare parts in case you need to do a trail-side repair.

You’ll also want a simple cargo net (Amazon) or high-quality straps to keep your stuff on the rack.

Side racks

For maximum luggage capacity and to complement your top rack, some PMRACKS side racks (Amazon) are a durable way to add motorcycle dry bags (Amazon) without destroying your side panels or getting burnt on the exhaust.

Headlight

Upgrading your TW 200 headlight can make riding at night much safer and more enjoyable. You could upgrade the entire headlight assembly for 200-300 dollars, but just a $20 H4 LED bulb from Amazon is a nice upgrade - especially for how cheap it is!

Skid plate

Are you planning on smashing into logs and rocks while you’re out on adventures? The TW200 is more susceptible to engine and frame damage compared to bigger dual sport bikes because it’s lower to the ground.

So, if you’re worried about breaking down in the middle of nowhere because you might hit or land on a hard object on the trail, adding an aftermarket skid plate (Amazon) is fairly cheap insurance for your dirt bike.

Footpegs for more control

The stock TW 200 foot pegs are fairly small. This makes it harder to feel and control the bike with your feet, which is super important for riding off-road.

Upgrading to some wider and strong IMS SuperStock footpegs (Amazon) isn’t the cheapest mod, but it will give you more confidence while standing without that painful hotspot from the tiny stock pegs.

Or if you want to risk buying a cheaper set of foot pegs (Amazon), just know that they won't be as durable as a quality name brand product or the stock foot pegs.

Seat upgrade

The best upgrade for your backside (toosh) is a Seat Concepts seat for your Yamaha TW200. It's a lot more comfortable, and they also have a “tall” option in case you want a bigger feeling cockpit while sitting on the seat.

Larger fuel capacity

A TW200 is already pretty efficient when it comes to fuel economy, but maybe you want to go on a long dual sport ride without worrying about running out of gas where there’s no gas station. You can get an Acerbis rear aux fuel tank (Amazon) to carry an extra 6 liters of fuel.

It’s easy to strap or bolt onto the rear carrier rack if you have one on your TW200 so that you can ride an extra 50+ miles. This is just one way to carry extra fuel.

Speedo/dash upgrade

The stock speedo and tach gauges are boring, but there are a couple of options for a modern-looking and functioning dashboard. You can either choose the Trail Tech Vapor if you’re on a budget, or there’s the Voyager GPS (Amazon) with some really nice options, especially if you want a GPS to help prevent getting lost with your mates.

Phone mount

Having your phone mounted on the handlebars can be really handy while riding on the street for various reasons. I like to use a quality phone mount (Amazon) for GPS if I’m riding somewhere new or just in case traffic changes and I want to take an alternate route.

12v outlet

Being able to charge your phone or helmet accessories with a 12v outlet (Amazon) is cheap and super helpful so that your batteries don’t die on you while riding. It’s super easy to install - just clamp it onto your bars and then you just have to place the leads on the battery terminals.

Here’s a quick overview of the best upgrades for your TW200:

• Intake/air box mod
• Jetting
• Front forks
• Rear shock
• Gearing
• Exhaust
• Piston
• Camshaft
• Porting
• Tires front
• Rack
• Headlight
• Skid plate
• Footpegs
• Seat
• Larger fuel capacity
• Phone mount
• 12v outlet

The best mod to make you a better rider

You can add all the upgrades you want to your TW200, but if you don’t know how to properly ride it then you’re missing out on more fun, as well as safety so that you don’t crash and get hurt. Just for reading this far, I want to give you my “Basic Techniques Guide” for FREE so that you will ride with more confidence - click here to get started.