Dance with the red zone

Tom, the Yamaha Toulon salesman, told me that I could try it when I wanted this TDM which has intrigued me for a long time. It must be said that she has a funny face anyway this bike, half trail and half sporty road…

It took me at noon: Tom, the salesman of Yamaha Toulon, told me that I could try it when I wanted this TDM which has intrigued me for a long time. It must be said that it has a funny face anyway this bike: half trail by its general appearance, half sporty road if we look at its tires and its frame (Deltabox), well in short a unique hybrid on the market. The Macadam90s that fit it don’t inspire me more confidence than that but hey we’ll see.

The Twin is on the way, the sound is nice, I switch on the 1st and launch myself into the traffic jams in the city center. The saddle height suits me perfectly, the 2 feet touch the ground, the turning radius is not as small as on my F650GS but it goes well anyway. The handlebars are narrower than I thought and much closer to a classic road than a trail, I will have to adapt.

When leaving Toulon I take the motorway and the twin quickly takes me at prohibited speeds. No big sensations, not a big torque at the bottom, but the efficiency is there. The Ollioules gorges are quickly but carefully crossed: braking does not seem straightforward to me and I prefer to wait for the climb up Castellet to really open up. Each vehicle overtaking is done quietly, just by turning the right handle.

Arrive the 1st hairpin at the bottom of the climb, we will see what it has in the stomach, I open wide. At the 1st corner I am reassured about the braking, it does not have a terrible bite but it brakes. At the exit of the turn I send the sauce and the engine goes up in the turns. What? Already in the red zone? Yes, at Yamaha we think that a twin should not go beyond 8000 rpm apparently. I would be curious if someone explains to me why and this, for at least 2 reasons: my little 650 cc mono is in the red zone at 7,500 rpm, an 850 cc bi should be a tone above, no ? In addition on the SV650 the maximum torque is at 7,400rpm, the maximum power at 9,000rpm and the red zone at … 10,500rpm while the maximum torque of the TDM is at 6,500rpm and its maximum power at 7,500rpm or barely 500rpm before the red zone … Clearly, the power arrives between 6,500 and 7,000tr and we cannot take advantage of the extension of the bi if we want to respect a a little bit the mechanics. Unless Yamaha has really taken too much safety margin and entering the red zone (say up to 8,500 rpm) is no problem on a TDM.

I follow the turns without worries, the acceleration is nice, the braking is efficient, life is good … In a right turn the footrest reminds me to order, showing me that the Mac90 are not so bad as their reputation suggests and this bike is very easy to handle.

Arrived in front of the circuit, U-turn and direction Toulon. I feel like I’m on a bike more and more and I like this bike more and more. On the highway, the 160 is very quickly reached, and we find ourselves shortly after at 190. No problem, the handling remains very good, and the protection is even surprising..

In short, Miss TDM is an excellent bike which I really like. If I can say that I would not change my current mount for other bikes, I am not so sure when talking about the CT … Oh sure I will have to watch the red zone very closely and that I reduce the gearbox output gear by one tooth, just to find a bit of sensations at the bottom, but I think I will have to take a serious look at his case…

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