The Yamaha TDM 850 is definitely an oddball…a well-rounded bike in a US market that seems to prefer hyper-specialization. Sold in the US for only two years (1992-1993), there aren’t very many of these bikes still around, but the TDM definitely has a cult following. Well suited for tall riders, Yamaha designed this bike to enjoy mountain roads and also be capable of handling surrounding fire roads.
With a long travel suspension and an engine derived from the XTZ 750 Super Tenere, the TDM is well suited for light off-road use – think of it as the Japanese predecessor to the Ducati Multistrada. It’s a ‘do-anything’ road bike that’s not going to break the bank or cause you to lose your license.
These bikes were incredibly underrated. It reminds me of my BMW K75 – not excellent at any one particular thing, but it does a lot of things well. It was years ahead of its time, and as we’ve seen plenty of times on this site, that can lead to commercial failure.
This particular example features a few choice extras, particularly the Ohlins shock, Micron exhaust, and brakes from a Yamaha YZ.
Find it here on eBay in Ventura, CA with a BIN of $3,600.