What a great review just what I was looking for..I'm trying to decide between a 900 and an 850 with around 2k to spend ...I had a TRX 850 20 years ago and loved it  for the engine but it was so uncomfortable at distance.

thanks

Fantastic explanation, thank you!

Engine has alot of valve noise 🤨

The low speed snatchiness is really easily fixed at no cost. Remove left hand fairing pod, and disconnect the big wiring connector. Locate the brown and black wire, pull from block, tape up with insulating tape and reconnect connector. Done.

The snatchiness is caused by a flap in the airbox which is opened (not gradually) at about 3k rpm by the engine management  module, supposed to cut noise and emissions for testing.

I have a 2003 tdm900 on 68,000 miles. One thing I will add to this review. Change the rear shick for something a bit stiffer which allows you to lift the back end slightly and you also have a reasonably capable track bike.

I've had my TDM900 for 30,000km now and the  one before that for 165,000km so I'm pretty familiar with them and everything you have said is correct but mostly so easily corrected, so to speak.  Both mine had OEM centre stands.  I bought a huge oil syringe for oil changes and niether of them burn (burnt) oil in my usage, so I rarely need to check them.  Changed the original H7 globes for LEDs (brilliant) and I have no trouble getting Bridgestone BT32s or 33s for it, so all good there too.  No the only really annoying thing in my experience has been the daft rear spring adjustment which peeves me greatly every time I need to up or lower the tension, which is anytime I tour... it is so irritating to have to find the appropriate notch on the adjuster collar (usually in the dark it seems) and reef it around without skinning my knuckles on the frame or anything else in sight, which is a lot in that confined space!  It's the one thing I haven't been able to resolve.  Oh, and I removed the rear baffle on the standard pipes which gives it now a beautiful burble on and off throttle and immediately improved low speed fueling to the degree that I no longer feel it isn't almost perfect, nearly, almost...

Thinking about changing my current 650 Vstrom from 2004 for a tdm. Both bikes i liked since i was a teen. Went for the 650 5 years ago when I move in the Netherlands from Greece. Now i am itching for a change. Maybe is it TDM o'clock?

I changed my end cans and fitted baffles into the ends of the link pipes and the snatchy throttle has been eliminated and the bike pulls from 2000Rpm cleanly, so I believe the standard pipes to be too restrictive.the bike lost almost 12 kilos in the swap which allowed me to reduce the rear preload and the handling thanked me.ive got a high flip up screen but extra height in the seat but that turbulence doesn't hit the top of my visor like it did with the standard screen so no issues there. I got rid of the pannier frames and hard panniers , and replaced with lomo waterproof dry bags..the bike is sprightly but my biggest improvement was getting rid of the AWFUL Handlebars , with pullback risers, and much straighter and slightly wider Handlebars ..lovely bike without the jerky throttle! It's a 2005 with 66k miles and runs like a swiss watch! No bike cones from the factory perfect in every way but a few tweaks , and the TDM is my Bike for life.. I'll return to standard when I sell it and swap the parts to a lower mileage  TDM as this has stolen my heart!! Great video and agree with your findings, but all can be simply addressed!

nice review. 👌

Going for my license in a few weeks, definitely looking for a TDM900. Even now I think they are still great looking, not to flashy or mean like a GS.

Thanks for the review!

I think it looks great - specially in black like yours. Looks like the perfect tourer.

I put 10k miles on my 02' 900, brought her up to 42k miles, traded in for a 1 owner from new 32k miles 2007 version. No regrets, best bike ever made.

I got a TDM 850 3vd, it was a good bike, even if fast enough, i wasnt satisfied. It was boring so i switched

I have a 2008 TDM900 with about 45,000 on the clock, I'm a former mechanic,  tdm was snatchy  at low speed,  I fitted a (booster plug ) to it OMG , bike is now transformed,  night and day difference ,
Well it works for my tdm.

Sorry 130 000 km

Got a 2002 tdm with 1300000 km , which I flog occasionally, never misses a beat .

Loved my 850. Tried to kill me twice.

Одличан видео заиста!
Једна од мојих замерки за овај мотор јесу пластике које знају да се одврну и звече као луде.
Иначе мотор за новац који дате за њега пружа много забаве!

I was thinking about one of these. I'm about to sell my XJ600s, which is just too small for me. I'm 6'5" and my knees and ankles are not very happy after about 100-150km. It's got liquid cooled engine, ABS, and much higher seat hight, and looks much nicer then versys 650 from the same year