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Have been riding the Yamaha TTR125 for a few months now on an acreage posty run and have come to a conclusion about the bike as a posty...it's freakn' awesome!!! It performs the task far better than I ever expected it would, especially as it's a kids trail bike and is not meant to be carting around a great lump (me) and about 20kgs of mail. However seeing as the bike travels over 1,000 kms every 2 weeks, it requires a substantial amount of maintenance - rear tyre every 3-4 week, front tyre every 6 weeks, oil change every 2 weeks, auto clutch plate change every 3 weeks, etc, etc. But it is absolutely worth it when doing an acreage posty run. Will upload some video of the little weapon in action shortly.

Got some pannier racks in from the States to suit the rear rack and bolted some 20Ltr water containers with the top cut off as the panniers. Benefit of these is they are super strong and extremely flexible, added a vinyl lid to keep the mail dry. They work a treat, found out when I clipped a power pole, the plastic pannier just flexed, nothing broken, including me. Front mail bag is also a 20Ltr water container from Super Cheap Auto, cut in half and with the top off, also added a vinyl piece to the front and lid. Also works well as ifs flexible enough to accomodate the odd size mail bundles. This set up works a lot better than the Black plastic box sitting up high on the rack, it gets the weight forward of the axle provides a lower centre of gravity.

Worked out it was cheaper (nearly half the price inclduing postage) to get springs in from the States. Front and rear springs @ 60% increase to accomodate the load of me and the mail. What a difference, however I have lost some wheel travel, about 30mm. 

After delivering mail on the Yamaha Posty for a week, I decided it was time to remove the weight hanging off the flywheel to help the motor 'unwind' quicker so that the centrifugal clutch will be more effective. Before I pulled off the side cover to inspect the flywheel I tried to find a proper Yamaha puller and got a quote for over $300, I kid you not. So I pulled off the cover which revealed a $35 universal puller from Supercheap Auto would do the job with the purchase of an extra bolt. Flywheel off revealed a weight of over half a kilogram, the thing is enormous!

While I had the bike on the stand I pulled the the front and rear springs out and took them to a spring guru in Brisbane for a custom job. Bike needs to hold a big unit 105kgs with about 15kgs of mail, I think my weight and the weight of the mail is about double of what the bike was supposed to hold. Spring guru advused that with the bigger springs to accomodate the load, the suspension may lose some of its original travel due to the increased spring wire size. Will find out soon when they phone me back after they have tested the original spring loads.

More to come soon, Robo 

Have installed the rear rack, which is a great size for posty work. Found a tub with lid whilst a vinyl bag is being custom made and cut down a plastic 20l water container to use as the front mail bag.

First test revealed that this bike is simply brilliant for posty work. The height of the bike is just right for mail deliver, braking is a dream with great control through the front even on slippery grass. The extra power, particularly for big units like me is freakin awesome. For a bike that is undersprunng for the task, it coped very well especially when traversing sloping gutters, I hardly noticed the bumps at all...sweet, comfy suspension, instead of bone jarring of the traditional posty is greatly appreciated.

Had to change the heavy spring on the centrifigual clutch to the light one as my delivery area is mainly 1st and 2nd gear work, which meant I needed the auto clutch to engage quicker than the standard spring. This helped greatly but I think i will also try shaving some weight off the flywheel so the engine can spin down quicker which will allow the clutch to engage earlier. The TTR125L as with others in the kids range have a weighted fly wheel to help reduce stalling for young and inexperienced riders.

More to come soon, Robo