Well for the one's that know me in here, and anyone who gives a toss I ended up buying a Spondon framed TZ, which was very good and served me well in my novice hands.

BUT.

I am tired of losing out to bigger power. It has become apparent that the same rule in boxing applies to the race bike, i.e 'a good big 'un always beats a good little 'un. You see 250's are all corner speed. Race a 600/1000 in a straight line and its all over, but get near one in a turn and its a case of inside or outside they are that slow and fat.

This has come up.....



It is running a Japan tuned engine and is laying down 83HP. Fitted with YEC 'Kit' airboxes and reeds this is a highly modded 97 bike. I havent seen any other pre '00 near the spec.

Going to buy it tom evening as long as everything is as it says on the tin. If I do purchase expect a memorial service for #219, you never forget your first TZ

 

Wow 83hp from a 250cc? I like!

 

Spondon has nice fabrication skills, at least judging from some of the one-offs I've seen in the UK bike mags...do u have a bigger pic of the frame? the banana swingarm is not OEM is it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
This has come up.....

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh my God!! IT'S NUDE!!! You lucky dog. Any idea how peaky it'll be with 83hp from 250cc's? Even still, I'm totally jealous!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kengs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Spondon has nice fabrication skills, at least judging from some of the one-offs I've seen in the UK bike mags...do u have a bigger pic of the frame? the banana swingarm is not OEM is it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The yellow one in the shitty pic is the new 96/97 one I am looking at tonight. If I get it then I will post some decent images later on.

Here is the Spondon one that I will have to sell



Its just one of those things. It is really clean, cost me little and has been 100% reliable all season. But the motor is never going to be as quick as a 97 with airboxes. Kit airboxes are $1600 so its just not worth spending the money. If I could I would keep it as it probably the only one left in the country. However the new '97 is kitted and has a spares, just cany say no.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by marmaladeboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Oh my God!! IT'S NUDE!!! You lucky dog. Any idea how peaky it'll be with 83hp from 250cc's? Even still, I'm totally jealous!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hehehe, a mate of mine has a 'kit' '01 TZ250 that is making 87HP! He is going to de-tune it as in the wet its a bastard thing to ride. Hits 10K and then just spins the rear to 13K. In the dry he has bee out of the seat every other race and went right over the top of it and had a good look at the front wheel! He stayed on somehow!!!

I have seen 90HP from the quick boys, then you are talking a weapon. Although you have to be very careful setting it all up. There is an ignition code selector on new bikes. If you mess with it you can change the way the power comes in. But to optimise it you are supposed to change not just the main jet, but needles, slide, and power jet. Bearing in mind that uber trick carbs are $2000 you have to be somewhat serious about your club racing!

It depends how its been tuned. Japan tuned engines can be more peaky than european ones, but I would think that this has been set up properly. Every V twin TZ up to 2000 has nothing below about 6 and you need to be near 8K before the motor will give decent drive. Play time 9K to 11K on depending on the spec. Even the old '92 I had takes 12-13K even if it is past peak.

 

hehe...wait til I get out there next season.

Pics later today.

 

I envy you!!! how much do those bikes go for? man I wish the us brought over those bikes. grey market bikes are expensive unless you find someone unloading one for cheap. I hope one day to own an nsr250. theres one on ebay right now too but no money BTW I envy you!!!!!

 

How much did the yellow TZ end up costing you if you don't mind my asking? 2 strokes are just so sexy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How much did the yellow TZ end up costing you if you don't mind my asking? 2 strokes are just so sexy </TD></TR></TABLE>

The 96/97 TZ was about $5500 or so. Will have pics tom! It is very trick and I am lucky to find one like this. Its much quieter than the old one as it has carbon airboxes on it which cuts it out, tom is play time

 

Sounds good, can't wait for pics.

 

Before the toolbox was opened........

PLastics off

Engine out

This little thing makes all that noise all by itself


Its not bad really.

Needs pistons and crank rebuild. Also we think the barrels need replating as end of the day if you are chucking $1000 at the crank etc it would be foolish to ignore it and have a barrel nip up.

Here it is in a former Championship winning life.....



It will be back there when it is finished

 

Wow, that thing is gorgeous. How much does that motor actually weigh?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
(lots of pictures)
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*BOIINNNNNG*

Schwing!

Hubba hubba...

Dammit man. Now I have to go change my boxers...

to a beautiful bike!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wow, that thing is gorgeous. How much does that motor actually weigh?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The complete bike (dry) weighs 228lbs or so. I picked the motor up and it felt around 50-60 lbs

Best just to say 'light'

Will post pics as it goes back together with the fresh engine and paint....

 

Damn Luke, how the hell do you control a 2-stroke that only weighs 228lbs and make 83 freaking HP? That's insane! It's about the same weight as my dirtbike yet makes twice the power. I can't even imagine the powerband on that thing.

Very nice

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Z &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Damn Luke, how the hell do you control a 2-stroke that only weighs 228lbs and make 83 freaking HP? That's insane! It's about the same weight as my dirtbike yet makes twice the power. I can't even imagine the powerband on that thing.

Very nice </TD></TR></TABLE>

They are really cool to ride. Much better than any road bike, the grip is just unreal. Last time out on the Spondon the front tucked under and it was sliding away. I managed to hold it up on my slider, that is how responsive they are, pussycats!

They do bite if you are on cold tyres or slicks in the damp but you can ket the back go and it feels ok as there is no weight to it. Apart from the odd slide you can lean on them in the corners and know that your best is well within their limits.

Speed wise my old CBR900 in a straight line was quicker. But get to a corner and you have to adjust your senses as you carry at least another 15 mph. Overall I am lapping the same track in the same conditions 2-3 secs faster on the TZ.

I have sold the Blue TZ to a mate whos going to be racing against me next year. It will be interesting to see if my extra HP pays off, or maybe the Spondon handles better than the 97?

 

Nice

 

How does the power hit on that thing? Is it like a dirt bikes powerband? Or is it less violent?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Z &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How does the power hit on that thing? Is it like a dirt bikes powerband? Or is it less violent? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Nothing below about 6K after that its fairly linear. You get another kick at 10K or so. It really is not that bad. You have grip to play with and plenty of feel. Its still 40HP at 5Kand 60 at 7K!!!!

 

frame and swingarm are luvly

what bike is the fork from? or is it stock?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Nothing below about 6K after that its fairly linear. You get another kick at 10K or so. It really is not that bad. You have grip to play with and plenty of feel. Its still 40HP at 5Kand 60 at 7K!!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like way too much fun. I would love to ride a bike like yours.

 

&lt;~~~Jealous

Are you in the UK Luke? Seems like the motorcycle racing scene there is huge. Be sure to keep us posted once you get the motor back together.

 

Update on rebuild.

The bike has lost weight with all the bodywork and engine gone! New crank bits and pieces along with 12 pistons etc, coming in from the US via my lovely g/f

Exhausts were in 'reasonable' shape considering a monkey had been riding the bike recently. Used a piece of armoured electrical cable in a drill to clean the insides of all the carbon. I got about 1/2 cup out of the pair of them which was cool. took the outsdie back to bare metal, then fine sanded before de-greasing, priming and painting. Much better. I cant undserstand why people dont bother cleaning up pipes, tells me alot about a bike just on how good the pipes are.

Next up the carbon cans are in a mess. Unsure if I can salvage the pair yet, pretty pissed off with the extent of the mess underneath the duct tape

Calipers off tom. New seals and pads shoudl take care of them. Have a new master cylinder going on and some Kevlar lines. For some bizzare reason this TZ was running a splitter. The lines are stainless but why add a spliter for fxcks sake, anyway I will bung that into the spares bin.

After looking at the barrels on it they need replating. I also have one spare barrel which is a match for one that is on there. It has been seized and needs welding. All three are off to be replated so that I can make a matched pair again and get the most power I can.

Have a colour scheme sorted and a mate is going to sort it when I get the body to him. You'll have to wait and see.

Elsewhere the wheels are going to be resprayed, new tyres and bearings all round. Forks I am not sure what to do yet. Depends on time. They dont leak so I am tempted to leave them alone. The Quickshit looks pretty trick and I have to figure how to mount it now. There is an GP sensor upgrade for it which replaces the linear switch, but its not cheap, we'll see.

So thats the state of play. So we need all the above, generator, tyre warmers, mixing jugs ...............

more as it happens.

 

Very nice. Very beautiful bike. Good luck next year