TZ250 in MW Sportsman

[motomadness]

BK,
Don't have many details to share right now.  The motor is stock.  Have plenty of extra bites to change internal gearing.  No kit parts/sealed airbox.  Everything look like it's in the right place.  This weekend I hope to get into it.  Know of any good stuff I can do with it?

[tzracer]

For now I would leave it as is. TZs are much easier to mess up than improve. I have raced against that bike many times, it is plenty fast for a beginner TZ rider.

I would set it up at the stock settings, get to know the bike, then try some things. As one tuner told me, give your bike what it wants, not all TZs want the same thing. Example, just because one person runs staggered jetting doesn't mean they all need staggered jetting (even if they are the same model year).

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[TZDeSioux]

Sean..
well the good thing about your bike is that you don't have to worry about the freaking battery all the time since you don't have a fuel pump to power. I'm sure he's got a ton of notes for all the local tracks so you should pretty much be set to ride it without wasting much time finding a good baseline of any sort. Did the 95 come with the 5 spoke marchesinis or did it come with the 3 spoke deals? Your bike will be alot like Paul's stock 96 so you'll be able to use him as a reference on how well your bike pulls down the front straight or out of corners etc... Just take care of your consumable parts so there's no avoidable headaches during your first year on the bike. Let me know if you need help with anything.

[tzracer]

The 95s came with the 3 spoke aluminum wheels. ISTR that 96 was the first year of magnesium wheels. Magnesium wheels are nice, but they need to be x-rayed to check their condition.

Cornering speed is the key to a 250. I have seen riders on relatively slow bikes do well because they did not slow down as much as other riders. So don't get all caught up in trying to make the most power.

When I bought mine, I purchased it new. The first thing I did was send the engine out to get set up. It was not really modified much from stock (mostly cleaned up). The cylinders came marked for the correct base gasket and all the heads were set up to work an any cylinder. The carbs were cleaned up and I recieved jetting and timing information. I have never had to fool around much with the engine, I have won races, regional championships and finished 2nd at the ROC (1994). The company I sent it to no longer exists (RossBaron) but the owner of Swedetech (Reine) worked at RossBaron and is capable of doing similar work.

If you want more detailed info on the maintenance I do, let me know. Also set up sheets and notes are very important. Note that Doc tended to jet on the rich side.

[TZDeSioux]

Brian..
so you must have raced with Jeff Voss and Ken Kono back in the days eh? Did you race much last year? Don't recall seeing any other TZ's out there besides the guys I know.

When I get my bike.. the first thing I'll do is send out the forks to get revalved and have correct rate spring on the rear. I'll also split the cases and clean it up and match the cylinders to the cases. Other than that.. I'm going to leave it alone. Probably advance the timing a few and play with the squish to set it up for VP C12.

[tzracer]

Crashed my RC51 early in the year. A concussion kept me off my bike for 2 months. Rode the TZ at 2 Blackhawk races. Got my TZ (started life as a 93) in 1994. Been debating about getting a new(er) one. For club racing I am not really thrilled with pressurized airboxes. My wife says my current air boxes are enough of a pain to work with, wouldn't want to piss her off too much. Then I would have to work on the bike at the track.

Check the carbs, they may be better today, the ones that came on the 93 were modified (by Yamaha) to use a differnt slide. An aluminum plug was inserted where the slide goes so a smaller slide would fit. It matched very poorly to the carb bore. So in cleaning it up, the carb bores were smoothed their entire length.

Your approach sounds like the correct way to go. My cases have grinding marks from cleaning up casting marks. The reed cages were cleaned up as was the inside of the rubber intakes.

I plan on racing my TZ at the warmer Blackhawk events and RA. Stop by the Learning Curves pit area.

[motomadness]

Thanks for all of the assistance guys, but it is only accomplishing one thing.  It's making my DAMN racing agony grow.  Why can't it be April already.

Thanks again.

[TZDeSioux]

Thanks for all of the assistance guys, but it is only accomplishing one thing.  It's making my DAMN racing agony grow.  Why can't it be April already.

Thanks again.

Rebuild your motor while waiting for April to roll around.  :P

[motomadness]

Wanna help me do it?  Especially since you will probably helping me wrench on it throughout the season anyway.

Let's start on Saturdays after the banquet.  Although I barely want to touch it until I get it on the track.

[TZDeSioux]

Wanna help me do it?  Especially since you will probably helping me wrench on it throughout the season anyway.

Let's start on Saturdays after the banquet.  Although I barely want to touch it until I get it on the track.

Do you have new top ends and a new crank? Did he tell you exactly how many miles are on the crank? Make sure you have new oil seals for the crank. The dry magneto side and the wet primary side. A leaky crankcase is a sure way to seize it.

[motomadness]

I don't have a new crank.  Doc thinks I can get an entire season off of the crank that's installed in the motor.  The spare crank (an RS rebuild) supposedly has good life still left on it.

We can take it apart, but from what Doc says, it's ready to run.

[TZDeSioux]

I don't have a new crank.  Doc thinks I can get an entire season off of the crank that's installed in the motor.  The spare crank (an RS rebuild) supposedly has good life still left on it.

We can take it apart, but from what Doc says, it's ready to run.

you can always measure the runouts on the crank but what fails on the crank are bearings.. they only last so long. If I was you.. I'd get one of them completely rebuilt and trued and run it all year. Just remember.. when a crank goes... it has a tendancy to tear up the cases which cost $1,700 if you can even find one. Do yourself a favor and take the motor apart and atleast clean and rebuild it.