Project: Garage Find

[Geodude]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Bring it round to my place and leave it here for a couple of months - I shall give you my unbiased opinion on the quality your work.

I shall happily offer a second unbiased opinion after Sid

[squirrel_hunter]

Well I have had a second opinion on it, Andy from Artdeans. As it was previously his he was very interested to see it so brought it down to him. He quite liked it so let him take the keys for a few minutes. At one point we did wonder if he was coming back, and when he did finally reappear he did admit to considering staying out for longer, and described its affect on him as a rush of blood to a sensitive region. I wouldn't go quite that far personally, but its a cracking riding experience.

Originally Posted by garynortheast

Well now, I have a nice old GSXR400 GK71F (well one and a half of them) sitting here in desperate need of restoration. Should you be interested like......

No. Yes. No. I don't have the room. I could make room. Is it a SP? Stop it.

In all honesty I have something else in mind for the next bike, but that shouldn't stop you, get going with a build thread...

[21QUEST]

Well, like a lot of folks, I've kept an eye on it...well more than an eye but that's a story for another place.

I can't add much more than has already been said but will say "Well done for seeing it to the end and to such a high standard" .

Man of few words here so remind me about 'that drink' if we ever meet and check your PM

Please bring it to Wales. I told a few petrol sniffing two-stroke officionados about it (i.e. Oldies) and they were salivating over the prospect of seeing it. One couldn't stop raving about some original blue and yellow paint scheme or something... whatever. Anyway, they're all interested in seeing it and some cracking rideouts are taking place over the next few weeks starting with a ride on Sunday to the Ponderosa Cafe in North Wales.

[Bibio]

now you have had a few weeks to play and loosen it up how is it feeling?

i do miss 2t's and want another. you probably already know but don't feed them with too much two stroke or they gum up and hole pistons and stay away from castrol r no matter how nice it smells. i always fed mine with red shell 2t and never had a problem

[squirrel_hunter]

Well I am much more used to the bike now. I still haven’t used half of its handling potential; it has way more ability then me. But I’m very much enjoying it.

If I were to review it I would say it’s not really built for town use. It isn’t the smoothest power delivery and there is very little low down the rev range it’s all combined in a small window, but then that’s the beauty of a 2Stroke powervalve. Out on country roads is where this really belongs, buzzing through corners. Being smooth is of great benefit as forward planning and corner speed help to keep the engine in the powerband to save working the gears so much.

Comfort wise it’s not too bad even though it is a physically small machine I don’t feel cramped on it at all. But in the town I do get a little discomfort from the front brake I can only presume this is due to its lack of adequate span adjustment. The mirrors though large do reflect a large portion of my elbows, but I have a feeling that the UK spec mirrors would not be as bad in this respect, though I have no intention of fitting them due to aesthetic reasons.

In the wet the frontend feels fine but now and again there is a little instability felt from the rear. Only a little movement but enough to make me notice. I’ve also spun the rear up in damp to dry conditions, but this puzzled me as to why, I have a feeling it might have been more the road surface then anything bike related. I have also started to change my approach to braking as while the front brake is strong enough there is next to no engine breaking so for about the first time since 2002 I am using the rear brake for something other than just locking the rear wheel for a laugh to give me an extra bit of confidence in stopping as I’m not picking up much feedback from the front brake at the moment.

The next thing to discuss is launching. With so little power down the rev range you need to give it some to get going when playing traffic light GP and I’m still getting used to it. Yes I can pull away from idle gently, but where is the fun in that? My technique is improving I don’t think its so much different from launching other bikes but I think the nature of the engine is showing up my lack of polished technique. But practice is worth it as so far I’ve had one near perfect launch where the needle hovers round the redline as I go up though the gearbox, balancing the throttle and trying to get my weight forward to keep the front wheel down on the tarmac as it is so easy to lift it.

The other thing to remember is starting it. So far first time every time it’s kicked over really easy, but from cold it does need warming up before touching the powerband. It sort of coughs and prevents you from going to high up the revs until the temperature gauge rises above the stop. Also it sort of feels like it has an auto choke almost as when started it will idle about 1000 rpm higher for 20 or so seconds before dropping back unless you blip the throttle. Not sure if this is exactly by design but I do like this little feature.

So far living with it I get about 100 miles to a tank. I’m still trying to find the tank range of the oil. I filled it up and have covered 250 miles so far on that tank. I’m expecting around 300 before oil but we shall see. When I did fill the oil tank I did discover that the oil sender is not the best seal to the tank as it was seeping out. So I have two options here, don’t fill the tank so high or try to seal the sender unit possibly with some instant gasket sealant. But I need to get it back on the work bench and do a fluid change consisting of gearbox oil and coolant to check that everything is right in there, but so far I’ve not felt, seen, or heard anything to concern me. Might also change the spark plugs at the same time to check how the engine is burning, but as with the fluids if something was greatly amiss I think it would have let me know by now. This will also give me the opportunity to put the fairing V piece on and do a couple of little finishing touches if some parts ever arrive from Yamaha.

Overall I’m very happy with how it’s turned out, both from a build perspective and from a riding experience as I’d never ridden a TZR250 before and am enjoying every mile. It’s just a shame that these types of bikes are no longer made as I have a feeling that they are going to be harder and more expensive to get in the coming years.

[Bibio]

launching requires the technique of feathering the clutch to keep it in the powerband, it's a bit like pulsing the brake to emulate ABS until its well into the powerband then just keep it there. you will find that you use the gearbox a loooot more as well as the brakes.

t2's need to be ragged no ifs no buts. town riding i used to pretty much keep it below the PB, no point in doing anything else. get it on an open road and nail the feker.

rear wheel spinning up.. ermm yes they like doing that but that's half the fun.

enjoy it m8

yes i'm jealous but i have plans afoot

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by Bibio

yes i'm jealous but i have plans afoot

A project? Don't forget the thread.

[Bibio]

wont be this year unless i find something very cheep.

Just read through this - very impressed

Glad you are enjoying the little TZR. I have a 95 Aprilia RS250 which I've been restoring on and off over the last couple of years. Its finished mechanically but cosmetically could do with some TLC but I will be leaving that until the winter at the earliest.

These little strokers are great - very different to modern 4 strokes - the RS is a great contrast to my SV even though power to weight ratio for the two bikes is almost identical. That being said no way I could live with one as my only bike - they are simply too impractical/temperamental/expensive to run. Riding the RS, however, has definitely improved my riding in terms of forward planning, smoothness, carrying speed, and most importantly clutch control

Although factory development of these bikes effectively stopped years ago there are still advances being made. For example in RS/RGV land cylinder head and power valve design is still evolving, nikasil cylinder plating is being superseded by ceramic, and modern power valve/ignition controllers allow much more finely tuned set up. If you are thinking of further improvements I would strongly recommend looking at some of the Zeeltronic stuff - use of a Zeeltronic PV controller has given me much improved mid range by removing a big flat spot when the PVs initially open and has made the bike much nicer to ride on the road.

Finally - if you need to get the bike set up on a dyno I can recommend Dynotech Performance near Basingstoke (http://www.dynotechperformance.co.uk) - they actually know what they are doing with 2 strokes and apart from them being busy (which is probably not a bad thing) I've only got good things to say about them.