TZ250 - riding an Icon

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LC Cnd
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TZ250 - riding an Icon

#1 Post by LC Cnd » Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:22 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPmyEFZ_d30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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LC Cnd
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#2 Post by LC Cnd » Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:23 pm

Nice tip of the hat vid.

silverstrom
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#3 Post by silverstrom » Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:00 pm

100kg and 88 bhp. Bloody hell! Comparable to a cruise missile.

LC Cnd
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#4 Post by LC Cnd » Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:23 pm

... and manufactured until 2010. Huh. Love the comment about when 'people mess about' (modify) the bikes, basic ruin them when in fact they are perfect right outta the crate.

Hooligan
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#5 Post by Hooligan » Wed Oct 24, 2018 1:51 am

silverstrom wrote:100kg and 88 bhp. Bloody hell! Comparable to a cruise missile.
Hardly. I used to race a stock SV650 against a pair of TZ's and while they would pass us after a few laps they weren't all that fast. The SV is heavy and only had 73 hp at the rear wheel. Most of the TZ's speed is in the corners.

I had always wanted to ride a TZ because it is a real GP based bike. Closest thing I'd ever come to riding a 500. I got my chance in 2006. Racing friend lent me his TZ for a 10 lap race. Dream come true ..... NOT.

Turned out I absolutely hated it. I'm 6'2" and the TZ is so small I could hardly move on the thing. I couldn't tuck because the screen hit my helmet in the middle of the visor. I was folded up so tight on the thing it was difficult to hang off and the bike is really light so any movement totally upsets it in the corners.

The power band is very narrow, with no power below and no power above. The bike would bog badly under the power band and it felt like it had a hard rev limiter on the top. No over-rev at all, the thing felt like hitting a wall every time I was slow making a shift.

I'm glad I got to ride/race a real GP bike but it was one of those "never meet your heroes" moments for me.
'82 RD350LC in '81 colours, OEM pipes, UNI filters
'85 FZ750

MK
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#6 Post by MK » Wed Oct 24, 2018 7:21 am

Finally someone admits that rideabilty is more valuable than top performance.
Old TZ's without PV suck even more...
Bye
Martin

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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#7 Post by nokturnal » Wed Oct 24, 2018 8:23 am

Hooligan wrote:
silverstrom wrote:100kg and 88 bhp. Bloody hell! Comparable to a cruise missile.
Hardly. I used to race a stock SV650 against a pair of TZ's and while they would pass us after a few laps they weren't all that fast. The SV is heavy and only had 73 hp at the rear wheel. Most of the TZ's speed is in the corners.

I had always wanted to ride a TZ because it is a real GP based bike. Closest thing I'd ever come to riding a 500. I got my chance in 2006. Racing friend lent me his TZ for a 10 lap race. Dream come true ..... NOT.

Turned out I absolutely hated it. I'm 6'2" and the TZ is so small I could hardly move on the thing. I couldn't tuck because the screen hit my helmet in the middle of the visor. I was folded up so tight on the thing it was difficult to hang off and the bike is really light so any movement totally upsets it in the corners.

The power band is very narrow, with no power below and no power above. The bike would bog badly under the power band and it felt like it had a hard rev limiter on the top. No over-rev at all, the thing felt like hitting a wall every time I was slow making a shift.

I'm glad I got to ride/race a real GP bike but it was one of those "never meet your heroes" moments for me.
You ride an SV all the time at the track and then get on a TZ for 10 laps. I am sure it sucked.

These are purpose built race bikes. You have to know how to ride them.

I am sure your size didn't help.

Also... 73hp at the wheel on an SV? That's not stock...
:smt017

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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#8 Post by silverstrom » Wed Oct 24, 2018 12:05 pm

You still have your TZ Dana?

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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#9 Post by Hooligan » Wed Oct 24, 2018 1:29 pm

nokturnal wrote:Also... 73hp at the wheel on an SV? That's not stock...
Yes it was 100% stock. I was racing SV Cup and we had to go up on the dyno all the time. Top 4 finishers were dyno'd at end of every race. The HP limit was 75 at the rear wheel.
'82 RD350LC in '81 colours, OEM pipes, UNI filters
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#10 Post by hondaror » Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:56 am

I loved my TZs, all 3 of them. The 2 tall boys were a handful due to lack of pv. They were like the LC on steroids. The skill riding them was throttle control. I'm proud to say, with all my seat time on them, I never high sided. If you got on the gas before the apex, you were going for a trip, over the high side and landing hard.
The pv lowboy I had seemed much more docile, with a much more linear power curve. It seemed slower, but was, in reality, faster.
Running on slicks is like riding on rails. The body is so stable, and it lets you know when you are in trouble.
They are tiny bikes. I never really had any issues riding them, and I'm 6'4.25". Freddie Spencer, over 6'2" seemed to do ok on the factory Honda 250 as well.
Like Dana said, riding a TZ for the first time, in a race, and for 10 laps, only gives you an idea of how difficult they are to ride. Once you catch on, there is no better feeling than stringing a TZ through a fast lap. It's poetry in motion. Every movement aboard causes a twitch of some kind. You really learn to be one with the bike, smooth too. They definitely are not for everyone.
Something that has not been mentioned, is how difficult they are to launch. 9000 rpm with a huge does of clutch slipping. Very difficult to launch fast...but super fun!
Rory
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1985 RZ350
9 1986-1990 RZ350s
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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#11 Post by OldTZracer » Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:26 am

Comfortable or not, the thing about the TZ was that the average guy could afford one & be competitive. First time out on my original TD3 was a "what was I thinking?" moment but went on to own several more & still have a couple around. As Rory said, they taught you to be smooth as well as the importance of proper jetting, gearing & setup.

In the '70s we regularly saw full grids at Westwood and, unless Stevie Baker showed up, any one of a dozen guys could win that day. At Laguna Seca in 1975, I saw over 120 of them trying to qualify for just 40 spots on the grid. Over the next 3 decades TZ horsepower & prices tripled, grids & purses got smaller.

We are blessed to live in a time of great streetbikes and the SV makes a good racer - but I'd take that late model TZ250 any day...
"...its a 2-stroke ya twit - Its supposed to smoke..."

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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#12 Post by Hooligan » Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:52 am

Did you know Rhys Howard?

I met him years ago. I was painting houses in West Vancouver and was riding my slightly ratty 81 LC to the job site. This youngish guy came out and wanted to talk bikes. Said he had done some racing down in the US but had a bad accident and didn't race anymore. He told me his name and I never forgot it for some reason. Year later I actually wrote a letter to Kevin Cameron to ask about Rhys and got a nice letter back giving me a bunch of info about Rhys. Seemed he had been a very promising 250 racer until he had his accident. I still have the letter from Kevin Cameron somewhere.
'82 RD350LC in '81 colours, OEM pipes, UNI filters
'85 FZ750

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Re: TZ250 - riding an Icon

#13 Post by OldTZracer » Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:00 am

I raced my LC against Rhys (on a Seca 550) at Westwood.
He was a very gifted rider & quickly progressed to the AMA pro ranks in both Superbike & 250GP. During a 250 race at Laguna Seca, he was in the lead & pulling away from the field by a second a lap. Unfortunately he got caught off-line passing a back marker in the very fast old Turn 3 & went down, damaging both kneecaps. Racing can be cruel, as I'm sure he could have taken the 250 title that year.
"...its a 2-stroke ya twit - Its supposed to smoke..."

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