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Most of you already know about my recent TZR250 acquisition and most of you have been clamoring for a dedicated thread to discuss this particular motorcycle. Although I will kick off this thread with a post about my bike, I am inviting other Teezer riders to chyme in as well. I am sure there are a few more on Xbhp.
When I first heard about the RD350 it was sometime in 2007 and I wasn't too keen on finding one for myself. I didn't know about the bike's performance and after a Hayabusa, 27 bhp didn't sound like a lot to me. I meandered through a couple of Royal Enfield products and when I bought the 500LB, I got in touch with Venu (Enginehacker) and Raju (Rajkumar11) to see what kind of modifications were possible. As luck would have it, Raju lived less than 2 kms away from my home in Chennai so I decided to meet up with him. Since then - I've been on this rollercoaster of 2 stroke madness that just refuses to end, keeps getting better and gives me more thrills than a room full of D-cups!
Raju and I made plans for the 500LB and all I had to do was get it to Chennai. During our discussion I kept bringing up the "crap" handling that the 500 offered and we soon figured out that I didn't just want more power...I wanted less weight and a chassis that would do what the rider asked of it and not the other way around. Raju made a passing comment that I'd be better off with an RD350 and the words he used were "It won't even look at your weight...". I am big and fat and at 120 kilos...I am every "A la carte" restaurant's dream...and every buffet's nightmare
It took a lot of convincing from Raju for me to decide to go with the RD350 plan and we kept our eyes open for a suitable project bike. Raju wanted to pick up a bike for 30k inr and then go to work on it. We finally found a bike in superb condition in Coimbatore...and this owner wanted quite a bit more money than 30k. We debated on this for a while before I decided to go for it and about a month later, I had my RD350.
Since then I've used the bike as a daily commuter, stripped it bare and rebuilt it in my bedroom, PWNED P220 and R15 riders on the highway and even today I take it to work whenever possible. The RD350 has been the most trouble-free motorcycle I have ever owned and it thrills me with it's performance and the GP bike sound-track. I love it...so much that I couldn't imagine any other bike coming into my life and shaking the established order.
The shake-up happened when Raju showed me a picture of a Reverse Cylinder TZR250 belonging to his friend. This image was burned into my mind and since then I've wanted one...just based on how the bike looked. I wasn't too serious about it and every once in a while I'd ring Raju to ask him if he'd heard of any bike on the market. Somewhere around this time in 2008 I got into the Yamaha MT01 loop and Akhil (rossiter) knows more about this than anybody else. It was a painful experience to realize that despite earning more than 1 Lakh per month...a big-bike is still a distant dream for me. I couldn't bring myself to take the risk of a big financial commitment with large monthly EMIs. I still harbor this dream that one day I'll ride "Thor" to all corners of India and maybe it will come true some day.
So with no new bikes on the horizon I was getting bored and fed-up with the handling of the 500LB so I got rid of it and bought a HH Karizma...the one bike I had sworn to NEVER buy. Straight out of the showroom with around 300kms on the clock - I woke up one saturday morning...decided that I was bored...and within 10 minutes packed a small bag with water and biscuits and took off from Mumbai to Chennai at noon. Thus began my longest ride in India in which I covered 1350 kms in 20 hours of which 14 hours were spent in the heaviest rain I'd ever experienced in my life. The Karizma has seen me through several track-days and matched the RD350 for reliability with added comfort over long distances.
So I ended up with an RD350 and Karizma in Mumbai...and an RX135.5 and Enfield 350 bullet in Chennai. My garage reached a state of equilibrium and everything was hunky dory.
Until early March '09 when Raju called me to give me the most exciting news I'd ever heard in these recession ridden times!! "Guru...there is a TZR250 here with me. I am rebuilding it..." and at no point did he give me the option to "own" it myself. I harbored half a hope that this bike would become mine...and continued to work with Raju to get parts to rebuild the bike from Singapore, US and UK. His original plan was to use the TZR rolling chassis after discarding the engine to hold a Karizma engine for his race bike. He decided to just start the bike and see what it would do and the engine surprised him...it was noiseless (no unusual noises or signs of wear) and the compression was strong. Thats when he decided to do a restoration and save the bike rather than go with his original plan...this worked out great for me as you know by now
Mid-March and still no word that I'd get to keep the bike but work continued. Then one day I got a call from Raju and he said "Do you want the bike? There are a few other people who are also interested but since you've put in some effort to help me out - I thought I'll offer it to you first".
No prizes for guessing what I told him...I was trembling...adrenaline, excitement, happiness and also fear. Fear because I had a pretty good idea how my mum and dad would react to the news (they actually took it quite well and have been very supportive...must be because they know how hard hit I was by the MT01 saga).
So there you have it - The TZR250 1KT was mine and Raju sent me some pictures (which you can find here: CLICK ).
Work pending when I saw it:
- Needed a YPVS motor and controller - got these from singapore
- Needed a new brake lever - also singapore
- Chain guard - singapore
- Clutch plates - singapore
- YPVS cover - singapore
- Front and Rear brake pads - Singapore
- needed a new fuse box
- Gas tank was rusted...needs work
- Bike needs an overall cleanup, lube-up and general service
- Fairings - not yet figured out
- Instrument panel - Ordered from singapore
- Gear shifter rod - singapore
- need to figure out a better air filter (I have k&n pods)
So yes...plenty of work to be done and work has been going on steadily as the parts come in. The gas tank is proving to be a big show-stopper so Raju very kindly offered to build me a replica tank out of Aluminum. This will be lighter and more resistant to corrosion than an MS tank. It is very expensive to get the OEM tanks shipped to India but this is also something I am considering because it may take time to fabricate the aluminum replacement.
I am waiting for MRF to give me their newest product (not yet available for public consumption) and Raju was raving about these tires after doing a test at the MMSC track. Once the fresh rubber is on the bike...it will handle the way it was meant to.
As thing stands right now I expect to be on the track on the 14th or 16th (depending on Raju's convenience) and we will work on jetting the bike right and putting a few miles on it to test for anything else that will need work / replacement.
I will post more pictures and updates once I get the bike through all 6 gears. I only had a VERY brief ride on it after several days of hard work to get the bike ready on my last trip. It was still not ready and I was running it off fuel from a fuel bottle. All I can say is - this bike is quite scary when it hits the powerband...READY to wheelie unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing and once it is in the powerband it goes like Michael Phelps after a Bong session!!
It is quick...seriously quick. Close to 50bhp and a top speed of 185kmph. It was lifting the front wheel in 3rd gear in the powerband and the sudden rush forwards is really quite...sudden. If you aren't careful you'll become a rear-end ornament on the vehicle in front of you before you know it. This is finally a bike that will allow me to keep up with Rossiter on his R1 (which he claims he rides at or below 120kmph most of the time...in which case he needs to check if his balls are still attached ).
In case there aren't any other TZRs around - I promise to show you my bike if you are in Chennai / Mumbai (and Maharashtra). It really is a marvel of engineering from the past...
I wonder why our manufacturers cannot even come close despite all the new technology available to them these days...
When I first heard about the RD350 it was sometime in 2007 and I wasn't too keen on finding one for myself. I didn't know about the bike's performance and after a Hayabusa, 27 bhp didn't sound like a lot to me. I meandered through a couple of Royal Enfield products and when I bought the 500LB, I got in touch with Venu (Enginehacker) and Raju (Rajkumar11) to see what kind of modifications were possible. As luck would have it, Raju lived less than 2 kms away from my home in Chennai so I decided to meet up with him. Since then - I've been on this rollercoaster of 2 stroke madness that just refuses to end, keeps getting better and gives me more thrills than a room full of D-cups!
Raju and I made plans for the 500LB and all I had to do was get it to Chennai. During our discussion I kept bringing up the "crap" handling that the 500 offered and we soon figured out that I didn't just want more power...I wanted less weight and a chassis that would do what the rider asked of it and not the other way around. Raju made a passing comment that I'd be better off with an RD350 and the words he used were "It won't even look at your weight...". I am big and fat and at 120 kilos...I am every "A la carte" restaurant's dream...and every buffet's nightmare
It took a lot of convincing from Raju for me to decide to go with the RD350 plan and we kept our eyes open for a suitable project bike. Raju wanted to pick up a bike for 30k inr and then go to work on it. We finally found a bike in superb condition in Coimbatore...and this owner wanted quite a bit more money than 30k. We debated on this for a while before I decided to go for it and about a month later, I had my RD350.
Since then I've used the bike as a daily commuter, stripped it bare and rebuilt it in my bedroom, PWNED P220 and R15 riders on the highway and even today I take it to work whenever possible. The RD350 has been the most trouble-free motorcycle I have ever owned and it thrills me with it's performance and the GP bike sound-track. I love it...so much that I couldn't imagine any other bike coming into my life and shaking the established order.
The shake-up happened when Raju showed me a picture of a Reverse Cylinder TZR250 belonging to his friend. This image was burned into my mind and since then I've wanted one...just based on how the bike looked. I wasn't too serious about it and every once in a while I'd ring Raju to ask him if he'd heard of any bike on the market. Somewhere around this time in 2008 I got into the Yamaha MT01 loop and Akhil (rossiter) knows more about this than anybody else. It was a painful experience to realize that despite earning more than 1 Lakh per month...a big-bike is still a distant dream for me. I couldn't bring myself to take the risk of a big financial commitment with large monthly EMIs. I still harbor this dream that one day I'll ride "Thor" to all corners of India and maybe it will come true some day.
So with no new bikes on the horizon I was getting bored and fed-up with the handling of the 500LB so I got rid of it and bought a HH Karizma...the one bike I had sworn to NEVER buy. Straight out of the showroom with around 300kms on the clock - I woke up one saturday morning...decided that I was bored...and within 10 minutes packed a small bag with water and biscuits and took off from Mumbai to Chennai at noon. Thus began my longest ride in India in which I covered 1350 kms in 20 hours of which 14 hours were spent in the heaviest rain I'd ever experienced in my life. The Karizma has seen me through several track-days and matched the RD350 for reliability with added comfort over long distances.
So I ended up with an RD350 and Karizma in Mumbai...and an RX135.5 and Enfield 350 bullet in Chennai. My garage reached a state of equilibrium and everything was hunky dory.
Until early March '09 when Raju called me to give me the most exciting news I'd ever heard in these recession ridden times!! "Guru...there is a TZR250 here with me. I am rebuilding it..." and at no point did he give me the option to "own" it myself. I harbored half a hope that this bike would become mine...and continued to work with Raju to get parts to rebuild the bike from Singapore, US and UK. His original plan was to use the TZR rolling chassis after discarding the engine to hold a Karizma engine for his race bike. He decided to just start the bike and see what it would do and the engine surprised him...it was noiseless (no unusual noises or signs of wear) and the compression was strong. Thats when he decided to do a restoration and save the bike rather than go with his original plan...this worked out great for me as you know by now
Mid-March and still no word that I'd get to keep the bike but work continued. Then one day I got a call from Raju and he said "Do you want the bike? There are a few other people who are also interested but since you've put in some effort to help me out - I thought I'll offer it to you first".
No prizes for guessing what I told him...I was trembling...adrenaline, excitement, happiness and also fear. Fear because I had a pretty good idea how my mum and dad would react to the news (they actually took it quite well and have been very supportive...must be because they know how hard hit I was by the MT01 saga).
So there you have it - The TZR250 1KT was mine and Raju sent me some pictures (which you can find here: CLICK ).
Work pending when I saw it:
- Needed a YPVS motor and controller - got these from singapore
- Needed a new brake lever - also singapore
- Chain guard - singapore
- Clutch plates - singapore
- YPVS cover - singapore
- Front and Rear brake pads - Singapore
- needed a new fuse box
- Gas tank was rusted...needs work
- Bike needs an overall cleanup, lube-up and general service
- Fairings - not yet figured out
- Instrument panel - Ordered from singapore
- Gear shifter rod - singapore
- need to figure out a better air filter (I have k&n pods)
So yes...plenty of work to be done and work has been going on steadily as the parts come in. The gas tank is proving to be a big show-stopper so Raju very kindly offered to build me a replica tank out of Aluminum. This will be lighter and more resistant to corrosion than an MS tank. It is very expensive to get the OEM tanks shipped to India but this is also something I am considering because it may take time to fabricate the aluminum replacement.
I am waiting for MRF to give me their newest product (not yet available for public consumption) and Raju was raving about these tires after doing a test at the MMSC track. Once the fresh rubber is on the bike...it will handle the way it was meant to.
As thing stands right now I expect to be on the track on the 14th or 16th (depending on Raju's convenience) and we will work on jetting the bike right and putting a few miles on it to test for anything else that will need work / replacement.
I will post more pictures and updates once I get the bike through all 6 gears. I only had a VERY brief ride on it after several days of hard work to get the bike ready on my last trip. It was still not ready and I was running it off fuel from a fuel bottle. All I can say is - this bike is quite scary when it hits the powerband...READY to wheelie unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing and once it is in the powerband it goes like Michael Phelps after a Bong session!!
It is quick...seriously quick. Close to 50bhp and a top speed of 185kmph. It was lifting the front wheel in 3rd gear in the powerband and the sudden rush forwards is really quite...sudden. If you aren't careful you'll become a rear-end ornament on the vehicle in front of you before you know it. This is finally a bike that will allow me to keep up with Rossiter on his R1 (which he claims he rides at or below 120kmph most of the time...in which case he needs to check if his balls are still attached
). In case there aren't any other TZRs around - I promise to show you my bike if you are in Chennai / Mumbai (and Maharashtra). It really is a marvel of engineering from the past...
I wonder why our manufacturers cannot even come close despite all the new technology available to them these days...
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