I actually bought this bike back in 1995 from a small race team in Ballinafad, Ontario. I had been racing the R5 for almost 4 years and I wanted a 'real' racebike. The bike was a bit rough but worth what I paid for it. I went over the whole bike as soon as it was unloaded from the truck and made a list of the things I needed to replace right away. Tires, obviously was the first on my list and a new set of 35mm clip-ons. The footpegs and levers were original, and they looked awful, but at least they were still functional. The rear tire, which was an aged slick, had something strange going on. There was about 12mm missing from the left side of the tire like someone shaved off the tire to make clearance for the chain. The forks felt like there was no oil in them whatsoever, and the seat didn't have any padding.

It sat in the showroom for the greater part of the summer at the motorcycle dealership I was currently working for. I was short on both time and money by then, from trying to keep my R5 from eating pistons.
(check the R5 350 page for more on that topic)
I spent one weekend trying to get the bike running, but after pushing it up and down the road for an hour I gave up deciding that there was something definetly wrong. Carbs were OK and I was getting good compression so that left spark. I was right. The components that make up the ignition system were as mismatched as they could be. Correct CDI, early rotor and late windings. There was no way that this ignition was ever going to light up. At this point I thought it prudent to closely inspect the rest of the machine. Engine teardown reveiled a transmission that although it had been apart a number of times, had never been serviced properly. There was at least 6mm of sludge in the bottom of the cases. How that got there in a dry clutch two-stroke transmission I'll never know. But this is where the story takes a break. I put the whole bike into storage, in the sorry state that you see in the pictures.

Fast forward 10 years. Scott MacKenzie and I are in my shop building his RM400 based roadracer, when I mention in passing that I had a 79 TZ250. Scott is stunned and flabergasted that I own such a machine and I'm not racing it. He insisted that I get it back together and race it for the 2006 season.

After digging through dozens of boxes I had all of the parts for the TZ laid out. The motor on the work bench and the chassis on the bike bench.

The forks turn into a new problem after disassembly and cleaning. The previous owner has mixed up the order of assembly and the forks have a 25mm free floating region. Definitly not good if your looking to go fast. I emailed Marzocchi, Italy and Marzocchi, USA, for a manual, guide or even a factory picture but no luck, aparently its too old and its not a bicycle part. A closer look at the spring shows that one end is wound tigher than the other. Using this as a guide, I put the forks together one part at a time and the dead zone is gone. Turns out the fork spring was in upside down. Forks are fixed, now on to the motor.

Its broken and parked in the shed at TIMOTHY@SPEEDDEMONRACING.COM