Yamaha Tzr 150 Cafe Racer Project Completed ( A Story)

[Dutchbike]

Yamaha TZR 150 R cafe racer: project completed.

As some members may remember ( who red my report about my NSR 150 SP engine overhaul) I was thinking about a new “project”: transforming an old Yamaha TZR 150 into a café racer well that “project is finished and here’s the story on it:

It was not long after finishing my NSR 150 SP my hands started itching again ( I like working on bikes almost as much as riding them) And the only bike left in my collection which was in need of some TLC was an old Yamaha TZR 150 R .

First some history on this bike:

I got this bike about 1,5 years and use it as my run-around bike, I bought it from a Thai guy and it was still in a remarkable shape, the guy even still had the owners manual, with remarkable i mean it was still complete with everything working, even both brakes, for some strange reason it was fitted with those tiny rims and tyres which you see a lot on Waves and other underbone bikes, it’s dangerous on those bikes, but on a 150 cc 2 stroke sportbike it’s like having a deathwish. When sorting out the usual things when you buy a older bike from a Thai ( totally worn chain and sprockets, brakepads, clutchplates) I changed the rear rim and tyre for wider ones, left the front rim as it was but replaced the front tyre for a wider one, some “go fast decals” and my run around bike was ready, a bit shabby looking but technical in a good shape.

It was a bit of a smoker, and driving around with it made me feel guilty of causing so much pollution, so i dived one time into that “problem”. This kind of Yamaha bikes are fitted with YCLS ( Yamaha computerised lubrication system) a sort of electric valve, the 2T oil from the oiltank flows first trough this valve before going to the oilpump and inlet. On this TZR the YCLS was not in use and the oil went directly to the oilpump, and inlet, AHHH…. I found the “problem” I checked the electric wires from the valve and they were faulty, sorted that out ( new wires) and went out for a testdrive. I should have been more careful, but i wasn’t and a few km’s from my house it all went wrong, on a empty stretch of road i opened the throttle and while going fanatically through the gears the engine seized ( a stuck piston due to no or very little 2 T oil) at a speed of about 120km !! resulting in a blocking rear wheel. After a few left and right slides which luckily took out some speed I was thrown of the bike and smashed on the asphalt, resulting in some nasty scratches on my knees and elbows and some bruised ribs, remember it was a quick test-drive so i went out in my shorts and t-shirt ( I was wearing a helmet and shoes) Believe me: i learned my lesson from that.

B.T.W still wondering if it would have helped if i would have pulled the clutch in ??? at that moment i just was to surprised, hanging on and seeing my life passing by.

Well back to the TZR, after this accident. The TZR was persona non grata for a while and i stored it away for some months, after the bad memories where faded and a friend of mine was coming to visit and wanted to go out riding together, i decided to give it one more chance, had the cylinder rebored and fitted a new piston, ditched the YCLS and oilpump , and used premix fuel from then on, it had survived the crash quite well and there only was some scratches on the bodywork, a broken clutch lever and bended footpeg before handing it out to that good friend i drove 1000 km’s with it to be sure it was safe enough, and it was, with pre-mix ( a bit of fuss while taking fuel at a station) it’s always sure that the engine gets enough lubrication.( I use Shell Advance VSX 2 T oil and mix it with benzin 91 1:35 gives the best results, not to much smoke and a good color of the sparkplug) My fiend and me had some nice rides and it proved it reliability.

By the time he went home the NSR was finished and the idea was born to do something with the TZR.

A TZR is a bit of a strange looking bike, the fairings are to big for the bike and old fashioned styled, the only nice thing about it is are the double headlights. It shares ( kind of ) the engine of the bigger and much nicer styled TZM ( the TZR engine code is 3RR and the TZM is 4AP) so I guess there are some differences but they both have a 150cc 2 stroke engine with power valve system. Good for about 25 to 35HP ???? and a great acceleration.

Around here ( Buriram province) it looks like that this model is the toughest, because i spot them more then other similar 2 stroke bikes ( NSR’s KRR’s) but all this kind of bikes are disappearing from the roads.

Bringing it back to original state was not an option for me, as i wrote it’s not a nice looking bike and it still should be my runaround bike, I always liked the Café racer style and that was my goal, low budget and do as much of the work myself.

Café racer (the Americans call them Canyon racer??) = loosing as much as possible unnecessary items from a bike giving it a clean naked look, dark paintjob, some chrome details, and a race seat. When you Google café racer in pictures you get loads of different bikes, 1 cylinders, twins, four inlines , 2strokes, i even saw a Honda CBX 6 cylinder café racer. Enough inspiration to be found out there.

I ditched all the bodywork, side panels and with a grinder i cut of all unnecessary brackets from the frame, cut a piece of the seat and accompanied with a few pictures gave it to the local seat shop who made a nice 1 person seat.

A visit to my parts supplier and i had a chrome headlamp, chrome headlight stays and a chrome tail light ( all these parts at ridiculous cheap prices for example a complete chrome headlight 230 thb) After fitting these parts i was satisfied with the look and took the whole bike apart, for cleaning, sanding, and painting. This took most of the time of this project, the engine just needed a good cleaning and some polishing, i went for an all black “classic” look, as i wanted to do it low budget i bought a lot of cans of spray-paint black and clear coat ( the TOA brand is quite good) and painted it all myself, only the tank i brought to a paint shop it had a few dents and that’s not my favourite kind of job, a tank makes the look of a bike.

Another visit to my parts supplier gave me a chrome front rim, spokes and a tyre, chrome mirrors and some small parts ( new brake pads, bleed valves etc etc)

Time to put everything back together, and that went quite fast, a few things i had to modify, from alloy i made some custom parts like a rear brakefluid reservoir holder, a plate for the electrics, and brackets for the meters. I modified a pair of Fino passenger footpegs and they look good. Putting the engine back in, connecting all the wires, bleeding the brakes etc : all went smooth and without any strange things happening.

Fuel in the tank and it started after a few kicks,( it didn’t run for about 3 months)

A test-drive ( all geared up this time) and nothing wrong with it, back home checking the bolts… everything still tightened well. Completed!!!!!

There you have it: for a few thousand baht a homemade café racer with a classic look and you can be sure, no one pulls up next to you at a traffic light with the same bike.

I’m happy with the result, it may not be perfect and it won’t win any prices, but i made it all by myself, the only things what i had done by others are the seat, the spraying of the tank, and having put the spokes in the new front rim.

How does it go?? Well, being a 2 stroke 150 cc it’s got enough go, stock it’s about 118 kg , but with all the ditched, and cut off parts i think it’s under 100kg combined with that engine and a bigger rear sprocket, it’s got a great acceleration, i also have a Honda NSR 150 SP and a Yamaha TZM 150R and this Café TZR feels it can compete on acceleration, Top speed is not important for me on this bike it is just to light for that, I don’t feel the need for trying with that tiny frame.

Took it out for a longer drive and had my first “victory” with it: when driving into town a Thai guy with a tuned up ( by the looks and sound of it) Honda CBR 150 pulled up next to me at a traffic light, when the lights where about to turn green he started revving his engine, ok come on …. He had a head start leaving half a second before the light turned green, I just took of easy, waiting for the engine come into it’s power band ( @7000rpm) by the time i shifted into third gear i overtook him, whooooop 4^th gear and off the throttle ( we where entering town) he passed me at high speed and at the next traffic light, he just kept looking straight, enough, don’t need to prove my point 2 times, there’s no way a more or less stock 150cc 4 stroke can compete with a 150cc 2 stroke, at least in acceleration.

I consider myself a safe and responsible driver, but driving on one of those 2 stroke bikes seem to unleash sometimes some road racer aspirations on me.

I hope some people are inspired to start there own “project” with a Thai made bike it doesn’t has to be expensive, as for these TZR’s you can find parts at almost every parts shop at very cheap prices. Second hand TZR’s can be found starting at around 5000 thb it all depends on what shape there in.

For now I’m done with my “projects” I’m planning on doing some more riding.

I’m sometimes tempted when looking through some adds on the various sites, to do something with a bigger cc, older import bike but the thing what’s keeping me from doing so is the unsure factor about keeping a budget, getting parts,a legal green book etc etc.

For now i’m happy with all my bikes “made in Thailand”

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

Dutchbike.

pics below:

[siam cbr]

Great story, thanks.

[apetley]

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Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect App

Edited June 30, 2012 by apetley

[canuckamuck]

Inspirational

[Spoonman]

Cool ride with a great story, thanks for sharing.

[JimShortz]

I must agree - great story. Thanks for sharing.

[karlos]

Great story and yes 'pulling the clutch' (in most cases) would have stopped the rear wheel from locking

[flying]

Cool! Good Job !!

I also envy the fact it looks like you have a nice place to work on bikes

Congrats

[BSJ]

I am not really a little bike person, but I like to see someone have a go at a resto.

[KRS1]

Nice project, its fun to just get your hands dirty every once in a while to create something. Wish there were more people that would work on bikes in thailand as you do. The majority just beat their chest according to the number of cc's they have.

btw, the cdi between the tzr and tzm are interchangable, the one from Lekcdi revs up smoother than the stock one.

Edited July 2, 2012 by KRS1

[RED21]

Really nice streetfighter/cafe racer resto/mod, I think perhaps wider wheels/tires would make the bike look even better...