Sure, it may be decades older than yesterday’s RS250, but the elemental simpicity of this 1980 Yamaha TZ125 and racing heritage visible at a glance, just as it was with that bike. The TZ125 was the successor to the earlier, air-cooled TA125 and was an over-the-counter racebike. Just add talent.
The tiny, liquid-cooled two-stroke put out 30hp, good given the displacement and even better considering the claimed 159lbs it needed to move. If I had one, I’d weigh more than the bike… With a more appropriately-sized jockey at the helm, speeds of nearly 130mph were possible. The rest of the package was pretty exotic as well, with a dry clutch, six-speed gearbox, and disc brakes both front and rear. This particular example even includes twenty-year-old safety-wiring…
From the original eBay listing: 1980 Yamaha TZ125 Road Racer for Sale
Complete with Factory Spares Kit
This pristine example has never been run or raced and is a NOS bike. The bike has been part of a private collection and has been stored in a climate controlled environment its entire life.
The bike comes with unmounted fairing, stand and a crate of factory spares. The factory spares kit itself is impressive.
15 – cylinder gaskets
15 – piston rings
10 – side case gaskets
2 manifolds
14 – main jets (different sizes)
105 – various o-rings, seals & gaskets
10 – clutch friction plates
3 – countershaft sprockets
25 – circlips
6 – rear wheel sprockets
seat cushion
crank assy
2 – cylinders
cylinder head
5 – pistons
Misc other brake pads, throttle cable, bearings, etc.Everything in the crate is NOS.
This is a racing motorcycle that has been sitting many years. It is ready for display, but if you wish to race it, the bike will require a thorough inspection of all systems and critical parts.
Bidding is up to nearly $5,000 with the Buy It Now price set at $10,500. Unlike yesterday’s Honda RS250, this bike includes a comprehensive set of spares, and it sounds like you’ll need it if you plan to get it back on the road.
-tad
Would be interesting to see what the fairing is – from what old racers have shared with me, the US market customer TZs in the 1980s came without a fairing.
The result is many of the early bikes had after market and custom team specific fairings.
Maybe the original purchaser sourced a Euro or Japanese spec fairing.
Either way, its nice time capsule.
Back then and even before that in the 70’s we used Camber Co fairings out of Costa Mesa CA. They built the fairings for Vesco, Hansen and Yamaha and most everyone else. I think today, Kent Richs (Airtech0 has most of their old molds. My last new TZ 250 in 1977 came without a fairing but had a big box of spares $4100.00. What a deal that was.
BTW…this looks like my old bike I sold about a year ago to a collector back east. Great little bikes (Jewelry).
I remember this Yamaha being featured here a few years ago. You know how I remember? That bizarre, thick, colored, factory safety wiring job!
Yep you’re right, it is bizarre . It’s the copper safety wire they used in those days at the Yamaha factory after assembly. All the TZ 125’s, 250’s and 750’s came like that but we didn’t care as that’s the first thing that was removed. We immediately disassembled and checked them before reassembling. Fun days for sure 🙂