1974 Yamaha TZ750 For Sale - Unrestored, Mint Original

Took some pics of my friend's TZ750. He has a set of new pipes that someone (in NJ?) fabbed up for him. I thought I took a pic but apparently not.

 

And the twin shocks

An old friend of mine (now deceased) bought one of the brand new 700 twin shocks, thinking he was getting a headstart on the competition. But before the season was over it was completely outclassed by the 750 mono shocks. He claimed the major difference was that the twin shock chassis just couldn't handle the power.

He converted it to a street bike, and actually got it licensed in the state of Virginia. But it was a bitch to ride on the street, and it mostly got ridden once a year to get inspected.

 

Was the mono shockers he was losing to sporting C&J frames? The 700A came out in 1974, but Yamaha didn't make a production mono until 1977; C&J built the first monos in 1975. "C&J built 4 of these exclusive and highly desirable TZ750 mono-shock frames for Erv Kanemoto in the 70's; they were ridden by Gary Nixon, Freddie Spencer, and Gary Fischer." There were a few aftermarket companies that converted twin shock to mono shock at the time.

The most common mod to the early twin shockers was to reposition the shocks into a more 'laydown' configuration which changed the shocks from to extremely progressive to more linear dampening. This also helped much of the high-speed wobble, but all stock frame TZ750's suffered from flex; the frames would 'wind-up' when loaded with cornering torsion, and unwind coming out, which had a negative impact on transitioning and hurt corner exit speeds (if the rear tire stayed behind the front!). The stock monos were definitely superior to the stock twin shockers, but still had a bit of a 'bamboo' frame materials feel.

I've raced the C&J's (see my avatar), and they handle much better than any stock frame that hasn't been reinforced or altered. The C&J is steady as a rock, doesn't win-up in the corners, and does not crack. It has been said that any rider with a stock frame that has no cracks is not riding hard enough!

Warren

 

Not sure. I did not know him until late 1979, by which time he had alrady converted it to a street bike. I don't know the exact chronology, but he definitely considered it an expensive mistake.

 

Interesting, because the TZ750's (twin or mono, 700 or 750), were a sure ticket to the podium for any racer capable of extracting the available performance in the 1970s. That is the reason the FIM basically outlawed the big TZ to give others a chance - luckily Yamaha had a similar 500 to take up the gauntlet.

I also have a 1975 CJTZ750 that's been converted to a street-bike with lights, clear AZ title and plate I need to sell - it is suspected to be Gary Nixon's old bike, one of the Kanemoto C&Js from '75. The ultimate street bike? Basically no one gets around you unless you let them.

Warren

 

just cause... sup haha ...