The Expansion Chamber Online

Dennis & Steven Turner’s 1979 TZ250 Project

My son, Steve and I had been working on a project at the time. Steve was on the internet looking for parts when he saw a 79 TZ250 for sale. Steve called Stefan Isaccs to see if the TZ was still for sale and it was. So on a Saturday we left for the OakBay area to buy the TZ.

We got to Stefan's house at 9 in the mourning and there was the TZ in the garage. The frame was painted red, the body work was a pale yellow, and it had a bright orange front fender. The bike has not been ran in a couple of years. Overall the bike was in good condition.

Dennis & Steve Turner's '79 TZ250F. This beautifully restored classic won the best '70s custom division at the Moto Carrera/ACTSO Hansen Dam 2-Stroke Extravaganza, held June 25, 2000 in the Los Angeles area.

 The bike had 12 laps around Willow Springs on it after a complete rebuild. The motor was rebuilt by Nick Ienatsch"s tuner, Steve Biganski. The front and rear suspension was rebuilt by Lindermann Engineering. For the stopping Power, it has a Kosmon front rotor and a Lockheed caliper and the rear has a floating rotor.When we got back home, we cleaned the fuel tank and carburetors out and put fresh fuel into the bike. After a few tries of push starting it, the bike fired right up. The TZ sounded really good, so Steve rode the bike up the street and saw it had no problems with the TZ. So it came the time to take the bike apart and give it some tlc.

We wanted to have the bike look like Kenny Roberts TZ. First, we had the frame powder coated black. Next, we polished the swing arm along with brackets and fasteners. The motor was detailed along with the rest of the bike. Here comes the hard part, paint and body work. The upper fairing had been repaired before and it needed it again. Masking and painting the black and white railroad block design was a real pain. We wanted to have the TZ ready for Moto Carrera's annual picnic. We finished the the bike with a week to spare and had a great time at the picnic.

Steve and I have wanted to have and restore one of these great pieces of racing history. I know some riders have never seen one except in magazines. We hope everyone enjoys seeing the bike as much as we had restoring it!

Dennis Turner, Redondo Beach, CA