Probably the worst thing for your confidence, and indeed your ego, when posing on a shiny TDR250, is to drop it in front of a bus full of people on a greasy street. But, yes, after only three weeks of trouble free riding, my pride and joy was laying on its side, bleeding petrol and looking very sorry for itself indeed. To be honest, I felt a bit stupid as well, laying, as I was, a couple of feet behind it.
The bike represented the sum total of all my savings, a couple of loans and a GPz305, and had, up until that point, been showing me what real motorcycling was all about. I got it off a pal who had bought it then discovered he needed the money to set up a business, after just 120 miles of abusing the TDR. I had fallen in love with it the second I saw it and had spent the next five and a half days convincing him that his business was a great idea: In fact, a wonderful idea. In the end, he sold it grudgingly and I was sure I could see his gloating face on the bus as I was helped to my feet by the seemingly ever present old nurse type. After testing my limbs to see if they still worked, I limped over to inspect the bike.
Picking the Yamaha up, I reckoned the damage seemed mostly superficial and was, within minutes, back in my garage trying to work out how to pay for the repairs. In actual fact, the only things that really needed replacing were the front brake lever and indicator. The exhaust, footrests and bar ends were all scraped but not sufficiently bent to merit replacement and were passed over with my magic rust proofing paint brush. It was just as well, because TDR parts are not the cheapest things on the market.
With a front right-hand exhaust and protector coming in at a pretty hefty £242 and brake pedal at £55, I was thanking my lucky stars to be born sufficiently open minded not to let a couple of covered up scrapes dent my enthusiasm. Looking back, that was probably one of the biggest advantages of the TDR, you got the power and looks of a bike without the worry of a full fairing or the necessary cost of comprehensive insurance.
The TDR is a fast bike and can be favourably compared, in terms of speed and acceleration, to almost anything in the 600cc trials/enduro category. Its engine is the same as the race bred twin cylinder two stroke unit installed in the TZR250 and has the same power output of 50hp. I actually found it quite a similar beast to ride despite the trial bike inspired styling.
Maybe that was down to the time I had spent behind the bars of various four strokes, but in direct comparison the TDR certainly didn't lose a great deal in terms of acceleration from its more conventional brother. In all out top speed, however, the TZR takes the honours by a long chalk with the TDR managing only around 110mph flat out. And that was with me almost becoming one with the tank. I have heard that it will do another 15mph given the right conditions and rider, but I wouldn't like to chance it, as in my experience it starts to weave at anything over 100mph. At lower speeds, however, its stability is fine with the original Metzelers performing admirably in anything the weather throws at them, even snow (yes, I am that stupid). Indeed, the TDR feels very solid and trustworthy in most situations, a fact that often encourages over use of the throttle.
The first thing that you notice when getting on a TDR is the ridiculous positioning of the tacho, stuck, or seemingly wedged, into the middle of the tank, it offers absolutely no advantage to any rider sensible enough to wear a full face helmet. Indeed, I found its location bloody dangerous, as looking down to check the revs is almost always accompanied by complete removal of your eyes from the road in front. This actually caused me a few problems, especially during the initial stages but I soon learnt the secret - don't bother with it at all; the engine soon tells you if you are going over the score, as do your underpants!
Like any other frantic two stroke, the engine and exhaust give out a buzzy, and to be honest, rather satisfying high pitched scream. The noise is all part of the fun of riding a TDR but I must admit to sometimes wishing for the cool seduction of the CBR drone or, indeed, the Harley roar (when I'm really depressed).
Another stroker malady is the reputation for smokiness. Starting it up on a cold morning can be rather embarrassing, as it tends to produce a cloud bigger than that hovering over the nearest coal burning power station. The only time it caused me any bother, though, was when I was reproached by some cyclist for damaging the ozone. I apologised and rode off, feeling rather guilty for a minute....that's the thing about the TDR, riding it is such fun you forget about everything else. It's light enough to be weaved in and out of traffic, tall enough for any necessary intimidation and fast enough to see off almost anything it wants (within reason, of course).
The problem of smokiness can apparently be helped by cleaner two stroke oil, Shell Gemini for example. But the frigthening consequences on the wallet of such a move has kept me in the market for the lower grade delights of Duckhams two stroke for the time being. Just as well, for the engine consumes a hell of a lot of oil - I find myself sticking in a litre every 250-300 miles. Fuel economy is also poor, with just under 40mpg around town and long distance work even worse. On a recent jaunt I found myself hitting reserve after about 110 miles on a three gallon tank. That gives the bike an all out range of around 140-150 miles, probably just enough to tour if you should want to.
Other consumables on the bike seem to be equally short-lived. I found myself replacing the back tyre after around 4000 miles and the front around 8000 miles. A figure which I felt was rather on the poor side for a 250. But then again, the TDR's acceleration is quite exceptional for its capacity so I should not really complain.
One thing I would complain about is the front light, an extremely dim output did not inspire much fun during night time riding and I frequently found myself in various ditches after not registering the sharpness of an oncoming bend. The tail light is equally inadequate and adds insult to injury by being very expensive to replace. For such an expensive machine a very poor show. Even the horn is embarrassing. The switchgear, however, is very easy to use, apart from the choke which is hidden down by the engine's left-hand side.
The TDR is classed as an all terrain sports machine in the Yamaha brochure alongside its DT cousins, and it's certainly not difficult to see why. Although it's much more chunky, sitting on the bike is exactly like sitting on any other trials bike with the usual problems. The major one in my case being its height and size as well as the enforced upright riding position. Indeed, this caused me quite a lot of pain until I got used to it. Added to that, the frame mounted fairing really offers no protection from the elements unless you tuck right in, and doing so can be difficult to maintain on long rides. All in all, I wouldn't view the TDR as anything like a long distance bike and would prefer the comfort of a big four on any tour.
The suspension is what you would expect. Telescopic forks and monocross rear end coping well with anything my rather meagre attempts at off road riding threw at it. I don't really think of the bike as a trail bike, the engine's just too peaky. The power valve comes in at around 6500rpm....only a rough estimate as I'm usually too busy hanging on to check the tacho. Keeping the engine above that level will be cause for no disappointmet. The inflexibility and intensity of the engine can sometimes be frustrating, especially when stuck in slow moving traffic with no escape. Don't expect to use the words low down grunt when talking about the TDR, it doesn't have any, or none that I could find. Fortunately, the six speed transmission is the best I've experienced.
Since I bought the bike I have experienced no problems with it whatsoever. The 3000 mile services costs around £45. Older TDRs seem to be somewhat similar in the reliability stakes, although they are not bulletproof by any means....thrashed examples are particularly prone to shot powervalve seals and the tendency amongst owners is to thrash them to death!
Taking everything into account, I have to rate the TDR very highly indeed. Although some people hate it, I love the way it looks. It's a strange but mean looking thing that most definitely turns heads at the lights. It's not as big as most of the high powered, large tanked Paris Dakar replicas, but could probably just about pass for one at a glance. It's really not that kind of machine, though, it's the kind of bike for impressing friends, keeping up with the local hot-rods, throwing around town and just generally enjoying yourself upon. If you're looking for something a little more serious and sedate try a car!
E Gillon
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The owner of the E reg, black and yellow, Yamaha TDR250 was 6'6" tall and nearly as wide. It turned out he was a policeman; god help those who do wrong in Scarborough. After a two hour journey on the back of my mate's CG125 over snow bound back roads I was not in the best of moods. Once he had picked the bike up and carried it out from his front room and placed it neatly on the road, I was ready for my gentle ride around the block.
I was issued a few cautions like, it's a bit fast so go easy and remember that you don't have any insurance. These seemed trvial at the time, so I set off. The bike seemed slow at first and it would not rev properly but this soon disappeared when I adjusted the choke. A pillock in a tin box then pulled out on me, luckily the front disc is similar to the one off an OW01, so slowed me down to a walking speed almost instantly and gave me plenty of time to make the appropriate gesture.
As my mind was still tuned to riding my DT125R and had tipped over into the normal retributive and combative mode, my right wrist suddenly ripped the throttle back to make me overtake the cager. In a 30mph zone this is a definite no-no, the result was a very long lasting and frighteningly high wheelie and a smelly pair of jeans. I'm not sure who was most perplexed and astonished, myself or the open mouthed cagers with whom I almost collided as I tried to master the art of controlling a speeding bike with my body weight. Definitely not a 125. I had a funny feeling that I wouldn't be keeping my licence for very long!
The TDR250 is the act of some mad bugger at the Yamaha bunker who took their state of the art TZR two stroke, watercooled twin motor, emphasizing the already madcap acceleration of the road bike by changing the gearing, presumably persuading the powers that it needed such gearing to suit its dual purpose role, although in reality most of its time will be spent burning everything else off in town.
Naturally, I had to have the bike, so a week later with insurance certificate in my pocket (I was sure the bike would attract police attention) I collected the beast. Every test mentions the way the power suddenly comes in and throws the wheel up in the air, even in the higher gears, this is because it's immediately obvious even to drugged and drunk journos.
My second impression was that it felt much more like a road bike than an off roader. Given that you can get the speedo up to 115mph this is no bad thing. With a set of road tyres, stability (when the front wheel is on the ground) is pretty good and its lowly mass means it can be flicked with supreme ease every which way, although running out of corners when hitting the power band is perhaps not conducive to personal longevity.
If you want more speed than stock a TZR250 rear sprocket will up the top end to around 120mph but at the expense of damping some of that awesome acceleration, although the smaller sprocket improves the terrible fuel consumption slightly and smooths out the engine vibes quite appreciably. Much to their annoyance, the TDR will blow off most Yam 350LCs and the like. As far as tuning the TDR goes there isn't much that hasn't already been done at the factory, no tuned exhausts are available yet, and fitting larger jets and race air filters only make the bike even more unreliable in the wet.
If the engine doesn't like to run cleanly in the wet, the Metzeler Sahara 3 tyres that were fitted weren't very happy either. A set of Avon Gripsters were bunged on, much better, cheaper and look like they might last longer as well.
About a week after getting the bike a despatch company who I work for occasionally rang me up and asked if I could do a drop in Nottingham (I live just outside York) immediately. This was at 11.30am. I agreed and fueled up, although I did forget the two stroke, which turned out to be a big mistake. I collected the package in York, it was a large two by three foot of cardboard with Don't Bend in big red letters. This led to an immediate problem of how to carry such an item on the bike without having to ride slow (less than 70mph). Eventually I decided to ignore the bit about bending and bungeed it to the rear handrails, above the exhausts.
I left York at 12.30 and had to be back at 5.30 to start my shift at a garden centre. I had not been further than Hull, so was not sure of the best route, but set off up the A64 towards Leeds. Then down the A1 and on to the M18 and finally the treacherous M1. That's easier said that done. Guess who went the wrong way down the M18. I nearly ended up in Hull. Then I missed the junction off the M1, I don't think I was ever cut out to be a DR.
After much full throttle riding and general mayhem, 40 miles north of Nottingham the little red light popped on, telling me the thirsty little brute needed yet more money spent. After making a funnel out of a Shell promotion leaflet to reach the acutely angled oil orifice, I poured in a litre of best quality Shell Super 2 at a cost of nearly three quid. I also bunged in £4.85 worth of unleaded, as the beast was only doing about 30mpg.
Off again, arriving in Nottingham half an hour later. Next problem, where the hell was the address. I finally got lucky and was given some understandable directions by a postman. Once I dropped off the battered and singed piece of cardboars, I realised there was no chance of getting back to York in time for work, but the challenge was on anyway. I flagged down a police cop - they ain't all bad, you know - and after some spiel he gave me a high speed escort out of town. Perhaps he thought it best to get rid of me out of his area!
The journey back took just under 90 minutes including two fuel stops and another two stroke refill. I was totally skint and high speed work had proved very knackering, thanks to the vibes, riding position and the hard work needed to keep the bike in its powerband. At least I wasn't stopped by the police, probably because most of the cars were doing 90mph, so the brief excursions up to 110mph didn't really stand out from the crowd of speeding projectiles. The TZR rear sprocket would have been a great help. I was so wound up on my return that I couldn't face the tedium of work, so went to the girl friend's house to recuperate.
Since the despatch run, much fun has been obtained by myself and pillion, as I have become more at ease and confident with the bike. As far as I can see, the only point of this bike is FUN. It seems designed for young hoodlums who want a stomach churning, death defying, tyre slipping wild time of it - coupled, of course, with wild wheelies at every set of traffic lights.
Some thoughts for those who have yet to ride one and thus avoided the addictive nature of the bike. Fuel consumption is bad for a 250 (or a small car for that matter), with a best of about 35mpg and a more normal 30mpg! Throw in its need for a two stroke oil refill on any half decent journey and its tyre churning nature, to make it one of the most expensive bikes to run. Presumably, if you just use it for recreation then it doesn't matter too much.
If the bike is dropped at low speed, up to 25mph, very little damage results - bent indicators and scratched exhaust. This was obviously designed into the bike, given its nature - I know, because I've done it many times already. Other faults include a very short seat, which coupled with high rear footrests gives large pillions a nasty time, although a small girl friend fits in quite nicely.
The worst fault, though, is positioning the rev counter on the tank. The bike accelerates so hard that the time taken to look down at the tank would soon result in a collision, so the bike tends to be over-revved. The engine is basically tough, but will suffer from a combination of prolonged abuse and high mileages. It's also very easy to drop or crash, so secondhand models will need to be approached with more than a modicum of care.
I saw many used examples before I handed over my cash. An early '88 one will set you back about £1300 to £1600, whilst an '89 goes for £1500 to £2100. There are some bargains around, especially over the winter. Obviously, the bike's not to everyone's taste, but I will say don't test ride one unless you thing you can afford to run it. The fun you get out of them seems to obscure more rational analysis of their use.
Andrew Young
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There is something strange about motorcycles. For me they are more like a periodic addiction than a mode of transport. I had several periods in my twenties when I'd sold my bike, even my helmet and jacket, and tried to get this monkey off my shoulder. The last time was in 1990; goodbye motorcycle, hello Mr Mature. My girlfriend and dear mum started to celebrate and congratulated me on my wise decision. But somehow, out of the subliminal depths, the passion always seems to rise again like a phoenix. When I catch myself day-dreaming or find photos of my old bikes I know it's too late. When the urge bites (and don't it bite hard) to put on a bad attitude and get out on two wheels, who can resist?
Anyway, my current bike is a TDR250, bought a year ago with a mere 6000 miles on it. I'd not had a bike for nearly two years but for some reason I can't quite fathom in February I started to dream about scraping pegs on long fast turns; the spine tingling wail of a high revving motor and of weekends spent wielding spanners and changing oil.
I ended up going for this particular bike as I wanted something with reasonable insurance rates but which still had a bit of a kick to it. Also, one of the most enjoyable bikes I ever owned (about ten years ago) was a DT175MX, which even now I wish I hadn't sold. The TDR seemed a bit like a modern equivalent. They are also cheap compared to a sports 250 and have a more open riding position, which makes it feel a lot less cramped than my previous bike, an FZ600.
Because it was February I didn't see the bike in broad daylight when I bought it, but it looked pretty smart in black and yellow, with only a few scratches obvious here and there under the garage light. A short test ride revealed an engine that felt rather like a restricted 125, really bogged down - where were those fifty horses lurking I was starting to wonder. Then the tacho hit 7000rpm. Arrrrghhhhh....Yessss! You've heard it all before! The end of the cul de sac hurtled closer. I jammed on the brakes which fortunately worked very well. We did a passable imitation of a pogo-stick before coming to a stop, turned around and did the whole thing again the other way up the street. Clearly, some fun was to be had here so the old owner obtained an MOT and I gave him a grand for it.
The thing about buying secondhand is, of course, that you always find stuff wrong that you missed before buying the heap. If you can count them on the fingers of both hands you're probably lucky. In this case there were a few more scratches on the fairing than I remembered and a slight dent in one expansion chamber, the petrol tap was broken so it wasn't possible to turn it off, and the horn didn't work - so I was lucky!
The thing about the TDR, which I learnt the hard way, is that although it proudly proclaims 'Ultimate Dual' on the tank, it's no such thing - it's a road bike. The same applies to almost all bikes claiming to be dual purpose, but the interesting thing with the TDR is, at 300lbs, it's not the weight that's the problem. No, it's the lack of low down torque, resulting in the mill failing to make much headway up tracks at low revs. Try to make up for this with a handful of throttle, and what you get is a vicious snarl and instant loss of traction as the power band sends the back wheel into a madly spinning frenzy but, alas, little purposeful forward motion.
Apart from the lack of sympathetic engine characteristics for off-road work, I have doubts about the suitability and durability of the suspension. The fairing/mudguard looks a bit frail to take many knocks and the huge front disc is far too powerful for anything but road use. Lastly, the shocks from tracks rather than the road seemed to shake the rear indicators at the exact frequency to cause them to snap off their mounting brackets. The immediate result being that they dangle by the connecting wires into the back wheel spokes and......pptangggg! Another ten quid down the drain at the breakers.
After a year I've worked out what the machine is. A raucous, viciously powered roadster. Sticking a racy TZR motor into a trail style frame with wire wheels doesn't result in an off-roader. What I have found, however, is a bike that gives that gratifying two stroke kick and wailing power band, without having to contort myself on to a race replica. At over 6 feet tall I feel fine for 150 miles on the TDR, whereas even 60 miles would've had me to starting to wince and wring my aching wrists on my old FZ600.
Long trips are not particularly good fun on the TDR, due to the noise and the need to play tunes on the gearbox when in traffic, which is interesting to start with but then begins to irritate. I have ridden down to London a couple of times (from the Midlands), though. The big problem's fuel consumption. I reckon I get an average of 25-30mpg, which is pretty diabolical, but frankly I don't care that much. Like most people who own a performance two stroke I have no idea what restrained riding does for economy. A refill of the tank's needed every 70 miles - the fuel tap's broken in the reserve position so I don't like it getting too near to empty. Oil works out at about 200mpp. I use synthetic stuff out of faith rather than for any particular benefit but at least I don't have to fret about the powervalves becoming all gummed up.
Actually, once warmed up the TDR isn't that gutless at low rpm, and will pull away even up hills without frying the clutch too much, but it's only in the powerband that things get interesting. Having accepted that there is just no point in off-road excursions on the bike, I fitted Arrowmaxes, which allow impressive angles of lean. It's possible to scrape the pegs in slowish bends, which isn't bad as there's over twelve inches of ground clearance.
Like most performance two stroke 250s, the Yam's able to embarrass much larger capacity bikes and it generally seems to take a 600 to really get away in the country - in town they have no chance. An entertaining aspect of the bike, especially as it's not a common sight and easily mistaken for a 125 learner. It's quite common to have some Honda CX jockey disdainfully pull away at traffic lights, pleased to have put some learner scum in his place, only to have his eardrums perforated two seconds later as the TDR hits the power in second and shrieks past in a gratifying pall of blue smoke.
The TDR will hit the red line in top gear at 10,000rpm, which equates to about 110mph but acceleration is really only brisk up to around 90mph. Higher speeds are difficult to maintain for any time because of the minimal fairing which deflects air straight into my helmet - making it the noisiest bike I've ever ridden at speed, leaving me with ringing ears after a mere hour of excess.
The fairing's also, I believe, responsible for the only flaw in the bike's otherwise good handling. This involves the appearance of a peculiar slight wobble in 60mph plus bends. The wobble feels like the fairing's being hit by a side wind but doesn't stop the TDR going around the bend as the rest of the chassis feels very together. Otherwise, straight line stability is excellent.
On the maintenance front, the motor's a proven unit, identical to the TZR, making for cheap spares, although I imagine the gearbox has different ratios. That also means it's easy to find tuning bits for more power, although these inevitably make the power delivery even more peaky, so I haven't bothered.
There isn't really much regular maintenance. I've changed the gearbox oil once and tension the chain occasionally. The only potential trouble spots are the brakes and powervalve, although I haven't had any trouble. The front brake is half a FZR1000 system, notorious for seizing when covered in grot from wet and salty roads. My solution was not to ride when it's raining! The powervalve seizes but using good oil solves this and fashioning an empty Coke can in front of the engine stops road grit from attacking the valves from the outside.
Overall, the TDR has been a fun and reliable bike which instantly encourages hooligan behaviour. I couldn't say it's practical all-round transport but it pulls stonking wheelies and is great for zapping about on for weekend entertainment, which is what I use it for. I keep thinking about getting a larger capacity sports bike but for kicks per pound sterling the TDR would be hard to beat.
Bruce