TZ350 and 250 Website Member Profiles Page

This page is a place for members learn a bit about one another and put a face to a name.

Why would you want to join up and become a "Member" of the TZ350 and 250 Website? Well, for a start it's 100% free of any charge what-so-ever. Only members receive emails advising them of updates to the website and other interesting bits of information which come our way from various sources.

So submit a short description of yourself, your bikes, your racing history etc. Email the Webmaster along with a photo or two of you (without a helmet on!) , and providing you "qualify" it will be posted on the following list. To qualify, basically, you need to own or road-race a TZ, TR, TD or TA Yamaha, or a closely related 2 stroke Yamaha racebike (not roadbike). That's it !!

(Your life will be transformed, attractive women will stop you in the street and beg you for your body because you are now famous on the internet, I promise...... ha!! )

photo: Mark Boddy, the epitome of thorough preparation, concentrating, analising. ( Gina Stephan )

In honour of those TZ riders who have died doing what they loved the most, racing their Yamahas, we have now included a section dedicated to them. It is like a "TZ roll of Honour" section.

Rik Wesselius has been kind enough to set up a new Yahoo community for "TZ Heads".

Greg Bennett (The Webmaster) , 50years old, high school teacher (Woodwork/metalwork/construction) from southern NSW, Australia.

Current Bikes: 1979 Yamaha TZ350 F, 1976 Yamaha TZ250 C, 1991 TZ250 B, 2008 WR450F, 1998 TRX850, 1980 Kawasaki KX125 A6.

History: Raced Motocross and Enduro 1980 to 1985, (11 year break from motorcycle competition), did a bit of Jetski racing around 1986 to 1988, just road bikes and casual Enduro 1989 to 1995, 350 and 250 "Forgotten Era" Post Classic Roadracing 1996 to present, "New Era" racing (1989 to 1995 bikes) and also a bit of club level trials. Don't get to ride as often as I wish I could due to the amount of time I spend studying. Enjoy simply owning and fiddling with motorcycles as much as riding them.

Ambitions: To race at Daytona some day. Also to find, restore and race a TZ500 here in Oz. To buy a property (farm) some day.

Richard Nowson is a real TZ enthusiast and has been very helpful to me over the past couple of years answering most of my dumb questions using his extensive technical knowledge. He races regularly in the USA. His enthusiasm for this site almost exceeds my own ! (Thanks a million Richard)

Michel du Maine lives in Assen, ( lucky man) Netherlands . He used to race motocross in the 80's, then switched to off road racing as well as go cart racing in the 90's. For the last 8 years Michel has been into restoring and parade racing old motorcycles, especially 2 stroke Yamahas. He is a member of the Yamaha TZ Club in England, also the CRT-Noord in Holland.

Kerry Wilton is a 39 year old (Kiwi) airline pilot based in Dubai, UAE. He currently owns a TA125, TZ750B, RZV500, BSA 500 single and a Ducati 996. Kerry began racing at the age of 16, on an old Beeza in classic events. He rode his first TZ (a 350 B) in 1981, fell in love with them and has owned and raced various TZ's since.

Alistair Wilton is Kerry's younger brother at a sprightly 35 and works as a type of bank manager. He currently owns a TZ350F Macintosh, a YZ125J roadracer, a TZ750C, an RZ500 and an old Benelli 2C. "Al" enjoys golf, push bikes, and wearing loud fishing shirts to race meetings. He began racing in 1984, breaking an ankle, then moving on to domestic 125 and 250 "Proddy" racing, culminating in taking out the Aukland Club 125 Championship in both 1989 and 1992, in addition to the NZ 125 GP in '92 as well. He retired from racing in 1983, then returned in 1997 on his Macintosh 350, moving on to become President of the NZ Post Classic Road Race register, in the process, he organised two big "Historics" meetings in 2000 and 2001.

(Both Kerry and Al have been an immense help in getting this website to the level it is now, providing ideas, photos, reviews, not to mention encouragement. Thanks guys. )

Mark Boddy, 47, Computer Nerd, Canberra (E-mail: mboddy@spitfire.com.au)

Mark currently owns a 1979 TZ350F, 1980 RD250LC Forgotten Era race bike, 1980 RD350LC Forgotten Era race bike (in bits), 1980 RD370LC for the 500 Forgotten Era class, 1988 TDR250 New Era 1 or 2 racebike, 1986 TZR250 New Era 1 race bike (in bits), 1992 RD350R road bike and (shock, horror) a 1989 FZR1000EXUP New Era 1 race bike.

He has been quite successful in his Post Classic and New Era racing exploits, more often than not winning a class on the day, or at least placing in the top three.

He is currently a member of the Post Classic Racing Association of NSW http://www.postclassicracing.com.au where he is a member of the New Era subcommittee.

Mark considers Phillip Island and Eastern Creek to be his favourite tracks but also really likes Wakefield Park and the Oran Park GP circuit.

His interests include Yamaha 2 stroke twins, photography, Apple Macintosh computers and science fiction.

( Mark has given me quite a few photos over the years. He never expected to see them on the internet!! Some of the photos on this site are his or his wife Gina's work..... thanks guys !!)

"My name is Rik Wesselius and I'm from Amsterdam, Holland. I raced my 1979 TZ350 in Holland, mostly at Assen and some street tracks. It was my very first year in 1992. I never really got anywhere much, I was amongst the slower ones, but the bike was one of the fastest! I got some champion cylinders from Rob Bron, ex-GP racer in the '70's. Anyhow, for 2 more years I raced a Rotax125
I now live in the USA and bought a little RS125R Honda to play with on tracks."

Tony Clarke.

Tony is a police officer and lives in Tokoroa which is in the center of the north Island of New Zealand.

He owns a 1973 TZ350 A model, which is his first race bike ever, and he's had it for 3 years now. He swapped a 1991 GSXR750 for it at his local bike shop ! (How often do you see an old TZ in a shop ?) Tony has recently fitted new Hagon shocks, and re-built the front wheel.

Derek's 32, lives in Yukon territory, Canada.
He's been racing for three years, currently owns a TZ350A and 1994 TZ125. He recently bought a neglected TZ750A as well and has just begun restoring it.

George "Grey Fox" Taylor is 63 and has been active in motorsports since 1948, including boats, cars, moto-cross and roadracing, the latter for 30 years. He currently owns the following bikes: TA125, TD3, two TR3's, 1990 TZ250. He used to own the main race fairing building business in the USA, "Taylor'd Products Inc." until he sold it in 1984. "Airtech" now use all his original moulds. George certainly sounds like no slouch on a bike and won the F250 race at Daytona in 2000 and has come 2nd in the same event 7 times since '92 !!

David Gilbert describes himself as a lifelong motorcycle addict. He says: "At 60 years of age, I'm running a small CNC machine shop making F1 car bits and the occasional reproduction TZ part. I like to build custom and special bikes as well as fix up my old racers. I have the following TZ's:125G, 250G, 350G in a Rob North chassis, 500G, and 750F. All have been restored to "as raced" condition with appropriate period mods and aftermarket parts. I have a few other bikes as well, including a RD/TZ350 which is an RD350 with 1/2 a TZ700 top end. It's a former club racer slowly becoming a street bike. I also have an Australian made Drysdale 1000V8 in the garage.

Ian Munro started racing as a sidecar passenger when he was 16 with Don Newell, then went solo with a Honda CB72 in '63 (road racing). He got a sponsored ride with Karl Berendes in 1969 (125 Bultaco) and was lucky enough to win the Australian TT that year.
Ian had a nasty accident at Surfers Paradise in 71 on a borrowed 250. He came back to classic racing with a BSA, then built the Honda in the photo, a TD3, a Manx Norton, TZ D and E, an RG500 and a TZ750. Ian won Period 3 350cc class at Wannero in 98.(Aust Titles), got 2nd in '99, then 2nd again in '01, also 3rd in Period 4.

Joris van de Wiele lives in Belgium and works as a sales manager for a crane component company in France. A self described "motorcycle freak" since the age of 15, he began racing in 1981 and was quite successful at National level in Belgium until he gave up roadracing at the end of 1982 due to lack of sponsors. He then moved on to Enduro and Moto-cross for a few years and did very well once again.

His current bikes include a TZ350H, TZ250F, a 1986 Honda CR250, and a 2001 model Yamaha R1 open version. Joris hopes to purchase a 500 or 750 in the future.

Joris has been a huge help gathering photos of TZ's from Europe for us to use in the website, thanks mate !!

Russ (Rusty) Bigley lives in the USA and currently owns: TZ 750E, TZ 750F, Spondon alloy framed TZ750 with YZR spec engine and a TZ250K. He races in the WERA Vintage series and says he is ready to go to England and race Forgotten Era !!

He's been racing TZ`s since 78 with an ex Gary Nixon TZ250B and raced AMA F1 in the 80`s and the last Canadian GP at Mosport. Since the exclusion of 2 strokes from Formula USA in 92 he's been doing vintage racing.
Over the years Russ has had several other 250`s a 500G and three 750`s which he won't sell. He locates other 750`s for buyers and offers advice to other TZ750 owners via email: BrontosYAMAHA@yahoo.com He also manufactures chambers, does cylinder porting and sends cylinders out to be replated using the new "Millenium" system . Rusty has custom high capacity radiaters for 250/350 , 750 and pre 96 V twins for sale as well. A very knowledgeable, helpful guy.

Tony Edwards is from Cambridge England and is aged 52.
He works as a Process and Quality engineer in the Aerospace industry.
Tony raced regularly in Britain from 1973 to 1982 with quite a bit of success on Yamaha and Crescent powered machines including 10 years racing in the Isle of Man. He currently owns a TZ 350G. Very much into TZs and a member of the YamahaTZ owners club in the UK. Unfortunately two spinal injuries sustained in the Island and at Snetterton curtailed his racing career but in Tony's own words: "... the moment they introduce a 'Forgotten Era' Manx GP I'm off again !! "

Ferry Brouwer has been into racing since he was 6 years old after his Dad got him interested in it. He's been a big fan of roadracing Yamaha 2 strokes since 1968, and worked as a Yamaha factory mechanic from 1968 to 1973 for such riders as Jarno Saarinen, Phil Read, Chas Mortimer, Tepi Lansivuori, and other riders. Ferry is still living in the Netherlands and in 1982 founded "Arai Helmet Europe BV", for which he is still working as Managing Director. He was the initiator and organiser in 1998 of the highly successful "Assen Centennial TT", bringing together dozens of famous former GP stars to ride their restored racers.
Ferry currently owns: Yamaha's: TZ50, RF302 (replica) 50cc, YZ623C 125cc 1972 , OW15 1973 125, OW15 125 1975, TD1 (ex Richard Tracy), TD1-B, TD1-C, YZ632 250cc 1971, YZ635 250cc 1972, YZ608 350cc 1968, YZ634 350cc 1972, 350-3cyl Katayama machine 1977, 500 3cyl, YZ634A 500cc (354cc) 1972 , 250cc TD2 engined dragster as ridden to several world records by Des Heckle. He also has an Opel Blitz as used by Yamaha Racing Team in 1967 and a Mercedes Benz 608 as used by Yamaha Racing Team in 1973.
Other brands: Bultaco 350, 350 Walter CZ 1954, 1 pcs RTM 250 twin, RTM 350 4 cyl, Norton 750 Domiracer.

(Note all of the "Other brand" bikes except for the 350-4 are for sale.)

Ferry has been very helpful with the information contained in this website as well. Thanks mate.

Andy Abrams is aged 52 and is a sales and purchasing manager for import company . He started racing in his early 20's on a Tiger Cub, Greeves Silverstone and then TD2, TD2B and Aermacchi 402, racing at most UK short circuits and competing in the Manx GP on his ex Vic Sousan TD2B in '73 and '74. Andy's current race bikes include a TR2B, TZ250G, TZ250A, Aermacchi 250 short stroke, Motobi 125, 3
Motobi 250's, Motobi 80, and he also has 16 Italian road bikes both old and new.
Andy enjoys taking part in events like the Moto Giro d'Italia, Montlerey Coupes Moto Legendes, Classic Bike sprints, track days etc. and still has the urge to race but says he can't fit everything in due to the fact he is also a keen yachtsman, scuba diver and lover of blues music !!

Adrian Godden began racing in October 1972 on a TDIC at Brands Hatch, finishing 4th. He then went on to a TD3, TZ350A, 250 & 350C, winning a number of UK Club Championships and breaking a few lap records in the process. In fact he still holds the 250 lap record at Brands along with Rob Scivyer. Adrian says he "did the Jaarno fingers" when beating Chatterton, Tux' but especially Ago at Brands. His 350 streamed past Katayama's 350 at Brands in '76.....("the engine had a short life but went like nasal moisture".)
Adrian says he owes a lot to his friends in NZ - Dave Ogden, Mark & Paul Pav for big help and
rides he had in 3 & 6 Hour races. He's really looking forward to riding there again in Feb 2003 but will have to miss the Classic GP in UK

Dario Pristosek lives in Zagreb, Croatia and rides a TZ250F. He's been racing these old bikes for just 2 years and actually won the Croatian Classic Championship last year (2002). He intends to contest the Alpe Adria Championship this year (2003).

Yamaha TD3, Yamaha TR3, TZ 250D (for sale), TZ250G, TZ350F & 3 cylinder Yamaha Special 530cc which is used to compete against Unlimited machines.

Andre Venter is a 40 year old Aircraft Radiotrician at South African Airways.
He started racing motards in 1984 at a place called Zwartkops near Pretoria South Africa and went from that to RD350's (first an 1972 "a" model, then an LC at Kyalami when it still had a huge long straight!). Andre then bought a TZ250N for a couple of meetings then progressed to a TZ250 A. He did two seasons on the A model until the class for 250's in South Africa fell apart and the only National class was fourstrokes.
Andre also owns an NRS250, 2 x RS125's (his 15 year old son races them), an aircooled RD350A (1972) ,a 500cc Yamaha supermono, 2 x 50cc TZRR Yamahas ( son again) and a PW50 pitbike!
Andre is still a big fan of old 2 stroke Yamaha roadracers.

Scott Hulme Lives in Victoria, Australia and describes his age as "well over 21" !
He raced speedway for many years ( "not bikes because you can fall off them" ) then 100cc karts for a few years, and more recently raced a 125cc super-kart. Scott owns a TZ350 D with F spec engine, a TA125, and an 80cc Yamaha GP bike with non factory privately built frame.
He says he has unfortunately never raced bikes but intends to rectify that with the old Yamahas he now owns.
Scott rides a Triumph T-Bird and a Yamaha V-Star cruiser on the road, and says it's wonderful to be
retired and having fun.

Sus Van de Walle is from Belgium and has raced 125cc Ducatis in the late 60's and was national karting champion of Belgium in 1970. He has been a mechanic for several famous riders from the late 70's right through to the mid 90's including P.Ramon, S. Mertens, J. Hatamini, S. Buckmaster, A Stroud, S.Emmet among others.

Sus currently owns a TZ350 F and TZ250 C.

Jamie Linxwiler is 57, and has raced motorcycles for nearly 40 years. He lives in Alaska. Currently Jamie races in AHRMA roadracing, dirt track, and motocross around the country, and in modern motocross (YZ 250) and roadraces (R-1) in Alaska. He owns about a dozen bikes, including a TR3 replica RD 350
now with a 72 hp Harry Barlow 400 engine ("it's a missile!"). Jamie usually races at the AHRMA races at Daytona, and on the West Coast. The picture is at Barber in Alabama, with Gil Vaillancourt of Works Performance, and Kiwi
Ken McIntosh. ("who's that fat guy in Jamie's leathers?").

Coeno van Houten is 33 and lives within 10km of Assen in the Netherlands. He has been into old race bikes since he was very young when his father would take him to see the many road circuit races around Holland. He bought his first racebike at the age of 18 and has developed his hobby since then, now owning a TZ350B, Bakker TZ380, Spondon TZ350 F/G, AS1 and AS3 homebuilt racing bike. For road use he rides two Yamaha RD500LC's. One is complete original and the other is going to be rebuilt like an early GP500 bike (gull swingarm, UPSD forks, etc.)

Coeno is on the board of the Dutch RD/TZ Club and works as a Marshall at Assen on occasion. He also helped found the Yamaha Two Stroke Club in Holland which is now the largest club of it’s type in Europe with over 350 members! He also runs an excellent bike website at: www.rd350.nl . Check it out !

Ivan Bowman lives in Ballymena in Northern Ireland. He raced in the late 70s and 80s along side the late great Joey Dunlop. Ivan still owns the TR2B and TZ 350 A he raced back then.