1976 Yamaha TZ750C

Engine no. 409-200409

· Stephen Wright restoration to original specification
· One of approximately 600 built, 1974-79
· Last year of the twin-shock TZ750s

Fearsomely fast, the TZ provided privateers the world over with the means to compete against factory teams. Packed grids of near-identical bikes made for close racing, and no one who witnessed these demanding machines being wrestled around U.K. short circuits, the Isle of Man TT course, or Daytona Speedway's bumpy banking will ever forget the sight.

In fact, very few components were shared between the 350 and 750, though the smaller bike's 64 x 54mm bore/stroke dimensions were retained, giving that first-year 1974 TZ750A an actual capacity of 695cc. Reed-valve induction was employed to broaden what otherwise would have been an unacceptably peaky power-band. A steel, twin-shock frame reminiscent of the Rob North-designed unit used on the racing BSA/Triumph triples housed the new engine.

In its competition debut at the 1974 Daytona 200, the TZ750 served notice that it would soon become a dominant force. Factory U.S. Yamaha riders Kenny Roberts and Gene Romero were pre-race favorites, especially after Romero set a closed-course speed record on his TZ the week prior. But the honor of securing the TZ750's first win went to the great Giacomo Agostini, newly arrived from MV Agusta, riding for Yamaha Europe. Roberts finished in second, slowed by a cracked exhaust, while Romero came home sixth. From 1974-82, the big TZ would win Daytona nine consecutive times!

Riders other than high-paid factory superstars soon had their own TZ750s. Cycle World magazine Tech Editor Kevin Cameron was tuning race bikes at the time. "In 1974, I worked with 19-year-old rider Jim Evans, who was able to put his Boston Cycles-sponsored TZ third at Talladega and Ontario—ahead were two factory Yamahas; behind him were all the other factory bikes. Not bad for something anyone could buy," Cameron wrote. "The TZ750, for a time, gave clever people who were willing to work the opportunity to win at road racing's highest level, against the best the factory teams had to offer. Try to imagine that happening today."

The C-model TZ750 on offer here, displacing the 'full kit' 748cc introduced in 1974, is especially noteworthy in that it was restored by the late Stephen Wright. Motorcycle historian, book author, surfer, road bicyclist, friend to Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen, Wright is best known for his
immaculate, award-winning restorations of early classics. Showing Wright's unerring attention to detail, this TZ was taken back to as-delivered condition, from the hard-to-source original slab-sided expansion chambers right to down to OEM nuts, bolts and washers.

Post-restoration, the bike's first owner was moto-journalist Mitch Boehm, who kept the TZ in his office at Motorcyclist magazine for several years. Current care-taker is Southwest Superbikes, where this important, original-spec race bike has remained unridden on static display. It is sold on a Bill of Sale.