PERSPECTIVES

MONSTERS INC.

By Mitch Boehm

Everything seems to trigger someone these days, and so whenever the subject of the 1975 Indy Mile comes up, and it comes up a lot with us moto-oriented Baby Boomers, I immediately flash to that epic race and the motorcycle involved — Yamaha’s legendary TZ750.

My reaction stems largely from all the motorcycle magazines I gobbled up in the 1970s, all those race reports and tech pieces on the big TZ in Cycle and others (Cook Neilson and the late Gordon Jennings were my faves), but also because I’ve owned two of the things over the years — a restored-to-stock-byStephen-Wright 1976-spec C-model twinshocker and a later-model monoshocker with Toomey pipes, Lectrons, Morris Mags and a bunch of other hot-rod bits. A runner, in other words.

I’d also seen — and gotten up-closeand-personal with — a TZ at Michigan’s Grattan Raceway back in ’76 when I attended a club race with my sponsor and tuner Dale Dahlke, a roadrace mechanic who ran a small shop near my home called Cleveland Motorcycle Supply. Watching Bob Wakefield’s red and white TZ scream by in practice, and then walking up to the half-melted rear slick in the pits just after the session, left an indelible mark. I clearly remember thinking, “This thing's a monster!”

When I bought the twin-shocker it was way too perfect to ride, so it sat in my office for a few years. Which I absolutely loved. But after getting a chance to race ’70s privateer Kurt Lentz’s TZ at Daytona for a story called “Meeting The Monster” in Motorcyclist magazine back in 2006, I wanted more…so I sold it — stupidly — and bought the ’77-spec monoshocker (previously owned by Don Vesco) from long-time TZ afficionado Scott Guthrie.

I rode it and raced it a little and enjoyed it, but it was a hassle to keep running and parts were rare and expensive, so I eventually tired of the thrash and sold it to fund another project. My mistake, of course, was selling the Stephen Wright-restored bike — as it was totally stock and, in that condition, extremely rare and special — just so I could ride and race a TZ in some vintage races. But hey, you make your decisions and you live with them.

I’ve looked on and off for a replacement for that twin-shocker, but stock-condition TZs are like hen’s teeth and have literally doubled in price in the last decade or so — and a $50,000 piece of living room furniture is just a teeny, tiny bit out of my range. The ’79 CBX I have in my home will have to suffice.

Still, riding and writing about Yamaha’s legendary TZ750 all these years has been an amazing experience, one I will savor for many years to come. I hope you enjoy the cover story.

Before I sign off, I’d like to dedicate this very racing-oriented issue to my good friend Steve Johnson, who passed away on June 9. Johnson worked with and won races and championships with the likes of Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Sir Phil Read, Brad Lackey, Jimmy Weinert, Jeff Ward, Scott Russell, Thomas Stevens, Doug Chandler and others, and was one of the nicest, most dedicated and talented men I have ever met. Godspeed, Steve. We are thinking of you.

Mitch Boehm is a long-time AMA member and Editorial Director of the AMA