Hello from the Midlands, UK

[henrik]

Hello All,
Just picked up a 11/72 TX750 today, US import - after more than 25 years out of the saddle it's time to get back on again. Will probably have to spend a fair bit of time in the shed first as despite less than 8k indicated miles (if you believe it) it will need a fair bit of care and attention to get back on the road. Electrics are shot and a few parts missing here and there. Interesting tire selection; a very old looking Yokohama on the front (the original???) and a much loved Taiwanese Cheng Shin on the back - they both may just have to go I guess (!). Unfortunately no signs of extended sumps, adjustable chains or such modern frills.
Looking forward to putting all the great info on the Forum to good use. A friend of a mate back in the day owned two of these - one for riding and one for spares supply; very much looks like this is still the trend!
Henrik

 

[don73tx750]

Hello! These bikes are fairly simple to work on. RE: tire, there will be a 4 digit date code on the sidewall. First 2 digits are the week, last 2 are the year of manufacture. If it's the OE front it will be close to code 4572.
Don

[henrik]

Hello Don,
You were almost right on reg the front tire, appears to be the original with a three digit 452 code - maybe some museum will be interested...?
Spend the weekend taking the bike to bits and have been on the internet ordering various missing and replacement parts such as indicators, LH side cover, rubber for tank, cables, etc. The "oil pump rubber plug" is an interesting space filler! Intent is to implement the recommended engine upgrades and improvements, and so far got the parts to change the oil seals behind the ignition assembly towards the oil pump and a spare front caliber for a double dish conversion - it's a start anyway. Next item will be the oil filter mod - intend to go for the BMW mod as described elsewhere on the forum, measured it out and it looks like a good fit. Need to rope a friend into making the replacement filter cover.
The new battery arrived today, so will be possible to get stuck into the electrics - the bike arrived with virtually all cables stripped of the outer protective sleeves, with some homemade "repairs" and some burns, so expecting some fun and games here. Looks like the previous owner just gave up midway ages ago and left the electrics hanging loose.
At least the engine internals are nice and clean - no obvious damage and no significant metallic bits in the oil, in the sump or in the tank. Some new gaskets now in stock ready for assembly. 
A few questionable "repairs" by the previous owner, but all fairly easy to fix except for a pretty bad DIY paint job; I'm also wondering why he used different spark plugs right to left?? Never seen that one before!

If anyone out there has a lead on an extended oil sump ring, then I would be grateful to hear from you - have not been able to find any on Ebay or at the breakers in the UK or overseas. Maybe need to have a go at the French TX750 forum, but a bit of a lingo challenge here....?

Another question is regarding the "Argo" sprag gear conversion for the starter motor drive as described on the Forum - does anybody know the manufacturer brand name and maybe even the parts IDs for the gear and the housing? 

Anyway, so far Don is right; does not appear that the bike is too difficult to work on. Famous last words!
Henrik



 
 
 

[scrambler]

Hi Henrik,

Congrats for the bike, feel free to post some pics when you have the chance!

Deep sump extension is nearly impossible to find now, or at least I haven`t seen any - I bought a complete engine with all the upgrades and now I`m putting these improved parts into the original motor. The rotor filter case behind the ignition is a constructional failure, I`m afraid replacing the seals won`t solve your problem if it`s the early type of engine.

Is your starter clutch slipping? I was also searching for this upgrade by Argo, and found his email here: advrider.com/index.php?threads/yamaha-tx750-starter-clutch-mod-oh-ya.908967/page-6

I haven`t contacted him yet, hopefully it`s still working. Keep us posted!

Greg
 

[henrik]

Hi Greg,
Just emailed Argo, hopefully he is still trading - we will see? Frankly do not know if the starter clutch is slipping as the machine so-far is a non-runner. So many people appear to be having problems with this, so I think worth doing with all the other work.
Guess you are right about the availability of the sump extension, that's going to be a tricky one. Spend a few hours over the weekend with the eMachineShop CAD program and have send off for a quote to have one machined in Alu - do not expect this to be cheap; it will probably be prohibitively expensive, but maybe it will be possible to order a batch if others are interested and thus bring the item price down??? It was not too difficult to create the CAD model - based this of the shape of a new gasket and scaled the height from on-line photos. Certainly not a CAD model for production, but good enough to get a quote. Need to explore all avenues - taking inspiration from Argo!
Anyway, got the parts coming for the BMW oil filter mod; a billet of Aluminium, o-rings, longer bolts and filter elements are on the way - and I managed to rope the mate into doing the machining.
All good fun!
Henrik