From the late 80s to the mid-90s, the Yamaha TZR125 was a rather interesting bike. With two-stroke power from the 125cc single-cylinder puffing plumes of smoke and letting out an interesting exhaust note, aside from the fumes it put out, it was definitely an endearing bike, and one that I wouldn’t even dream of abandoning.
Someone did anyway, and it was picked up by Restoration of Everything on YouTube a while back. So what does a serial restorationist do when he gets his hands on an old bike? Well, he doesn’t ride it first, though the first part of the video shows that his efforts were a success.
When we first see the bike in its original resting place, it was a barn find without the barn. Seemingly left to rot and rust outside, the bike was missing many parts, rusted beyond a good spritz of WD-40, and just left there, unloved and abandoned. Luckily, someone capable came along to give this bike a second life if you will.
Cleaned up slightly and given a good walkaround, you can see that it had a lot of mismatched panels, a frame that was in need of a good wash, and a lot of missing pieces. The year model of the bike is unknown and hard to determine, at least for me.
Everything is refreshed, de-rusted, and repainted, from the frame to the damaged fairings. The engine was also in need of some restoration magic, and it was lengthy enough to get a separate video.
Once everything came together, you’d never believe that this bike was once just a step away from the scrap heap. Now finished in the classic Yamaha racing red and white livery, we finally get to see what was first shown in the initial seconds of the video. The bike riding out on the road with a two-stroke symphony in tow.
