Yvon Wolters
My name is Yvon Wolters. I was born in 1954 and have been a TX owner for a long time. The city where I live is called Enschede. It is in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the border with Germany.In 1973 I saw my first TX and I liked the machine very much. Several years later they all seemed to have disappeared.
Almost 30 years ago, when I was still a poor student, I bought my first TX. Before this “point of no return”, I used to drive Norton 16H and BSA B31 and B33 model bikes.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get the money together and we were suffering a cold and rainy summer.
Finally I sold the bike with pain in my heart. Two months later the new owner called me and said it was a hopeless bike because the electrical starter equipment had broken down and he wanted to sell it. The price he mentioned was very modest, so within two months I got the same bike back. This time I could afford it and I promised to stay together for always.
Next summer the camshaft started rattling in its bearings.
With some help I managed to fix two bronze bearings on the camshaft.
In 1973 I had read in das Motorrad (a German motorcycle magazine) that a TX would be suited almost perfect to pull a side car because of the impressive framework and the engine characteristic.
Because I enjoy sidecar driving very much I started fitting a sidecar to the TX.
Now a I had created the beloved combination and decided to make a long holiday trip to the Mediterranean. Two new problems occurred during this trip. First there was the huge oil consumption (1L oil consumed on 200 km = 1L consumed on 140 miles) and second there was a overheating problem (145° C = 293°F oil temperature, a TX almost suitable to deep fry with!).
The oil consumption got limited by replacing the racy TX oil control (what’s in a name) rings by Landrover ones. Of course the old collars were replaced too. The overheating was overcome by fitting a large oil cooler and omitting the exhaust balancer pipe. This balancer pipe covers a real cooling channel between the cylinder heads! Which Japanese engineer is responsible for this crime? I was told he committed Hari Kira.
Now after some years experimenting I got a real TX sidecar combination and within 25 years I drove more than 100.000 km (62.500 miles).
The only problem which showed up sometimes is a whispering and leaking head gasket. This is caused because the head bolts never become tightened a second time. If you want to do this job properly, you have to take the engine out again!
Because of this sidecar, motorcycling went on during the period the kids were small.
The kids enjoyed it very much, travelling by sidecar became a regular part of their life. There was always a place for three of them, two in the sidecar and one on the buddy seat. Although I never saw the statistics, I am sure a sidecar is much more safe than driving a solo bike. Kids are well protected inside the sidecar. Even regular shopping by sidecar became fun and our dog enjoyed it very much too.
Beside this sidecar I own two more solo TX’s and a huge pile of TX parts.
About 20 years ago I owned 9 TX’s. Prices were extremely low and I even got two hopelessly bad TX’s for free! To store all this, a friend of mine offered some room in a part of an old factory. Unfortunately this factory burned down and I lost at least 4 bikes and all of my flashers, all engine mounting bolts and footrests that were stored there too by coincidence.
Nowadays I drive the silver TX sidecar combination and a golden, original TX solo. The silver combination is my favourite one, a modified stainless two in one exhaust system has been fitted. The original front fork is replaced by a swing arm type which enables better steering, especially when approaching the double disc front brake. The rear wheel is 16 ‘’ and has a huge square tire mounted on it to get enough traction and to decrease wear off.
Together with Herman Postel, I organise a yearly two day TX rally (“Treffen”) in the town of Zwiep in Holland. This year will be the 8th version.
Three years ago my son Jaap and I designed the Dutch Yamaha TX website. For more information please visit our website: http://members.home.nl/yja.wolters/tx750/
Look at “Fotogalerij > TX-en en hun berijders” and you will see all the TX owners listed, and their TX pictures are also added. If you like to show your TX too, just sent one or more pictures by e-mail to: yja.wolters@home.nl We will add your pictures to this worldwide gallery of owners.
Let’s keep alive these beautiful and notorious bikes!!!
Don’t just polish it, show your bike & listen to its sound on the streets as much as you can. No one has ever been sorry for taking a ride!!!
Yvon
