In my High School days this amazing little one lunger from Japan hauled me more places than I can think of and hooked me on the world of two wheels.   My next bike was a ts250 Suzuki Savage.  This I later dubbed as the "War Horse". Monday through Friday is was my transportation to work, come Saturday and Sunday it was stripped of all its legal baggage a number plate hung on it off to the races we go...hi...ho.  It wasn't a Maico or CZ or Husky but If (..IF.. being the key word here) I made it through the real rough stuff it ate european mxers alive, in other words it didn't handle worth a darn but run like hell.  This bike taught me the principles and tricks to make a 2 stroke run, a little port work here a little port work there a good expansion chamber, bigger carb, tune it up right and just hang on when it come up on the pipe

.
it looked like this new TS 250 Savage 1969
Overall Length: 2,115 mm (83.3 in)
Overall Width: 880 mm (34.6 in)
Overall Height: 1,125 mm (44.3 in)
Seat Height: 820 mm (32.3 in)
Wheelbase: 1,370 mm (53.9 in)
Ground Clearance: 240 mm (9.5 in)
Dry Weight: 127 kg (280 lbs)
Engine type: Air-cooled 246cc single cylinder 2-stroke. 23 hp / 6,500 rpm, 2.71 kg-m (19.6 lbs-ft)/ 5,000 rpm
This scooter got me through a many mx races in AZ, desert races and Cal including Elsnor GP, Barstow to Vegas and was only beaten once in the famed "buddy race" ...thanks to my riding partner "Don Mickey Michele Mulkins" at ADR and we would have won that one but we broke the handlebars clean off the bike.

In "72" Suzuki finally made a factory 250 mxer available to the commoner (well it wasn't like Joel, DeCoster or Desoto's factory rides..but was a start), the tm250 Champion.  Its frame geometry was better than the old TS but still not equal to the european bikes but like the TS, a little engine tweaking and it would more than hold its own.  I of course had to have one...which I did.  It come off the floor yellow but mine soon become a orange/red color compliments of the USAF paint shop (I tell you this because there will be someone out there that will say...thats no 250..thats a 400 cyclone when they see the paint  )

TM 250 J Champion 1972
Overall Length: 2 145 mm (84.5 in)
Overall Width: 870 mm (34.3 in)
Overall Height: 1 160 mm (45.7 in)
Wheelbase: 1 415 mm (55.8 in)
Ground Clearance: 216 mm (8.5 in)
Dry Weight: 100 kg (220 lbs)
Engine type: Air-cooled 246 cc aluminum single cylinder 2-stroke. 30 hp/ 7,500 rpm, 21.0 ft-lb/ 5,500 rpm

                  
TM250 (after paint job)                                            ADR (Arizona Desert Raceway)

   Slaughter House Gulch  (Prescott, Az) Question..but who was passing who ?
                               "the worst bike I ever rode was Kaw 350 Bighorn (I think it was called)..like riding a 3 legged mule"

In 72 after getting out of the AF I worked part time as a motorcycle/snowmobile mechanic in a local Suzuki, Arctic Cat shop.  This shop also handled some Hodaka and Husky's.sometime in "73"  we got our first cr400 husky,we put it together it just screamed "buy me..buy me" so I did.  This bike was unbelievably fun to ride and in that day was about the premier handling mxer on the market, plus it just looked cool. It is kind of ironic in a way that it was the best handling bike I had ever rode and yet it would be the one that I got hurt on.
    
  Peaceful cove..Boise Id.                                torquey little fella

If you are a true motorcycle type there is really no BAD motorcycle.  Sure if you own brand "x" then it is your duty and right to light heartedly badmouth brand "y" but in reality a true motorcycle buff likes motorcycles...period.  There will always be a Rice Burner vs Harley squabble, the european quality vs Japanese speed, and on and on
I have had many other bikes including Yamaha's, Honda's, several Suzuki's and one Kaw..Kow..(I can't bring my self to even say the word) Ohhh lord help me here...Kawasa...ah heck, one of those green things (actually I think it was a nasty brown). My dream bike was always a Norton 750 roadster, to me they were and still are the ultimate is style and class but never owned one.  I remember one time in the early 70's my wife and I were going through the southern Cal desert in our 64 VW bug when I spotted a billboard of a yellow 750 Norton with a rather skimpy dressed young lady standing by it.  As we passed it my eyes followed it on by and not realizing I was thinking out loud I said something to the nature of "Man would I love one of those".  About that time my loving wife stuffed what was left of the banana she was eating right in my ear.  Took me a hour to dig all it out, and never did convince her I was talking about the bike and not the girl.

   Actually my above comment about the kawasaki was somewhat unjust as I was involved with the building and got to ride a very interesting Kawasaki drag bike.  Around "71" during my dirt bike years one of the fellas I use to work and ride with owned one of the Kaw 500 tripples (the 2 stroke tripple). He decided to join the rest of us and go dirt bike racing so he traded the road bike off for a Kawasaki 350 bighorn. Now we tried to talk him out of the bike as most that ever rode a Kaw  dirt bike of that vintage knows they were not much of a bike for the dirt, especially if you plan to race one.  However he had some affiation with a local Kaw dealer in Scottsdale he was true to his brand. So home come the Bighorn and off come all the glitter and lights and stuff and on went a number plate. Even stripped to the bare bones the bike was still heavy, underpowered and we won't even talk about the evil handeling of the thing especially when you have to run it in the open or 500cc class.  The next problem was Steven, He had very little experience at dirt riding at all let alone racing motocross and to make it worse he had to run in the open class (anything above 250cc). Well all that added up to him tearing up a knee befor he even got to the first moto in his first race, had a dandy little tank slapper and crashed big time.  Well before the leg was back to normal he come up with a plan to build a drag bike, you guessed it..using the Bigborn as a platform.  I first thought he was nutso but he ask me to do the motor so hey why not. He did all the frame and what a job he did.  I was totally amazed at what I was looking at, it was a full blown drag bike frame, streatch, narrow conned front wheel, no front brake, humungus slick on the back...hmmm.  I had built some pretty spunky 2 stroke single dirt bike motors but went home and re-thought this 350cc two stroke single thing.  With dremel, file in hand and some help with some machine work at the base machine shop the motor finally come together. I had never toyed with a rotory valve 2 stroke before so that was kind of educational. The expansion chamber was the tricky part but if you know enough people that know enough about what you don't know all works out in the end...kinda. The end result was amazing to be honest. He had multiple wins with the bike at Beeline Dragway (out of Scottsdale,AZ. I finally got a chance to run it one friday night and I must say that experience will stay with me for my lifetime.  I had never rode a drag bike of any sort so the first run was a disaster, I did every thing he told me to do but screwed up the start, missed a shift and shut down too early.  After a good laugh in the pits the next run was for time so I took all his coaching to heart and this time did it kinda of right.  Did a smoking burnout against the burnout board, staged, brought it up on the pipe, caught a good light..kinda, and the rest went so fast it was over befor I knew it.  The recorded time and speed is on the ticket above.  Actually I didn't get a trophy,  The one thing that made my heart thump big time was I remember just as I went through the traps, there isn't any front brakes on this thing and that sand pit runoff area was comming at me mighty fast.  I did make the last turn off however.  101 mph in the 1/4 mile on a 350cc single cylinder two stroke in the very early "70"s is pretty cool.  
      In the summer of 1974 I wrecked my 400 husky which resulted in me getting a broken neck. Although it left me paralyzed as a c 6/7 Quad it wasn't too long before I wondered how I could set up a bike to ride. Now it was the and still is quite common for one to ask why in the world I would want to continue doing something that almost killed me.  Well in the first place of all the years I had been around motorcycles I NEVER seen one jump off its kick stand and hurt someone.  I was in control of the thing (obviously not too good of control, but you get my point) when I wrecked. The bike was simply trying to do what its operator was asking it to but the operator was asking it to do something it nor the operator was capable of doing, thus we crashed.  I have to take full responsibility, and do. Our society has a problem with blaming anything bad on everything but the problem..which is usually human stupidity.  The big question is what did I learn and what to do about it.
                                                       The solution........

                                     PROJECT YAMAHACK

sold in 2002...proceeds went to project 77
I originally design the project in about 1975 which was originally a trike design but due to the physical size that would have been required it just didn't look like it was feasible.  The sidecar design was thought of when a couple kids down the street from me built a bmx bike with a sidecar on it and one kid was hauling his little brother around on it in his stroller.  well a little bell went "ding" and the thought process began.  Unfortunately it wasn't until 1998 that I actually got around to doing something about it.  So with an enormous amount of help from a long time  high school friend Denny Nave it is as you see it above.  There is still some work to do as far as some refinements but it will haul me around faster than I want to go. There is a commercial rig out there something like this..... but hey much more fun to build your own.
.

            IN THE BEGINNING                             STEP 1 ..ADD TRAINING WHEELS
    It  started out as a 1974 Yamaha Tx 650a with a early "80's" XS tank.  First step was to build the sidecar frame.  Using 2x1 inch square tubing we built the base and front stress points. The rest of the frame is 1x1 square.  The bottom platform is aluminum.  The hack utilizes a full swing arm from a 175 honda as is the rear wheel and the hack shocks are off a honda.  Yes it is heavy but its strong.  The hack is attached to the bike frame at 5 points.

         LOOKS SPOOKY HUH                                 YEE HAAA...HERE WE GO

Next step was to figure out the controls.  The handlebars were moved over to the hack and controls the bike via a bell crank type setup.  Our problem there was to get the bar travel and leverage combination such that I could steer it with one arm ( as the other is needed for brake/clutch control).  Need to figure out a power steering setup...got to be a way.  The clutch and brake is handled by a device which using my left hand I can pull the lever in (towards my body) and disengage it as well as lock it disengaged if needed.  The same lever if pushed forward engages the brake system (rear bike wheel and hack wheel).  The shift is controlled by a lever right beside the clutch lever.  I have found that once moving shifting without the clutch is as simple as a quick throttle blip and shift at the same time.  The bike has been geared down via a 16 tooth primary (stock was 17) sprocket and a 38 tooth (34 stock) secondary.  This makes it a little more manageable on take off as it was pretty long legged to start with.  The tach as well as the switches for inig, kill sw, turn sig, lights, horn and reverse motor were moved over to the hack console. I plan to put a digital speedo on it before spring.

    DENNY (HEAD WRENCH)               WHOLE GAGGLE OF 650'S AND A BANDIT
         AND ME                                        West Coast Yam650 gathering, Hilgard park.Or. "99"

 The wheelchair is secured by two devices that lock the front wheels down when it is in place. This keeps the chair from trying to flip over backwards as you accelerate. (discovered this was a problem real quick..see further on).  The tailgate is actually a ramp that after I get my chair up in the thing I pull it up and when locked in the up position it wedges against the rear chair wheels and basically wedges the chair in there so tight it simply can not move in any direction.  I also use a strap that goes around my mid section and helps stabilize me. The reverse device has a few design problems that I hope to work out this winter also.  Presently it uses an old 12v auto type winch that Denny replaced the drum on with a small tire.  When engaged it is forced against the hack wheel a rotates the wheel either forward or backward, works fine on level hard surface..don't work worth a hoot on anything else.  The nose piece is made out of sheet metal and built for me by Gary Baxter, an old riding buddy who was also with me when I crashed back in "74". The seat was replaced by a storage compartment also built by Gary.

                                               BUT WHAT ABOUT JZOMOTO
When I finally got the project started some of my friends was puzzled as to why would I want to do such a thing.  Over the years I have developed a philosophy that some find odd but all the same I find the fear of death not near as intimidating as the fear of not living.  Now believe me I don't plan on this thing killing me but as with most things it could be dangerous.  To address my friends question.  I wrote this letter to help explain. Although it was wrote with a little toung-in-cheek it still has some validity.
>>> I hear the doubts and concern of many with my present adventure.  I write this
to explain why I do this thing.  Through out our lives we are subject to many
experiences and with these experiences we grow and with our growth we inherit the
spirits of said experiences.  At a young age I straddled a Honda 50, at that point I felt the
spirit of the bike plunge into my body, the spirit of "Jzomoto".  Jzomoto is the spirit of
the motorcycle world and is alive in anyone who rides one.  When one abandons riding
motorcycles on there own free will then Jzomoto peacefully leaves the body but if one
with whom Jzomoto lives if forced to abandon the beloved bike not of there freewill (as I
did)  then Jzomoto sometimes is trapped and retains residence  of one.  Jzomoto has
been trapped in me for 24 years and it saddens him  and frustrates him for he is deprived
of his need for the essence of the motorcycle, the feel of the trembling handlebars as the
bike revs, the smell of the fuel being consumed, the heat and the sound of the bike as it
screams into full song....ahhh the sound, nothing is as pure or wonderful as the sound of
the lonely dove being drowned out by the scream of shear power .
      Recently I was in a position where I was laid up with a minor health problem.
Nights were long and sleepless as I stared at the walls from my hospital bed.  But every
night  a beautiful song was played as one of the workers got off duty and the distinct
sound of a multi-cylinder with tuned exhaust left the parking lot and as the love song
faded into the night I felt a strange warm tingle that shortened my breathing and
tightened my muscles (those that still work) but then it was soon gone.  It took many
nights before I realized the feeling was that of Jzomoto in excitement.  For 24 of the 24
years I have been in this wheelchair I have planned to build a bike I could operate from
the wheelchair   I decided that I was going to do it, it  was time.  Jzomoto was pleased
and I began to sleep at nights, the food tasted better and even the ugly nurses looked
better.  On my return home I started the search for a candidate bike for the project.  This
is dirt bike country and used road bikes are scarce.  Of the few I had looked at I made a
swinging deal (traded a lawnmower for it..a non-running lawnmower) It had been weathered and hadn't been run much for 2 years (but does run) and is a hybrid of parts
from everything from a Yamaha part up to a chain saw part.  It was a 1974  Yamaha 650
twin  (I was injured in 74...must mean something) .  After the fella rode the bike over
here and hauled (a riding mower) the mower home I examined my precious find ( OH
was Jzomoto happy now) and decided it needed a new battery first off.  I went to the big
city the next day and bought a battery and after a day on the charger I put it in,hooked it
up and hot-wired the beast ( he lost the key ) and with great anticipation punched the
started button.  The bike didn't even crank... (...kill switch...duh..hey its been 24 years).
next try it fired a couple times, Jzomoto got excited. After a couple cranks on the throttle
and a push of the button the big beast come to life.  The feel of the vibration of the bike
even at a idle sent fire through my body plum to the bottom of the wheelchair tires.
Jzomoto screamed with joy and forced me to give the throttle a couple quick cranks, well
the throttle was stiff  so "quick" was an invalid option. but in
the process the big twin cranked up to about 3 grand and promptly vibrated backwards
on its center stand about 8 inches (whew this thing shakes like a dog crapping razor
blades).  But Jzomoto was with joy and as I work on the project, even in my mind,
Jzomoto is happy and good things are happening to me.  We ( Me and a helping friend)
have got the hack frame built and will be taking the 650 to his work place this week and
prepare to fit it to its mate (the hack).  Jzomoto is pleased.  You see ends left untied
makes for something eventually coming loose and... I was.... but even if I only get it
operating long enough to ride it once and decide no more Jzomoto will be repaid for the
24 years of imprisonment and he can be free.  But If all works as planned  I will again
reign with  terror and fear in my small village and others of Eastern Oregon and the old
villagers will recall the days when Chamberlain rode a motorcycle...
and Jzomoto will be pleased.
 An update written
10/31/98
....Do Not try this at home, this stunt was done by professional
IDIOT.  Ever noticed that when you have thought of everything
there is a "everything + 1".  After several attempts of trying to get
the shift mechanism on the Yamahack to work for me we finally got
it.  It is still not what I want but it does function.  Saturday I again
rolled out of my friend's hanger under 650 power.  After a couple
shift tests and circles I pulled up to Denny (head wrench) and we
discussed what it was doing or not doing, in the process I mentioned
it has some pretty good head shake when moderate acceleration is
applied. He said he didn't see it so I went down the flight line a bit
and turned around.  Now before I left the hanger We made sure the
wheelchair was secured, it couldn't go forward, it couldn't go
backward, it couldn't move from side to side and even fixed throttle
so it could only open about 1/2 way and tested kill switch 1 and 2.
Safety factors covered. Head shake demo forth coming.  Well one
thing I had failed to think of was the w/c trying to pivot on rear
 wheels and attempt to go over backwards when accelerating too
quick.  Although we had discussed this problem a week or so ago
for some reason it flew right over our heads this time. After getting
the beast rolling I moderately rolled into the throttle... well maybe a
little more than moderately as the front of the wheelchair lifted off the
floor of the hack and w/o trying to go over backwards, this caused
my throttle hand to twist more and to make things worse it also
caused me to pull hard on the handlebar, keep in mind I only have
one hand on the handlebar as other one is on shift/brake/clutch
control....lets see..650, half throttle, first gear, hard right turn...Oh
yeah this aint fun.  that 650 launched hard, in the next 60 feet or so I
saw multiple forms of Jesus and not sure but think Jzomoto bailed
on me about the 30 feet mark  Fortunately I was able to get clutch in
and kill switch #2 flipped.  I coasted to a stop, regrouped and refired
and gingerly made my way back.  Denny had a stern look about him
and simply pointed to the inside of the hanger ( like when you were
a kid and your dad just pointed to your room and said "don't come
out until you have thought about what you just did").  When I got
parked I said "probably ought to fix that,huh?" at which point we
both started laughing.  On the onset of this project it was suggested
by a few that the 650 wasn't going to be big enough to pull me and
w/c hack.  My thoughts there are these people were given cheap
drugs as a kid.  That thing went faster in first gear at 1/2 throttle
than I want to go in any of the rest of the 4 gears it has.  One
interesting aspect of life is that even with a bad experience if you
learned something it was not a lost cause.  Now lets see, we learned
shifter works (not right, but works)...we learned the 650 yamaha has
frightful torque...we learned hard acceleration while making a hard
right turn in a sidecar in a wheelchair with only 2 of its 4 wheels on
the pan is a spiritual experience at it's liest and uh...lets see, there
was something about the front of the wheelchair....hey Denny, you
remember what the story was with..........
    Well as I put the Yamahack up for the winter it has provided me with the most enjoyable year I have had for many years. I am sure it is a project that will never end as there will always be some tweaking to do but it is a blast to ride and I am appreciative of all the help and encouragement I have received ...ps..I still haven't had the nerve to get it out of 3rd gear.
    Well in the late summer of 2002 the project was sold and I am off to a new adventure and project ( see THE ADVENTURES IN DIRT TRACK RACING AND PROJECT RANCHERO)

REMEMBER..
if you have ever rode......... .........and protects the memories