Was : East German collection. Now : MZ Thread

[Stinkwheel]

Just now, Verysleepyboy said:

When I get a chance, I'll give that a go - thank you!

Where are you based? Would be good to have some DDR related show and tell if possible?

I'm mosty based in mid west Wales these days, but sometimes I'm at the parents place if I'm working in the office, which is Northamptonshire, but likelyhood of the bike being in Northants anytime soon are slim 

[plasticvandan]

4 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

In todays MZ news, Its still on its standard size piston and bore, never had a rebore and seemingly doesnt need one (OK, so i have actually ordered a new piston kit, It makes sense to have a new one in there with its full count of rings)

This seems amazing to me as its showing 32k on the speedo. Is it likely its done 32k with little or no piston/bore wear?

 

Quite likely,my ETZ had done a similar mileage and only needed to go up a size as a ring had broken in the past and damaged the bore. my dad has an ETZ250 that's done almost 190k and been to the artic circle and back,and I think that's only on its third rebore.

[plasticvandan]

4 hours ago, Verysleepyboy said:

It's not quite as nice as it looks from a distance - brush painted and the chrome isn't great, but it is pretty much complete, and the Lux version with the twin clocks etc.

Had it running very briefly when I picked it up but only for about 1 minute then it died and haven't been able to kick anything into life since. Very weak spark - so that needs further attention but trying to get time on it isn't easy currently.

Likely condenser or shitty connections in the fusebox.useless fact,MZ use the same points as the Trabant 😊 

[Verysleepyboy]

21 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

Likely condenser or shitty connections in the fusebox.useless fact,MZ use the same points as the Trabant 😊 

Useless fact - but also useful to know. Thank you!

[Verysleepyboy]

 

On 01/09/2025 at 14:53, Stinkwheel said:

I'm mosty based in mid west Wales these days, but sometimes I'm at the parents place if I'm working in the office, which is Northamptonshire, but likelyhood of the bike being in Northants anytime soon are slim 

I'm also in Northants - let me know next time you are about and it would be good to catch up 🙂

[martc]

Congrats, I'm a massive MZ fan...

I passed my bike test on my brand new MZ TS125 Lux (Alpine in the DDR).

And then I got a red MZ TS150 (Adler (Eagle) in the DDR), which, much like yours, was dragged out of a garage from behind a wardrobe, started on the third kick after standing for 12 years, (the original battery needed charging first).

Replaced with a brand new black TS150 Lux

And then, one of my favourite bikes ever, an MZ TS250 Supa5. I had incredible fun on this (once the Pneaumants were replaced with Avons). It was slightly foxed which just added to the fun.

Then an MZ ETZ250 Lux, with the flat tank, this was a leap ahead compared to the others, with 12v electrics, disc brake and autolube. It was fun but a bit too sanitised (still went ring ding ding though).

And finally an MuZ 300 Saxon Tour, post DDR, very similar to the ETZ but bored out to 300cc which gave it slightly more umph and a poorer fuel consumption. The seat was dreadfully uncomfortable. Being post DDR it had filthy western components on it, notably the same CEV switch gear as my Moto Guzzi Spada III.

In 1989 I was in the DDR on my Moto Guzzi Lario and, when staying near Karl Marx Stadt (now Chemnitz), I went to Zschopau to see the factory, which I did (from the outside) - it was a typical Germanic factory, painted the usual beige colour, with triangular roofs with rows of skylights, a massive chimney and a steep courtyard outside, that's about all I can remember. I then went onto the MZ museum which was in a castle. The 'car' park was full of MZ's, the Guzzi did stand out a bit. The museum was ace and didn't hide the DKW origins of MZ with plenty on show. They also had IFA's, as MZ's were called before the change to, well, MZ. They had the experimental wankel powered one plus all the fab ISDT models and the racers (don't forget Walter Kaaden, MZ's chief engineer, invented the 2 stroke expansion pipe and Ernst Degner rode them like the devil was chasing him to many victories and then defected to Suzuki, taking the spanny pipe with him). I still have the museum guide in the loft somewhere. Oh and then I rode under the shadow of Colditz Castle, which at the time was definitely not a tourist attraction.

[Richard_FM]

One of my friends had a  MZ TS125 & his Dad a MZ TS150.  I remember they bought another to strip down for spares, which I helped with.  We had it down to the frame in less than an hour.

Later my friend upgraded to a MZ TS250, but crashed it!

[robt100]

All this mentioning of DDR bikes reminds me of when I stayed at a friends house in Germany about 8 years ago. She said she was taking me to her Boss's house as I would like it, no further explanation!

Turns out he has converted half the house into a two storey garage, downstairs for Trabants, upstairs for around 50 'Pre-wall' East German motorbikes and scooters (and a couple of Aprillia RSVs). Got to have a good nose around, start a few up, and even take his trabant estate up the road😄 If I can find them ill dig the photos out to share.

[Stinkwheel]

9 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

One of my friends had a  MZ TS125 & his Dad a MZ TS150.  I remember they bought another to strip down for spares, which I helped with.  We had it down to the frame in less than an hour.

Later my friend upgraded to a MZ TS250, but crashed it!

Thats one thing I have found so far, very simple construction but clever with it. I think I'm a bit of a convert

[Stinkwheel]

For anyone still reading and cares, have adjusted thread title so this can be a collective MZ thread if folks want to add anything of their own, feel free.

Today, over my lunchbreak, i thought i'd just see what happens when you put a battery onto a bike stood since 1986 ish. 

After cleaning terminals, adding a couple of new battery leads, it has lights, a spark and i suspect would run (if i hadnt taken it all apart to clean the carb/exhaust etc etc

[Richard_FM]

I heard one MZ engineer proposed a totally new & up to date design in the 1960s, only to be rebuffed by the government, so he defected to Japan & became a designer for one of the big 4.

[andy18s]

11 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

I heard one MZ engineer proposed a totally new & up to date design in the 1960s, only to be rebuffed by the government, so he defected to Japan & became a designer for one of the big 4.

I'm sure Suzuki owe all their 2 stroke technological advances to an ex Mz team member,who defected to the West.

[tom13]

14 hours ago, andy18s said:

I'm sure Suzuki owe all their 2 stroke technological advances to an ex Mz team member,who defected to the West.

Mat Oxley - Stealing Speed is the book. A very interesting story and worth looking up even if you don't read the book.

[Stinkwheel]

20 minutes ago, tom13 said:

Mat Oxley - Stealing Speed is the book. A very interesting story and worth looking up even if you don't read the book.

Thats the name of it!!! I've got a copy somewhere, brilliant book (most things Mat Oxley writes are good actually, and he's a genuine TT winner himself, so respect. And on a 2 stroke as well) 

[Zelandeth]

For all everyone likes to take the piss out of them, you look at the engine that ended up in the Trabant P601 and in the early 60s it was a very modern two stroke design.  Nothing like the mildly reheated DKW unit that pub experts would like you to think.

There were a lot of very clever two stroke engineers in East Germany, and if they had been in a position to properly capitalise on that it would have been interesting to see how far they would have pushed the technology.

[brandersnatch]

I had an MZ TS250. Four gears, round head and that funny spike key. I bought it because I was a despatch rider in London, needed a bike to work on the next day and it was the cheapest bike in The Loot. I worked on it for about a year then sold it to another courier who had it for years. I replaced it with a BMW K100 RT. Bit of a contrast. 

[martc]

On 03/09/2025 at 22:52, Richard_FM said:

I heard one MZ engineer proposed a totally new & up to date design in the 1960s, only to be rebuffed by the government, so he defected to Japan & became a designer for one of the big 4.

 

On 03/09/2025 at 23:06, andy18s said:

I'm sure Suzuki owe all their 2 stroke technological advances to an ex Mz team member,who defected to the West.

The engineer was Walter Kaaden, and far from rejecting the idea - it was the expansion pipe, it was accepted, employed and MZ dominated their GP classes for a few years in the sixties. MZ's star rider, Ernst Degner, defected to Suzuki, taking the expansion pipe with him. And the rest is history.

[comfortablynumb]

Second bike, and probably the first " proper" one was an MZ Simpson.

All the lads round my way had ap50's , fizzees etc, with expanny pipes.

The MZ was unrestricted.

They were flat on the tank, and I could ride past them sitting up.

Yeah, now take the piss 🤣