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My 1987 MZ ETZ 250. A two stroke road motorcycle that can be an interesting cruiser. It smokes like it is going out of fashion. It has a clunky and sometimes tempermental gearbox. The clutch drags at lower RPM, but slips at higher RPM throttle. But it can cruise at 55mph nicely. I suspect the top speed of this particular motorcycle is around 65mph. I have changed the gearing to be more town/city friendly. I have added a 300cc piston and thus the power is probably approximately 18hp.
I originally got this machine in October 2012 as I could not decide whether to get an offroader or an MZ. So I bought an MZ that had been ‘trailed’. This is the the sorry state the bike was in when I purchased it. It had a custom high level exhaust fabricated, and a single seat which was surprisingly uncomfortable.
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On my first oil change of the motorcycle I unwittingly used GL5 based transmission oil. This motorcycle must use no more than GL3/GL4 grade transmission oil as the chemical elements in GL5 react with the clutch. This motorcycle in it’s backwards nods of un-changed design uses a set of cork lined clutch plates. GL5 oil makes these cork plates soak and expand. I could have simply changed the oil, but I decided to change the plates and inspect the piston as I detected some piston slap.
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I got tired of the offroading seeing as the motorcycle wasn’t the best suited to it. I decided to convert it to full time road use. I purchased a new exhaust from Hungary and side panels, seat and instrument cluster from spare parts lists on e-Bay. seeing as the current ones were not original to the bike. The day after I took these pictures I collided with a car’s wing mirror and the bike slid down the road. What followed was some bent levers and pegs and a nice big dent in the tank. This is when I decided to repaint it.
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Unfortunately, after spraying the tank with the orange, and then using a compressor to apply a clear lacquer for a petrol proof finish, the tank never ‘cured’. For a while I was riding around but the tank was sticky and on a hot day little bugs were being stuck on it. Eventually I had enough and started again as pictured above. It took an awful lot of time and effort to get the sticky lacquer off, and then to re-apply it all. But it was done, and the second time it cured. This is one of my first rides below. I had not applied the decals yet.
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For a long time I had been looking for a replacement 300cc piston and barrel. I managed to come across a set on e-Bay for no more than £50 including postage. Admittedly, it is an oversized 250 barrel and not a true 300. But the piston is tight and with a 3mm squish band it has a good power delivery. The engine was noticibly more grunty, albeit only a tad. Unfortunately I did not realise the postal damage that resulted in a bent fin as pictured on the right. I had some money in return through insurance however.
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When out on the Vintage Motorcycle Coastal Run in June 2015, The rack I had affixed broke! This ocured as I was taking a rather strange corner at a considerable side g-effect. I suppose it did not help that I had some litres of Coca Cola in the box.
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This is what the bike currently stands like as of June 2015. The rack and box is currently removed due to the problem above, but this has been repaired and awaiting to be bolted back on.
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In July 2017 this motorcycle threw the big end bearing at 27,700 miles (it had been grumbling since I purchased the bike in 2012 with 20k miles) which left me waiting on the side of the road near Cardiff Airport for several hours awaiting recovery, as well as a now useless motorcycle. In November I did rebuild the engine with new bearings and crank (crank purchased from Joszef whilst I was passing through Hungary on the way back from Turkey on my ‘90 MZ (see bike selection menu)) and it is now successfully riding and throwing smoke again! It was not an expensive re-build. But I will be replacing the piston at some point soon as that had unfortunately also become a little damaged.
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