The most momentous moment in my year's dalliance with a 1990 MZ ETZ300 came when the carb fell off. It didn't actually fall right off, just coming loose enough to let a large amount of air into the cylinder. The engine stalled like the piston had seized. No fun that, as I was on the motorway at the time, with a long queue of cars trying to throw me off the slow lane (the ETZ not really happy doing more than 80mph).
Because the mirrors are not much cop, more elbow than view of the road behind, I am not sure how close my sudden cessation of forward motion came to causing a mass pile-up. Judging by the barrage of horns, shrieking brakes and general verbal abuse, pretty damn close. I coasted on to the hard shoulder, almost toppling over when I found my legs had turned shaky, hardly up to holding even the ETZ's mere 300lbs.
The carb incident was easily the most hazardous, for in 16000 miles few other serious problems were encountered. There were things that caused me a bit of concern, like the way the crankshaft mounted clutch rattled and pinged, but overall a thoroughly enjoyable time was had. I was a bit disappointed on the running costs, fuel but rarely doing better than 40mpg and it was also a conspicuous consumer of oil. The fully enclosed chain needed little attention and compensated for the need to dismantle the caliper every couple of months to stop it seizing up permanently.
The rear drum was magnificent in its action and needed no shoes even though over 25000 miles were put on the clock by the time I sold the machine. The front pads lasted a reasonable 13,500 miles and the disc brake was a quantum leap forward compared to the SLS drums fitted to smaller, older machines. It worked okay in the wet, there being no lag, but I used the most gentle of caresses when the roads were damp. A desperate grip would stop the tyre in its tracks, the front wheel sliding away from the bike and the rider ending up skidding down the road.
Which reminds me, I did fall off the MZ a couple of times, but the fault lay with other road users, honest! The first time I was happily ring-a-ding-a-dinging along at about 35mph in town when some happy moron drove his vehicle straight across the junction without bothering to even look left or right let alone stop. I grabbed a handful of brake but didn't even have time to say a fistful of prayers. The front wheel glanced off the back of the car, spinning machine and myself off down the road. The driver didn't even bother to stop, probably didn't even know what had happened!
These East German machines are tough little gems....the tank was dented, a few bits were scratched but otherwise the MZ was in as fine a shape as it was ever going to be. I was bruised and battered, having managed to have the machine roll over myself, thus insulating it from the initial impact with the harsh tarmac. A few cars whizzed by, but I had to pick both myself and machine up as best my shaking body would allow.
The second accident, similarly, did more damage to the rider than the machine. That time a car cut me up as if I had no right to the road, causing me to lose the front wheel on London's damp and greasy tarmac. I ended up sliding across some pretty fierce traffic, looked up to see myself at the feet of a police officer, who had witnessed the whole event. After helping me up, he assured me he had taken the car's number and would prosecute the driver. I heard no more about it.
The MZ's handling is reasonable for a commuter, better than most Japanese rivals, such as the Honda Benly. That's not very difficult to achieve given the poor quality of the Nip's suspension. The MZ's ride is rather harsh, more sixties British than anything else, but at least the suspension doesn't let the chassis wander all over the road, giving good stability all the way up to an indicated 90mph. A speed which it is not a very good idea to maintain for too long because of the vibes.
Despite some cunning engine mounts that absorb the worst of the vibration at lower revs, thrashing the machine at the top of the rev range produces some rather fierce grinding vibes that thrum through the whole chassis. The bike feels happiest at 65-70mph, where everything has settled down nicely with no sign of stress. There's a useful bit of punch up to 80mph, which is a good safety factor when some lout tries to push you off the road.
Thereafter, acceleration is miserly in the extreme, further progress dependent on road and wind factors, the single cylinder engine whining almost plaintively in adverse circumstances. With a pillion on the back the bike refuses to do more than 80mph even in favourable conditions. Acceleration is also notably affected, not that it's the kind of machine that wheelies at the drop of the clutch, or at all for that matter. Solo, most cars are put in their place up to 65mph, with a pillion on the back the machine is often struggling to keep up with the hot GTi hatch's.
As a long distance commuter, doing about 40 miles a day, I find the ETZ quite adequate. I also only ever own one machine at a time, so the MZ has to take me to interesting places over the weekends and on holiday a couple of times a year. My biggest complaint, as a tourer, is that the seat could be better and the angle of the bars induces a certain amount of wrist strain. As my licence is only a few points short of an automatic ban I do not really mind the lack of outright speed.
The poor fuel economy means a stop every 100 miles is necessary. The longest distance I travelled in a day was 480 miles. My ears were ringing from the two stroke wail, I thought I'd never be able to stand up straight again and I almost ran the oil dry. Only a suspiciously clear backward view alerted me to the fact that the engine desperately needed some more lubricant. There was always a cloud of pollutants following the machine, which must have perturbed those of a green persuasion who like to champion basic machinery like the MZ.
On the last holiday excursion, around the Scottish highlands, I was annoyed to find that the lights were blowing every time they were switched on. Also, the battery was boiling its water off as fast as I could add it. Any long term MZ owner will know the answer to this problem....the voltage regulator wasn't doing its job, an all too common malaise. I managed to find one in a Glasgow breaker's after running the machine for about 300 miles with 50 volts running through the electrical system. I also had to buy a used battery and a new set of bulbs.
The headlamp was not really adequate for back road riding in the dark at anything more than 35mph. At the best of times the rear light had a disturbing tendency to blow. On several occasions I came close to having a car whack my rear end when I'd failed to notice the bulb's demise. The switches work but I've been more impressed with the stuff fitted to C90's. The indicators have a mind of their own, flashing at varying rates, apparently dependent on the humidity of the atmosphere. Twice, a virulent strain of rust has attacked the fuses and the local chemist has been giving me weird looks because of the quantity of Vaseline I've been purchasing!
I was also heavily into grease for a while. A friend with a similar machine found that both wheel and swinging arm spindles were totally devoid of grease. I checked my bike and found the same problem, also pitted bearings in the rear wheel. The steering head bearings were also found to be lacking a sufficient layer of grease, so I went through a tin of the stuff preserving my bearings....I thought only the Japanese were so parsimonious.
The general finish was reasonable, save that where the machine had been scratched when dropped great patches of rust appeared to develop in a matter of seconds. The alloy cleaned up nicely and the paint could still be polished to a mirror shine with a bit of elbow grease. I have seen much more expensive Japanese machines decline much more rapidly than the cheap MZ!
Maintenance was just a question of keeping an eye on the oil level, changing the plug every 2500 miles (to avoid starting problems) and kicking the tyres when in a particularly concerned mood. The engine is simple in construction, can be pulled out and stripped down to the crank in less than an afternoon. They run to about 30,000 miles with little need for attention, thereafter it's all a question of how hard they have been thrashed, some worn beyond help at 35000 miles others chugging on for more than twice than. The gearbox is a bit agricultural from new and gradually deteriorates over time, often giving problems before the rest of the engine.
MZ's tend to be ridden in all kinds of weathers, often used as second bikes, the main machine saved for the summer. Thus, they lead a very hard life but manage to survive the bad times better than most. The ETZ looks a little strange, but that aside I reckon they are worth buying for serious commuting and mild touring.
H.L.M.
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Loitering around the breakers I saw an MZ 301 with bent front forks and wheel. The tank was dented but didn't leak so after a few lunges on the awkwardly placed left-hand kickstart the 291cc single cylinder stroker engine rattled into life. At 2000 revs the engine bounced in its rubber mounts and a large quantity of smoke soon filled the breaker's garage.
New they are about £1600, my six month old example cost a mere £675. MZ spares are not as cheap as they used to be - they wanted a hundred notes just for a front wheel but I got it rebuilt for half that. Total cost on the road was about £800; with only 1750 miles on the clock I thought that a bargain price.
The German factory's change from East to West practices meant that MZs are more expensive but better equipped. The most obvious is the separate oil pump which obviates the need to add oil to the petrol tank. The haze at lower revs disappeared when the throttle was wound on but came back on the overrun when there was enough back-firing in the silencer to alert the anti-terrorist squad.
The lowly tuned MZ puts out a mere 23 horses and weighs 300lbs. This is not a startling combination but adequate for all but motorway riding. The bike begins to gasp a bit come 70mph, requiring some contortions to make the ultimate top speed of 85mph. The five speed gearbox proved usefully slick - in the 9000 miles I did in four months I never missed a change. My previous bike was a tired KH100 with more false neutrals than working gears, which made the MZ feel like a Rolls Royce.
A feeling emphasized by the engine being quite cleverly rubber mounted, which absorbed all of the vibes that the huge piston produced. Touching a foot to the engine revealed the true state of matters and watching other MZs I noted some quite frenzied engine movements. I think it's a better solution than putting in a gear balancer which usually robs power or ruins economy.
Compared with recent MZs, the 301 was quite frugal, averaging about 65mpg. Hard thrashing would bring it down to 50mpg but that required the throttle to the stop in third or fourth in unfavourable conditions. Anyone who expected the motor to be blessed with massive torque would be sorely disappointed. For some reason, perhaps noise and emission controls, the motor felt rather constipated, as if it was fighting huge frictional forces before delivering the power to the rear wheel.
Also, the carburation was poor below 2000 revs, almost as if the engine bouncing in its mounts was causing the fuel to froth in the carb. Slipping the crankshaft mounted clutch was not recommended as there was enough imprecision to have the MZ lurching between wheelie mode and a dead stall. Come 20mph everything smoothed out nicely but opening up the throttle from that kind of speed in fourth or fifth would cause the engine to gasp for breath and get nowhere very fast.
The bike could quite easily be slowed to a 70mph crawl on motorways. All it took was the presence of a pillion, a bit of an incline or the hint of a headwind. For sure, dropping a gear and making some desperate right wrist moves would buzz the motor up to 75mph, but I had the feeling that the engine would react to sustained abuse of this nature by seizing up or blowing out its innards. Not that it ever did do anything nasty.
With a simple two-stroke motor there is not much to go wrong. Just check the ignition timing and change the oils. I didn't do a decoke, modern stroker oils seem to have eliminated this tiresome task. Starting could be precarious on sub-zero winter mornings. A lot of this was down to the kickstart being on the wrong side of the bike, an especial nasty if the engine stalls in traffic as it's more likely to topple over than start. Twice, I had to resort to a bump start and once had to take the plug out and heat it in the oven. Plugs rarely lasted for more than 3000 miles before poor starting and running occurred.
Doubtless, had the bike been used less in town and more on the open road then plug life would have been better. Unfortunately, I live on one side of London and work on the other, about sixty miles of the heaviest, nastiest traffic you could shake a stick at. Doing the journey in a car would take half a day, even on the bike the 30 mile trek each way usually takes an hour.
As a matter of course I had dumped the Puemant tyres before I put the bike back on the road in favour of cheapo Avons. These could have been stickier on damp roads but were at least predictable and controllable. The riding position was fine for town work but a bit upright for motorway cruising, but as the former was much more frequent it worked out fine for me. The seat is surprisingly high off the ground for such a small bike, but it at least meant my legs didn't suffer any cramps from the well placed footpegs. The seat never caused any bum ache even during the time I did 400 miles in a day.
The frame is a very basic bit of square section steel that wraps around the top of the engine, but despite its simplicity showed no signs of stress even when I loaded up the pillion with an excessive amount of building supplies. The worst that could be said about the chassis was that it felt rather nervous on the motorway at speeds in excess of 70mph. As mentioned, it was a waste of time to go that fast so this is not much of a complaint.
The suspension surprised me. I was used to Japanese commuter fare which varied between rock hard or pathetically soft, depending on model, age and degree of abuse. Leaping up and down on the MZ at a standstill suggested that the Teutonic wonder was going to veer towards the soft end of the spectrum. So it did, to a degree, but the 301 possessed a lot of damping action as well. Most bumps, even some quite vicious pot-holes, could be absorbed but there was none of the horrible wallowing and wobbling that might be expected.
The reasonable mass and good handling conspired to make the MZ that most rare thing amongst the commuter hordes. FUN! I did feel that the chassis could take twice the power put out by the rattling stroker, but in town even the meagre output was no great hindrance to rapid forward progress.
When things got out of hand I could always rely on the powerful front disc to react to my fevered input. Sometimes, I squealed the tyre, bounced the forks down on their stops and caused them to judder in their bearings. I'm willing to accept that my rebuild of the forks might not be perfect, but it only happened a few times and easing the braking pressure relieved the shaking front end. The rear drum was a bit wooden, could quite easily lock up the back wheel, but needed a lot less attention than the front disc. A set of pads and rebuilt caliper after just 6000 miles!
More impressive was the fully enclosed rear chain. It's not until such civilization has been experienced can the true benefits be appreciated. I had to adjust the chain every 1500 miles but it showed few signs of wearing out with 10500 miles on the clock. Less satisfactory was the wimpy headlamp fairing although the handguards were much appreciated in the wet and cold of our winter. The mirrors and front lamp were marginal in their usefulness but easily uprated.
The petrol tank must be the ugliest ever fitted to a motorcycle. It ruins the whole appearance, which would otherwise be able to pass itself off as functional. Compared to small Japanese commuters it's better built, better handling and probably longer lasting. As a commuter there's not much to complain about and as mild tourer it has everything except power.
The latest MZs have much improved styling, but I reckon I will suffer my own machine for a bit longer. Yes, I would consider trading mine in for one of the new 'uns. I don't think I would want to go back to one of those cheap and nasty Jap commuters.
J.L.