MZ 250

I had been using a trail bike for a year and somehow ended up using it more for touring than off road work. Of course, it was totally impractical. What I needed was something that could cruise the A and B roads roads at 60-70mph, be reliable, long range and comfortable. The trouble was it had to be for £250. So I got a MZ instead. Though to be fair it did fulfil all of those functions, though not all at the same time.

It was a four speed model in better than new condition. I was quite impressed at first, more than can be said for the Cortina owner when I first found out it was true what they say about MZ front brakes. Still, I did get it home in one piece and immediately pulled the thing apart. It’s something that I’ve always done. I like to know my way around my bikes and it also uncovers daft bodges.

One of the drawbacks of owning an MZ is other MZ owners. I found out about them very early on when I went along to a MZ Owners Club meeting. They met Sunday lunchtime in a pub that didn’t normally serve bikers. There were a couple of low mileage MZs amidst the sea of BMWs. I didn’t stay long after one of them told me off for having a pint; they were all on halves...

The other type of MZ owner a totally over the top eccentric - one I know spent ages producing an MZ with CZ tank, Ariel tank badges, cowhorn bars, car electrics, a plastic Viking (Eric) on the headlamp and an office chair complete with backrest. It looked like a sick bucket and handled like an office chair, though it did pass an MOT - I don’t know how.

The four speed MZ had 16" wheels and handled like most death traps. The front brake was such in name only and the back brake actuated through the longest foot pedal in the known universe, made slides a good way of forgetting the handling and anything else that might be you. The forks had very long travel and were sponge like in their softness while the shocks were brilliant and the electrics adequate.

Thicker fork oil transforms the handling when used in conjunction with Continental tyres, the original tyres should be given or thrown at enemies or CZ owners. The only cure for the back brake is not to use it, which is handy cos the drum can be fitted in the front wheel where its longer lever goes a long way to transforming the front braking.

Gear changing is even more clunky than the 5 speeder thanks to a heavy clutch assembly on my bike which can be thrown away and replaced by the five speeder’s neat alloy clutch. Barrels, pistons, cylinder head and carbs can also be swapped to good effect, as the five speeder develops more power. In fact, most parts on are interchangeable - first on the list, are forks and 18" wheels to get the handling well sorted.

Most of the faults with the early 250s were cured with the ETZ, but then that’s not a cheap bike. Petrol consumption’s in the fifties and you have to mess around mixing oil into the petrol, which if its simple is also easy to forget.

My MZ did 38000 miles in a year. It broke down twice, once was the condenser, replaced with one from a car that I picked up at the nearest car dealer. The second time the clutch retaining nut worked loose on the way to Devon from Milton Keynes. I took off the clutch cover and. borrowed a large chisel and hammer to tighten it up. It rattled and shook for the next 800 miles until I was home again - where I found that the crank was wrecked. It was cheaper to buy an engine from a breaker than replace the crank.

Other MZ faults are the voltage regulator which has points inside it, these vintage things are a real problem but can be replaced with an electronic job from a Jap bike (breakers again) or a car. The brake lamp switch is a joke and should be replaced with anything that comes to hand. Most things last for ever - including the frightening stock tyres, the enclosed chain and the inefficient brake shoes.

The thing about running a MZ is not to try to look cool as you ride down the High Street with the exhaust going Ping, Ping, Ping, but to play at being eccentric. No-one will take the piss on account that they will be afraid to come within talking distance of you in case you start ranting and raving on and on and on about MZZZZs.

Stephen Bergman