Why did you buy an MZ?

[aah5]

Tell your reasons for getting an MZ. I have a Skorpion Tour (8 years),my reasons.
1- It is a single cylinder road bike, not a lot to choose out there and I like singles.
2- It has a Yamaha motor, most reliable of the Jap motors,had a SR500 for 23years.
3-I can do all the servicing and repairs myself,not tied to the dealer for support.
4-Lots of the parts are interchangable with other manufacturers.
5-It is economical 60-65 mpg.
6-It has adjustable footpegs and handle bars.
7-MZ has a great history.
8-It has a certain style that is different to all the other sheep in the flock of cruisers and sports clones that are out there.
9-It feels good to be different.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

tired of BMW's to tall in the saddle and went to a shop in north western pa that had several brands

and just fell in lust with a little water cooled 125
as a round town bike
that was in 2002
still runs great but guess i will have to get something else one of these days
dave

[Nozz]

I have a Silver Star Classic with the Rotax 500. I was getting back into bikes after raising a family, and after Laverda 750sthe rarity and fun-to-ride factor of the MZ /Rotax was irresistable. It is no good for 2-up riding, but for me it's a blast, not too fast, but not too slow!

[LWS66]

I bought my MZ 1000S because it was unique, European, a parallel twin sportbike, was bad ass looking, and it won out over the latest Triumph Sprint, a new 03 leftover Aprilia Falco, Ducati 1000 and a Buell Firebolt....which were my other choices at the time. One trip to the nearest dealer for a good lookover and ultimately an excellent write-up in Motorcycle Consumer News was all it took to pull the trigger. No regrets. Have been reading up on MZ as much as I can, would love to get my hands on an old MZ racebike from the 50's....yes, a pipe dream! But as an option, and a great tinker project, I might even take a 70's MZ and cafe it out one day.

[kman.45]

Three years ago was in the hunt for a 650 class "supermoto." A number of other Jap conversions were interesting, of course the KTM conversions and Dukes were interesting, but incredibly expensive and a bit rare. Then my best friend reminded me of the MZ, excellent Yam engine (not available in any Yamaha motorcycle in US), top shelf suspension, etc. Didn't take me 5 minutes to decide to find one. Bought a 2003 (in 2006) with less than 2000 km, for 1/2 what it was new. Best money ever spent on a bike. Then I found a Baggi SM that also had new and unused complete factory DS wheel kit (with sidestand, speedo drive, etc). Another bunch of best money spent. I kept the wheels, sold the bike to same friend that reminded of them in first place. I love how reliable it's been, how simple it is to maintain, how much damn fun it is to ride, and on and on. Aftermarket is a bit lacking in support, but I think that also is what makes it unique and fun. I've taken it to a nearby KLR rally the last couple of years and those guys love it cuz it's just so much cooler than a KLR.

[CasterTroy]

93 baghira 660

I've wanted a motard forever.....and initially was looking to MAKE my own from a DRZ 650 or KLR because I wanted a more road-friendly one...but cost plus function had me leaning toward others.

After looking for QUITE a while....I narrowed my search down to a few 640e's that had been converted to SM, and a few Suzuki SMR's. There was also a ATK 605 SM that I was considering.

I was hesitant on the ATK because it was more radical than I wanted...and the 640e's were all more DIRT oriented than I wanted.

Then I came upon the Baggy.....and it was PERFECT. I contacted the owner as soon as I saw it...drained the funds and drove an hour to meet him.

LOVE this thing!

[Linegeist]

For me there were several reasons. I have an old spine injury resulting from my time in the Army and, after completing a 3-year restoration of a Honda Silver Wing that I'd found rotting away in a dealer's junkyard a few years ago, I found that I was unable to ride it for any length of time because the laid-back riding position caused the damaged wiring for my left leg to 'switch out' after about half an hour. (That led to some interesting scenes before I'd figured out what the chuff was going on )

The Silver Wing - wreck to classic, but I couldn't ride it!

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Fortunately, Silver Wings are quite collectable classics, and it wasn't long before I'd swapped it for a large number of beer tokens. I still wanted a bike natch' - but I don't like 4-pot rice-burners very much (I'm a bit of a British bike fan) and what I fancied was a big old-fashioned British single like I had when I was a kid - only lighter and without the ass-in-the-air riding position because of this stupid leg.

What I REALLY wanted

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The trouble is, they cost ££££££/$$$$$$$!!

Then I heard my first Skorpion up in the mountains in Betws y Coed! It sounded just like a big British bike, especially on the overrun (cool), it was a big single (good), as simple as it was possible to get (better still), and was pretty unique in appearance (no problem there then). I cadged a road test on it - and was well impressed! I could ride it, it was quick, light, handled like a greased weasel in corners - and it sounded bloody amazing!!!! I just had to have one.

As luck would have it, a friend of my wife's had one for sale that was 'in a mess' .......... the fact that it was a box of bits on 2 wheels with some added rust was completely lost on its owner, and my noticing the stuffed swinging arm bearings didn't impress him either .... but it was cheap (£500) low mileage and needed restoring ... so I was hooked.

The old lady really needed a stripdown, an overhaul, an MOT and a respray .. just for starters, so I bought her and, last year, after a lot of advice from Bill Jurgenson, £££ spent on E-bay on body parts and associated bits and decked out in 'Brit Cafe Racer' style, she was finally ready to ride.

Candy Blue - the wife's choice, not mine!

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Wonderful beast! She does everything I've asked of her, happily keeps up with my wife on her 500 Kawasaki and draws attention wherever I take it (especially from blokes who once had big brit singles) .

[aah5]

Interesting reasons, but it seems that the desire for something different and simple is a common thread. Have met some riders who have previously owned an MZ and all have been sorry for not keeping them, also have met quite a few riders who have had the multi cylinder sports or supertourers and have at last found that our more modern singles are the way to go, whether it be Yamaha SRX600,SR500 or Honda GB400/500TT, they all say these have given them the most fun and enjoyment on the road.
Something to be said for the KIS (keep it simple) principal.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

I have a 1000 S. I bought it because I thought (I still think) it was the only proper sport-tourer on the market. I had a Thunderace before, a bike I loved very much. I liked the engine (the Genesis 20 valve must be one of the best powerplants ever), the slow, stable handling and the practicality of having a proper storage space under the seat.
The Thunderace died of unreliability (yes, honest, too many problems to mention here) and left a big void.
When it was time to buy another bike, I realised there was not much choice for me. VFR and Triumph St were ruled out because of lack of underseat space. The Ducati ST3 was just too expensive and ugly, and ditto BMWs. In the end the shortlist had only two names on it: Fireblade (the 954cc model) and the MZ. I included this almost purely for the perverse pleasure that some people get from taking the side of the underdog. On one side, an iconic bike from one of the best motorcycle manufacturers in the world. On the other, a totally new bike from a company I knew next to nothing about, who had never made aything over 500cc, with limited dealer network and a couple of liquidations in its recent past.
Rationally, the choice should have been clear. Of the two, I test-rode the MZ. In a sense, I hoped there would be something very bad, some part of it so horribly screwed that would make me see sense and stop me from pouring a lot of cash into an unknown product.
Well, it didn't happen. The bike was so honest, its good and points exposed without any attempt to either disguise or oversell them. An horribly lumpy engine which was a pain in towns (I have also a Yamaha Fz6, so you can imagine how different the MZ feels compared to that), but gave a nice shove out in the open. Fast enough for me, witout being scary. A confortable riding position, coupled with an ace fairing. Quality components all around, including some really nice touches like the speedo pick-up on the rear wheel hub. Lots of space under the seat.
And the handling, the handling ! I thought I had found again my Thunderace, but even better. So precise, so clean, so stable and reassuring. I decided to take the plunge. I said to myself this would be my one and only crazy decision when it comes to bikes. Buy a totally strange bike, ride it as much as you can, keep it until it dies and regret nothing, no matter the cost.

Has it worked out ? with hindsight, I would not buy the bike again. I just can't trust it in the same way I trust the Yamaha. Every time I turn that key and wait for the dials to get ready, I can't help hoping that the bike will start, without pulling any tricks or stroppies on me. It's temperamental, there's no two words about it, and for someone like me who is mechanically inept, a temperamental bike generates too much anxiety. Seeing the factory collapse and the dealer network almost disappear is not good either.
On the other hand, this is the most satisfying bike I've had so far. There is a subtle and very gratifying feeling in steering such a big, heavy girl around some twisty Welsh roads, or taking her for a long WE on the German roads, where she really feels at home. There is something incongruos in the effort required just to park her in a tight spot, and the levity, the precision she employs when sticking to the chosen line along a bend.
When she works, she works real fine; then I can forgive her a lot of things.

Ride Safe,

[Doc Strange]

Yep, it was the lure of the big single - and like some others, I have memories of the Yam SR500.

It also contrasts nicely with my other bike, a GS 1200.

DS