New Skorpion Cup owner

[samandkimberly]

I'm the proud new owner of a '99 Skorpion Sport Cup! I've wanted one of these for some time and finally the right one came along at the right price. Unfortunately, like many things that show up at the right price it needs a little work, and a few things; I thought I'd start out by asking here. can anyone help me with:

finding a rear passenger seat? I have the solo cowl, but I'd like the seat that went there too.

finding and service literature - owners manual/shop manual/parts diagrams...does this stuff exist anywhere on the web?

Explaining how I remove the solo cowl..I'm sure it's simple, but I haven't figured it out.

touching up/repainting the plastic tank - it has cracks all around the gas cap, and I'm betting that plastic is real hard to touch up.

has anyone ever tired other replacing the OEM weird carbs with something from another bike, rather than the expensive CR/FCR options? I'm thinking specifically of the dual Mikunis that come on Ducatis - they're cheap.

...that's it for now, but I'm sure I'll have more questions for the collective community, and hopefully I'll be able to contribute in the future. Thanks in advance,


Sam Stoney
Boston, MA

[Norman Wade]

Hi Sam,
Welcome to the wonderful world of Skorpion ownership. I hope you enjoy it as much as other Skorpion owners do.
Firstly, manuals. You can download most things you'll need from the 'Technical' page of my websitehttp://www.mzskorpion.net
The paint shouldn't be too bad. I've had my Skorpion reprayed using 'normal' automotive paint, and the sprayer had no problem with it. As far as I'm aware, all paint colours used on Skorpions are the same as those used by Volkswagen, (at least on models sold in Europe), so your local VW dealer might be able to help.
As for the rear passenger seat, it could be worth asking around some of the people who have raced Skorpions, they might have one spare.
As for the carbs, unless you are going racing, what is actually wrong with them? OK, the design is a bit weird, but you've got them, they are fairly easy to set up, and they work! Adapting something from another bike is undoubtedly going to be difficult, frustrating, and after a lot of trying, possibly not any better that the stock set up. (Other contributers - feel free to disagree!)
Only thing I would say about the stock carbs is beware of the 'hidden' internal filter. If this blocks it can cause all sorts of misfiring and bad running problems - always fit an inline filter to the fuel pipe.
Hope you enjoy your Skorpion, and keep us up to date with any news.

Norman

[samandkimberly]

Thanks, your site is a great resource! I've figured out how to open the seat cowl, thanks to the manual, and I look forward to perusing the rest. One thing - I couldn't get the link to the parts manual to work - is there something wrong with that link or am I doing something wrong? As far as the seat - I'm in no rush: I'll throw a request up in the Wanted section. Or I'll go visit Bikeworx -I live about ten miles from them.

The carb question has more to do with past experience. I used to race an SRX600, and I never got along with the stock carb as it was impossible to get jets for and a bear to tune. But you're absolutely right - I should at least see how this one is, and, even if I do make a change there it won't be for some time.


Sam

[sign216]

Hi Sam, if you're only 10 miles from Bikeworx (Galen is a great resource) then you are only a few miles from me, another Sport Cup owner. I'm down in Bridgewater, MA.
Joe

[DAVID THOMPSON]

I couldn't get the link to the parts manual to work

if file is a pdf and your using firefox some pdf's do not down load some times
copy the link and try it with windows explorer
and that may get it
dave

[Norman Wade]

Sorry folks, my mistake. Link has now been fixed.

Norman
http://www.mzskorpion.net

[samandkimberly]

Thanks - it works great now!

[samandkimberly]

Hi Sam, if you're only 10 miles from Bikeworx (Galen is a great resource) then you are only a few miles from me, another Sport Cup owner. I'm down in Bridgewater, MA.
Joe

I live in Littleton. When the weather gets warm we should have a micro MZ day. Must be a lot of us around here...

[stonewally]

I've had good luck with the new Krylon paint for plastic, It can be sanded, best rattle-can paint I've ever used. You will see that there is a problem with the paint on most Skorpion gas tanks, the rest of the parts have good paint (there is at least two kinds of plastic used on the bike), best to completely strip the stock paint. The back cowl can be cut down for use as a base for a custom seat pad... Just a suggestion, you wouldn't want to wreck a good piece, the stock seats are pretty hard to find.

[Bill Jurgenson]

just for the records, I have had no problems with the paint on my three Skorpions:
'94 Tour dark blue: ZK5 AUDI Santorin blau
'95 Sport red: never needed to know
'98 Sport green: C6V VW
Both the blue and green were repainted more or less often due to crashes and/or modifications, but both tanks remained untouched until the blue bike got repainted in green last year. The green tank is still untouched. There is no more problem painting the tank than any of the other platic parts. All are thermoplastics. Of course, the coating must be fuel-proof, so spray cans are out of the question.

Be careful of the plastic parts as they are definitely no longer available. That goes in particular for the seat farings for the Tour which have been gone for years now. The mono seat cover for the Sport has been out of production for years, too. Better to get the one-piece fiberglass cowling from Beasley(scroll down to MUZ). It can be repaired and is easily painted. Stronger and lighter as well.
Seats, too, are not to be had except thru eBay used, of course. Better anyway to have it recovered in real leather in good shop.

[samandkimberly]

The paint on this tank is showing cracking in lots of areas; perhaps it was just a bad one. One other thing about the tank - it's an incredibly hard fit into the chassis! is this typical? I can't even get it over the two bushings that it bolts into on the rear. There appears to be clearance everywhere; it seems to be just a little bit bigger than it should be - do these things distort over time?

Next on the question list - can anyone tell me where this loose connector goes? Should I do anything with it?


And...I cant seem to get the last bit of fairing together nicely. This may be related to the fact that my tank just seems to be a little bit big - perhaps the tanks has swelled?!? Thinking about it, this would also explain the paint problem. If so, what are my tank options - anyone have a shrink ray?



Thanks everyone, especially Bill Jorgenson - you've been a great help!

Sam

[Bill Jurgenson]

you see that angled bracket behind the steering head> the one with the rubber to accept the tank. That is most probably bent back, forcing the tank back, too. bend it forward.
As for the joint in the seat fairing, that is parr for the course.

b

[samandkimberly]

Thanks; I'll try that tonight.

Any idea what that electrical connector is I've shown on the first pic? It looks exactly like an automotive EFI plug.

Sam