New (to me) MZ Skorpion Tour, and LightSwitch

[Berniecal]

Hello everyone,
I just recently bought a 2002 Tour which had been imported from NY to Alberta. The previous owner had been overtaken by family responsibilities (new baby) so I decided I needed a new baby too and bought it. I have had a Burgman 650 for the last 2 years and felt I'd like to go back to a lighter more minimal bike, spotted the Tour on the local Kijiji, and couldn't resist. The Burgman (amazing machine, just not for me at the moment) will be sold in the spring when the riding fever hits.
In the seventies, I was a keen Bultaco roadracer in Ireland, never much good, but had great fun, and also owned an MZ 250 4-speed 1976 which I bought with 400kms on the clock, and it impressed me greatly for a couple of years. In the intervening years I have gone through lots of bikes in the search for perfection, and hope to continue the search for a long time!
Very glad to find an active MZ forum, despite the doom and gloom around the factory, and looking forward to reading and writing over the winter.
Here in Calgary, the bikes have largely gone to storage, but our climate allows the occasional burst of 2-wheelers following a chinook wind, which melts everything and you often have a couple of days to blow out the cobwebs.
Which brings me to a question: Is it easy to re-activate the light switch? Mine has "headlight on with ignition" and I notice the alternator does not keep up until about 1500rpm, so the occasional start and run for 10mins in the garage will drain the battery.
Bernie.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

some of the switches can be modified
company called sudco in California
has them listed
but a new switch is an expensive fix
dave

[Berniecal]

Thanks Dave, there is a switch fitted on the right handlebar but it does nothing. I'll do some digging and see if it's a simple snip. Could be that the switch is simply shorted out to provide permanent lights with ignition. I always ride with lights but don't want them on when I'm firing up in the garage, dreaming of warmer days!
Thanks again.
Bernie.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

i build the wire harness from scratch on older BMW bikes i fix and include a relay that shuts off the power to headlamp when cranking
the models from 1970 to 1975 are hard starters when its cold out
as is my 1995 saxon tour
dave

[mishko]

Hi there Bernie: welcome to the forum and congrats on a fine purchase, I have been riding for 35 years and I could honestly tell you that there is nary a bike out there that comes close in terms of the sheer amount of smiles and giggles generated upon riding one, the fellow who imported it to Canada must be heart broken to see it go since he must have gone through hell trying to bring it over. I have failed to get either of my 1000s or a skorpion sport immigration papers to legaly cross the borders to Canada on a permenant basis as MZ's were never sold in Canada they are not allowed into the country. back to your bike do a search on carb draining on this web, as these bikes do not like to sit in the garage for more than one week at a time without being started, they are reluctant starters so to speak. regards
Mark.

[Berniecal]

Hi Mark, thanks for the welcome and comments, and I did the search and found lots of interesting reports. I have had an XT500 for about 10yrs so am a bit too familiar with how ornery a big single can be when it doesn't want to start. However, in recent years I have used Stabil in the fuel over the winter, and boy what a difference it makes. Even with old-fashioned points I get a one-kick start every time now.
With the Skorp I had some problems with water in the fuel and had several frustrating die-at-the-lights-in-front-of-a-line-of-cars events until I figured out what it was. It only happens when you use the reserve, and it starts up again when you use the carb drain screw, but a tank clean-out is high on my job list. Also, as has been well documented here, a battery upgrade is a valuable improvement.
Way back, a buddy of mine had a Velo Thruxton, and that thing could send you into orbit if you didn't get the kickstart just right. We've come a long way technically since then but the Skorpion recaptures a lot of the charm of the old big singles (wiping tear from eye).
Bernie.

Hi there Bernie: welcome to the forum and congrats on a fine purchase, I have been riding for 35 years and I could honestly tell you that there is nary a bike out there that comes close in terms of the sheer amount of smiles and giggles generated upon riding one, the fellow who imported it to Canada must be heart broken to see it go since he must have gone through hell trying to bring it over. I have failed to get either of my 1000s or a skorpion sport immigration papers to legaly cross the borders to Canada on a permenant basis as MZ's were never sold in Canada they are not allowed into the country. back to your bike do a search on carb draining on this web, as these bikes do not like to sit in the garage for more than one week at a time without being started, they are reluctant starters so to speak. regards
Mark.

[sandberg]

I have been using the 10% alcohol gas for awhile and never really had a problem except for poor running at idle. I tried using Stabil and that really helped. But now I am wondering, I have waves on the side of my tank as if it were melting. Have you seen any problems with your tank with the Stabil added? Just run your hand down the side and see if it is still smooth.

I like the product but fear I might have a total meltdown. Fortunately I have obtained another gas tank in preparation for that possibilty.

[Berniecal]

Thanks for the warning, and so far I have only used Stabil in my XT500 with aluminum tank, in steel-tanked cars, and in various garden and small engine applications. That sounds horrible, that the Skorp tank could be that unstable. You would think that after 50-something years of plastics R&D they would have used something impervious to all approved fuels. Hope your new tank works out well.
Bernie.

[sandberg]

I can't be for sure why the tank has changed. I was hoping that if you use it , it will confirm my suspicion. I had written to the company that makes the product and he says its the alcohol. See his comment below.

Hello Gary:
Suspect the 10 % ethanol reformulated gasoline. ~ Its the Gasoline.
~ Dimpling is a sure sign of a plastic which is not compatible with the ethanol that is being put into today's ,blended gasoline. Sta-Bil, has been around for over 30 years with no issues and is used at 1 part of Sta-Bil per 320 parts of gasoline.
Switch to a branded gasoline like Shell, or even BP and try to use Premium which may not have Alcohol blended with it
Empty your tank and then fill with fresh gasoline..

Best Regards

Tom

[Berniecal]

To conclude this thread and give advice to other US model owners, I took the simple route and disconnected the power to the headlight relay, which allows the motor to run on tickover without draining the battery. The US models have a relay which allows permanent headlight-on with ignition-on, but headlight-off when using the starter. The relay is under the seat

Skorp1.jpg (31.99 KiB) Viewed 2909 times

and you just disconnect the red/black wire.
The lightswitch remains on the right handlebar but the wires terminate in the headlamp with no connection.
Thanks for all the input.
Bernie (looking out the window at the snow, aargh when will it end!? I'm moving to Nova Scotia for the summer and looking forward to some decent twisty roads , not like the straights and 90s we have around here)