Going from a Sport 600cc to a ETZ250?

[Andy C]

Hi,

Im Andy and I live in England firstly great forum!! In July im moving house and its likely I will no longer have a garage and dont really want to keep my Triumph Speed Four (600cc IL4) outside as planning to live in centre of where im going to be (Near Oxford).

I'm thinking of downsizing for the year for a few reasons and cant get the idea of getting a MZ ETZ250 out of my head for some reasons such as clearing a bit of student debt and feel i dont use my current bike enough to justify insurance etc. The idea of a bike that goes on forever with a simple single 2t engine thats cheap to run sounds like it could be an alternative.

This weekend i helped a friend do a top end rebuild on a CG and was so much fun being able to take the bike apart and dont feel like i can with the 'Four due to being much more complex. I never really work on my bikes all that much (most ive done is chain and sprockets and de-33bhp the 'Four) which makes running more expensive as have to pay garages.

So what i wanted to know is has anyone gone from a sports 600cc to a smaller bike and how was it? The bike will be more of a cheap method from A to B that is cheap to insure and maintain as i know it wont be close to my current bike in terms of performance!

Also, where do you guys buy your bikes? There is one ETZ250 on ebay which looks ok but other than that i haven't found any!!

[djsbriscoe]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
A good place to buy an MZ is the owners club,

http://www.mzridersclub.co.uk/

When you join (costs £13 per year for individual membership) you receive a bi-monthly magazine. There are often bikes for sale in the mag and you can put a wanted ad in as well.

There is also a yahoo group at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MZ_Riders

I've only ever owned MZ's. I passed my bike test on one in 1991 and my first one was a TS150 (with a 125cc engine) that I fixed up myself. I saw that one advertised in a local paper and I didn't know what an MZ was at the time. They are very easy to work on and you don't have to worry about people stealing them. If you drop it it will be cheap to fix as well. Great bikes all round.

David.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

i went from a 1974 BMW R90S to a 2002 MZ RT125 and had no problem....
still drive same roads i always did and go to same rallys
take a couple 500mile week enders each year
only find it takes longer to get home ..but the bike does a real good job of
keeping you from getting speeding tickets
45lb of camping gear and a 220 LB rider on a 125cc 4t means
no go fast even the few worn out yugo cars still running can smoke on past
dave
most roads my area posted 55mph or less except interstates

[Old Dog]

I went from a R1100GS to a ETZ250.
Ideal bike for what you're doing and relatively quick in the real world.
Things to think about.
Lots of people have had them which means that any bike you will find, will, in all likelihood have been buggered about with. Look for things like woodscrews holding the iginition together, or chisel marks on the clutch or final drive sprocket. In short don't be in a hurry.

My current motor is being rebuilt by a mechanic mate of mine and the parts for a the job came to 190.00 but then he is a very fussy fellow. The bike I bought for 50quid and she is like the proverbial butchers axe...

Best option is the ETZ301 motor in the ETZ250 (not 251) frame. If you want reliability and have a few bob then the MZ-b ignition has no peer and is plug and play and makes the most of the engine.

Watch the brembo clone brakes as they are too effective and can land you on your arse in short order.

They are fantastic bikes that will go and go but they need setting up properly and whilst they love being revved the myths about 85-90mph cruising speeds in my experience, prove to be a siezure going somewhere to happen. They will cruise at 65-75 all day but use a good semi or syth 2T oil.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

[Old Dog]

PS MZ riders club is a venerable old institution but the prices for bikes in the back of the Mag are in my opinion, usually, too high and you can often do better elsewhere

[Andy C]

Thanks for all the replies!!! Wasn't expecting so many!!!

Old Dog: That is interesting, though i guess not suprising. Where do you suggest is best, ebay? Im sure they come up and the one up at the moment looks perfect but I dont have the time/transport to get one 150miles away.

If I wait I would be able to find one nearby? Is summer the best time to get one?

Also, what is the general opinion of getting a non-runner and doing it up? Would love to do some after seeing this video on assembly as seems much more simple than the CG engine i did at the weekend (here is the link: http://www.mediafire.com/?fzedt5gejmj )

Are there many ETZ250/251 in the UK?

[manumensa]

Hello and wellcome!

I went from a Moto Guzzi V65 SP to a ETZ125.

I had options: Vespa PX 200 Iris or a 125 model, MZ ETZ 251 or 125 model. I decided for ETZ 125. New from factory pallet, 5000kms or six month guarantee aprox. 125.000 pesetas (760€). For me 250cc two stroke bikes for daily ride drink more fuel and time for speed is over, road police here now with the new laws can punish (€€€€) hard.

My friend Ian wrote about MZs " Never the machines to turn a young woman’s head except maybe to trace the source of all that smoke." .

Best Regards, Manuel

[Andy C]

I had options: Vespa PX 200 Iris or a 125 model, MZ ETZ 251 or 125 model. I decided for ETZ 125. New from factory pallet, 5000kms or six month guarantee aprox. 125.000 pesetas (760€). For me 250cc two stroke bikes for daily ride drink more fuel and time for speed is over, road police here now with the new laws can punish (€€€€) hard.

Sounds like a nice deal! What sort of MPG does the 250 get? One reason i dont want a sports bike as much these days as people are always like
"ooo nice bike, bet that saves lots of money on petrol"
"actully not at all, redlines at 14k rpm and eats fuel when you rag it (which i seem to a bit too much)"

Where did you guys pick up your current MZs from?

[stogadog]

I had a bit of an epiphany a couple of years ago and suddenly swapped from supermoto's and big sporty bikes to classics (got seduced by the Manx VMCC rally!). I ve had a few old bikes since then and currently have a ES250 (which is broken) and an ETZ 250 that is being built up. I guess it all depends on just kind of readjusting your mindset and realising that you can get where you are going and still enjoy it - just a bit slower!
And yes - it is good fun being able to work on your own bike but remember you will need to pay more attention to an MZ than the Triumph. I like ebay for finding bikes and realclassic website is pretty good too - that's where my ES came from.

[bastios]

hello mate, just thought id chip in my 2pence worth, ive always had bikes since i was sixteen, dt50-rd125-tzr125-cb100-z200-dt125lc-dt125r-rd350ypvs-cb100-fzr600-zx7r- then i had a family, got a monster600 just to pottter to work on, then i realised its not the bike itself, its just having riding and looking after them thats fun, i just got a etz125 for free and i love it, spent 2hours yeaterday cleaning and sorting the petrol tap, cant wait to get it running and i will use it to bimble about on, might even get my missis a cbt xmas pressie lol, if you've got petrol in your vains then it does not matter what you ride or drive, ps i've been a motor tech for 15years so i've had my fair share of driving exotica, currently work for landy and love defenders as much as 100k rangas.
get your mz and ride it with your head held high mate.... i think they will be the next vespa..lol imagine loads of mz's with crap paint poor restos and 3-5grand price tags. now that would be funny...