To the horror of most everyone of forumosa…I’ve been making some “riding tip” videos on the internet…anyway…now I have people asking me questions like I’m some kinda bike expert or something…which I’ve never claimed to be. Anyway I got some guy from Romania asking me how far he can lean his bike because he wants to take it to the twisties, here’s a pic:
2005 MZ ETZ 251
It doesn’t look too safe to me. I was thinking of telling him that if he can get some sticky tires for it then he should be fine. Plus he needs to be aware of how the suspension handles…like if the bike “bounces” or not when he increases his lean angle. I’ve seen bikes like this crash before in the mountains…so I’m a little concerned and I just wanted to run this by the rest of you before I cause some guy in Romania to crash.
Hard to judge from this side, but the drum brakes, weird sidekick and centrestand are all obvious limits, as too the crankcase. Interesting to see how low the exhaust pipe hangs on the other side.
But what a weird question. Surely he knows the limits of his own bike?
For fun you could suggest he gets at least 45 degrees or he’s not really trying hard enough.
Those things are surprisingly quick for a 250cc single designed in the stone age, but then again the East Germans were way ahead in two-stroke technology in the 50s and 60s. IIRC the footrests are solid, not folding, and the engine is wide for a single. From the factory they came with some awful tires made from Teflon, or some east european copy that’s equally slippery.
Agree with Mordeth that swapping the tires would be a good first move.
[quote=“redwagon”]Those things are surprisingly quick for a 250cc single designed in the stone age, but then again the East Germans were way ahead in two-stroke technology in the 50s and 60s. IIRC the footrests are solid, not folding, and the engine is wide for a single. From the factory they came with some awful tires made from Teflon, or some east European copy that’s equally slippery.
Agree with Mordeth that swapping the tires would be a good first move.[/quote]
Thanks. That was what I needed. I passed along your info…as well as some tire reccomendations…and thing to watch suspension wise while at lean.
My own Ninja “bounces” up and down during high speed cornering…not good.
[quote=“Mordeth”]…and thing to watch suspension wise while at lean.
My own Ninja “bounces” up and down during high speed cornering…not good.[/quote]Yeah, the suspension on those was pretty agricultural, but it’s possible they’ve gotten better (note the front disk brake…). Mind you, your definition of high speed may differ somewhat from his.
I owned an MZ in Vietnam when I lived there in '91-'92. They are dump trucks. At least they handled that way.
The East Germans might have been ahead in two stroke technology but they were way behind in the electrical department. I guess too many of their electrical engineers jumped the wire at Check Point Charlie.
Tell Ivan to stay on the straight roads, and buy a Japanese bike.
Not sure. I think the modern MZs are better than the older ones. They got good reviews in UK motorbike mags anyway. (Good considering the price, that is).
As far as tires go, the Romanian guy may not be able to find a sticky bias-ply tire suitable for use with inner tubes.
I’d recommend he procede slowly and gently. It looks like the centerstand or footpegs will be the first to touch on the left. Possibly the exhaust on the right. The centerstand and exhaust will definitely not fold so they could possibly lever the bike off the ground if the rider leans far enough.
If the rider procedes slowly, ground contact will be gentle and he can either ride through it, reduce bike lean, or increase rider body lean. He probably should not “throw” the bike into corners.
I had this bike. back in the late 80’s, early 90’s. Its crap but was wonderful at that time since it was the only available.
I had no idea they still make them, but my guess is they produce it somewhere in licence. The black cover on the gearbox looks ‘new’, it is damn heavy, like a traktor and behaving that way, too, and the tires ARE slippery. Since I lived in the northern part of Germany our highest mountain was less than 200m high so my alpine experience is quite limited. The steering is heavy, the angle not much, the footrests will brake and the bike will spin on them eventually. I would be very careful with that bike anywhere near the mountains. But a million guys do and live to tell so it must work somehow. I never had any problem with it though.
