Wrench'n Ride'n

A dream for some of us. Reality for others. I dream of the day the MZ1000 makes it through ADR compliance in this country. So till then I just drool over the ones I see on the net. Someone pass me a hanky as George from the UK has sent in some details of his one very nice MZ 1000ST. Vital statistics as follows: Engine= D.O.H.C, 4 valves per cylinder, 180 degree Vertical (inclined) twin of MZ design and manufacture thought to be one quarter of a certain Malaysian teams formula one winning V8. Rated horsepower 112bhp, actual tested HP (at the rear wheel) 96-99 bhp @6,800 rpm. Gearbox is a (unit removable in situ) cassette type with six speeds. The frame (or chassis) is a Seymoor-Powell (Britain) designed socket tube truss in Chrome -Molybdenum alloy steel. Styling is by Peter Neumann (Germany) (Aprilia Falco etc) Forks are by Marazocci (Italy) and rear suspension via an Aluminium cantilevered swinging arm, is by Sachs of Austria. It is available in a multitude of colours and a...

Ken from Dungog, NSW contacted me about his Traveller he has been trying to sell. He wanted to know if I knew anyone who wanted to buy his. I don't but have offered to put it here on the blog. Here are the details. I'm a passionate MuZ rider who alas has to sell the machine due to a baby arriving on the scene in February.... Perhaps you know someone who might be interested? It's $3990 with nothing to spend and rego to October 2008. Full details are on www.bikesales.com.au and www.bikepoint.com.au. It's also going in the next issue of the Ulysses mag. For the aficionado it is a Traveller with the faring removed and a decent big round headlight fitted since I ride a bit at night on country roads. It also has a steering damper fitted, though It's done 39,000kms, the last 20,000 in the country with no short journeys. It's a joy to ride and I'd happily set off around Australia tomorrow.... There's a couple of cosmetic nicks and scratches but you have to loo...

Yesterday I was fiddling around with the bike. As you do. You know a good fiddle always makes a bike run better. Well not this time. Or so I thought. Due to what I thought was my fiddling I had no electricity through the bike. So I went to the MZ Yahoo Group, the MZ/MuZ Riders forums, my friends at Mono Connection forums in the Netherlands and Michael Barnes. This is what I posted. It will give you an idea of what I was faced with.... I had removed the tacho as one of the globes had come out and was rattling around in the tacho pod. I found that the centre brass bit on the connector that goes into the tacho for the electricity was broken/missing. So I replaced this little bit of brass. Connected the tacho back to the power supply. Turned the key to on. Started the engine and the tacho doesn't work. Disconnect the connector and pull out the bit of brass I had put in there. Reconnected the tacho. Turned key to on and engine on switch to RUN and press starter button. I hear a loud clu...

Peter from Queensland contacted me a month ago after finding this blog. He expressed an interest in MuZ Travellers. He had seen one for sale in Queensland and wanted my thoughts about them. We exchanged emails. Then last week he emails me this… ”Hi Ross Today I took delivery of my 1998 dark green MZ Skorpion Traveller. What a lovely bike. This is my first big bike (only had 250s until now) so I guess any 650 would be nice. But it's a delight to ride.” Then yesterday he sent this and the following photos… “Hi Ross Here's a pic of my new bike, and also of the chain guard that Tony Boggart made up (I presume) and fitted to this and presumably other Skorpion's he sold in Brisbane. I'm loving this bike - just came back from a ride in the rain and am almost totally dry.” Mate, I wish you many happy rides on the Traveller. One day I hope our bikes can be photographed side by side.

A warm Sydney Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that 2008 is a great year for everyone that reads my blog. Thank you to all who have commented and contributed here. Even though this blog features my MuZ and the rides I do, it is also for others to have a place to show off their bikes or share the enjoyment of a ride. Stay upright Cheers Ross aka 'FUTURE'

They call it cabin fever. When you are locked up inside for too long. Sydney has had some really good rain the last few weeks. I have had the flu for the last few weeks. That’s why there have been no updates to the blog. I have not been out on a decent ride for weeks. I was getting cabin fever. I had to get out onto the open road. I knew it was forecast for heavy rain and thunderstorms. I didn’t care. I have new wet weather pants and a new set of gloves. So last night I went to bed early. I was going for a ride today no matter what. I had seen that there were going to be several different rides today advertised on different forums. I wanted my own space. I knew where I wanted to go to and I wanted to leave way earlier than most rides start. 6:30am. I am wide wake. Out of bed and quick look out the window confirms the weatherman got it right. The sky is covered in iron coloured clouds. No rain yet but it will come. Breakfast is quickly consumed. I am heading for Lithgow. In fact I am go...

We truly are a long way away from the rest of the world downunder here. Europe, UK and the USA have these bikes. The Australian MZ distributor is trying to get these passed through ADR for compliance. How long will this take? Who knows?? Anyway at least we down here can look at photos of them. All the photos and specs came from http://www.mz1000s.de/cgi-bin/click.system?act=home&navid=10001&sid=c 1000 SF "The original German motorcycle manufacturer MZ is presenting 2 aggressive design studies in Munich. Based on the award winning MZ 1000 S, MZ presents at Intermot a Naked Bike with an aggressive Street Fighter look and feel, which will be launched into the market soon. As announced by MZ's Managing Director, "The time has come for a Street Fighter made by MZ. We have asked our designer Peter Naumann to design an impressive Naked Bike which will be able to attract a new group of enthusiasts in the 1000cc segment. The result is fantastic and exceeds our expectation...

The Sydney SR500 club guys had a ride on today. So I tagged along. Due to Telstra’s slack service I didn’t get the meeting place and time info till 8:30am via the SR forums. Thanks for PM’ing me Wizz954. So I had about 45 mins to get to Loftus from Granville. I made it with 5 mins to spare. At one stage I was down on the tank in behind the fairing. I have never laughed so hard on a bike before. It must have looked a sight with little fat me trying to get in behind the fairing. I arrived at Loftus Oval, the meeting place, to see a BMW 650 sitting there. It was Milkman. Then curly001 rolls in on his much modified XT500. I look at the road tyres and how stripped down this bike is know that he is a quick rider. After about 10mins in rolls Wizz954 on his Fireblade. Hmmm. I keep looking around for any SR’s. None have arrived. The 3 other guys all have SRs. But not on the road. Wizz954 races one. Curly001 has 3 in the garage, none road worthy. Milkman has one at home that needs working on. It...

There is an advantage to having a friend who not only owns a Skorpion but is also a member of the BMW Touring Club NSW. He invites you along on their rides. Thank you Bruce. Today’s ride was to The Dome which is between The Oaks and Oakdale for lunch. View Larger Map You may have read the report I did on the last BM ride I went on. The one the MuZs out numbers the BMs . Not today. They turned the tables on us. Of the 10 bikes on the run. There were 2 MuZs, a Kwaka Ninja and the 7 BMs. It was great to see 30 year or more old R75s out with a K100Rs, a very modified R100, some later model GS’s and one very nice and new R1200ST. We all meet up at the Caltex on the M4 at Blacktown. After a quick meet and greet, Bruce led us off. Heading west along the M4 we soon turned left onto Mulgoa Rd. Old man out for a Sunday drive held us up for wee bit. It was an 80km zone and he was just doing 60. He had the good sense to pull over and let us all past. The views along this route are good when you l...