And I have bought another MZ....

Nice saw that , was in my neck of the woods , very nearly tempted
Free MOT is pre 1960 , but free Tax.

Keep up at the back please, 40 year rolling from next May so 1977 and earlier MOT and Tax free��
 
Probably never going do depreciate due to their design ‘uniqueness’ . Could be the inspiration for Bender of Futurama :D
 
I agree...:)

Totally restored bikes are lovely, and if a bike needs totally restoring because basically it is fked, then so be it. But it's always nice to see something that has just been ridden and left alone....wearing it's years with pride.

I love it......:thumb2

Agreed, no restoration beyond cleaning and new rubber and service parts. Maybe a little rust eater under the mudguards to halt any corrosion, but that's it.

Had a reply from Rex Caunt (Racing). As already said a lovely guy who remembers selling/servicing these bikes. He said that the MZ ES150/1 was used to get the racing crank/conrod design sorted for their BSA Bantams :)
 
Front wheel came out easily, no rust on the axle at all. The original tyre took some effort to remove. It was as hard as plastic, but as an original Pneumat I think they were like this from new. Inner drum was also very clean. New tube and tyre fitted, bearings regreased, rim cleaned, ACF50 applied to the spokes and rim ready to fit.



After cleaning off the old road crud from the underside of the mudguard I applied some rust eater, then once this had dried it was coated in ACF50.
Brake shoes etc were all in excellent condition, so just a quick clean up.

 


Wheel refitted and it looks just like it did before apart from the new tyre. Perfect. It was getting dark so that's it for now. In true MZ owners tradition I'm doing this all in front of the garage on the floor (but only because the garage is full off other bikes :)). Back wheel next.
 
The rear tyre swap went without a hitch, after all the old tyre was just 26 years old :).
Next up is the fuel system. I thought this would be straight forward as the bike started and idled well. This was the inside of the carb!



One side of the float had filled with fuel. The pictures flatter it's condition. I'm amazed it even ran. Parts are all available, so a new float and gaskets are on the way. It was also a good excuse to finally get myself an ultrasonic cleaner, so that's on it's way as well.
In the meantime I'm draining the tank. The fuel smells bad and in the reserve position nothing flows from the tap, so a flush is in order. Depending how bad it is inside I may use POR15 sealer as I have had great results with this in the past.
 
Had one of those as a sprogg in '75!. Same colours.

Handled and went quite well for a 150 but unreliable as the voltage regulator was a bit iffy, but as long as the battery was charged I didn't care. Earles type front forks, push in key, all enclosed chain, cor luv-a-duck.

Still have the bar end indicators in my box of "things that might be useful" (42 years on :D). Left it with a mate called Leigh Barrett in Worcestershire - probably still there!

Fluff
 
Just perfect for the Distinguished Gentlemans Ride :thumb2

OMG….beauty is definately in the beholders eye.:eek:

:barf:barf:barf:barf:barf

Saw a couple last weekend at Newark show grounds. nope, i prefer the vespa's.

Thought it was pretty compulsory for any bug eyed GS owners to accept unusal looking bikes as the norm........;);):D
 
Carb ultrasonically cleaned and new Jets and float fitted. Just over £15 for parts. Bloody expensive these bikes!
The inside of the tank took some cleaning bit eventually all the internal rust was removed. I used POR15 to seal it and stop future rusting.

 
You can get a modern magdyno generator that outperforms the old system and does away with the waft about breaker points.
Brother had one on his Coffin tank ETZ 250. It really did start and go better as the spark timing was correct.

My Saxon 300 got only about 10,000 from a drive chain. Cost wasn’t an issue (5/8x3/8 plain roller chain is cheap) but it was a pain in the arse (messy) job to replace.

Scot oiler can’t be fitted to the back as the sprocket is fully enclosed in a cast case. So I fitted the drip feed to the front sprocket. And the oiler itself up by the headstock. After 17K miles the 1/2 worn chain had not been touched - no stretch - no adjustment needed. It was also less messy as I could see the oil level dropping so no need to over dose it. I believe feeding oil to the unloaded side of the chain was more effective than Scot’s usual method. And neater.
Allen’s from Nottingham offer Mikuni carb conversions. They work very well indeed. Not period of. Purse but you can keep the original packed away for posterity.
 
Thanks Bendy.
The conversion from points is well known in the MZ world. Powerdynamo is the popular one but it's £250. A new set of points is £3.99. It does also replace the rest of the charging system, but apart from ageing mechanical regulators, it's a pretty good set up on it's own.
The Mikuni carb conversion is also well know, infact I did it to my ETZ250. Not cheap at £150 but it does make starting more reliable, but I wouldn't do it again. Its not available for my bike in question in this thread. Indeed, the MZ BVF carb works well enough as it is fortunately :)
As for the chain, I'm changing mne to a premium brand. That cost £14.99 :). I won't be doing big miles on this one. Being enclosed you really don't need a Scottoiler.
 
Thanks Bendy.
The conversion from points is well known in the MZ world. Powerdynamo is the popular one but it's £250. A new set of points is £3.99. It does also replace the rest of the charging system, but apart from ageing mechanical regulators, it's a pretty good set up on it's own.
The Mikuni carb conversion is also well know, infact I did it to my ETZ250. Not cheap at £150 but it does make starting more reliable, but I wouldn't do it again. Its not available for my bike in question in this thread. Indeed, the MZ BVF carb works well enough as it is fortunately :)

Totally agree :thumb

Having run MZ's for years, toured Europe on them, me, my father and my two kids .... don't fix what aint broke :D

Correctly set up you can't beat the standard set up. Always started, always run sweetly :thumb

:beerjug:

Edit ... as an aside, the standard carb does the job admirably, but my father's 125 had a persistent problem of NOT running sweetly. He tried everything. Eventually I took over the bike ... the standard carb (my dad had had it in bits several times looking for the poor running fault) on close examination, float bowl off, turned the carb upside down, the 'tunnel' leading to the air mixture screw, was rough cast. Close examination with an eye glass revealed that the alloy of the tunnel was porous, allowing air in irrespective of the air screw setting. A second hand carb soon sorted it and normal service resumed :D

Lovely bikes :thumb

:beerjug:
 
Recommissioning continues with the replacement chain and a good pair of chain gaiters fitted. I was half expecting to find black and corroded wiring at the dynamo, but it is remarkably clean. Even the points are good with no pitting.
Next stage is sorting the throttle out. It's similar to the old Honda C50/70/90 types with an internal worm drive on the throttle grip. It doesn't want to spring closed; great as a simple cruise control I guess :) .

 
Posh new regulator fitted today. All straight forward and now charging the new gel battery at a healthy and stable 7.3 volts. I had to add a piggy back crimp to suit the new regulator and on stripping back a section of old wiring was pleased to find the copper wires still shiney and like new. Not bad for 46 year old wiring :D
I also adapted the throttle to use an MZ TS250 twist grip and TS125 cable as the original worm drive throttle system was always a poor design that resisted all attempts to close on it's own when releasing the throttle.
Finally I fitted a new front brake cable, just to be on the safe side as the old one was a little worn.
She is about ready for it's first (and last as it will be MOT free from May :) ) MOT test.

 
Just wanted to update this. The little 150 has been doing lots of local runs and is a joy to ride. It also gets a lot of attention. Pic here from Ramsgate pier :)
 


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