New guy saying hello and showing rebuild, with a couple of Q

[liam9188]

Hi guys, I'm Liam and this is my ETZ. I bought it a couple of months back and I've stripped and began rebuilding it on my patio. The weather has slowed things down, but we're getting there. It's a 300cc bike, rusted to hell and non-running due to wiring issues, but had good compression when I bought it. My first full rebuild project, but I do have a reasonable amount of experience working on bikes, having owned 9 in my 5 years of riding.

To give you an idea of how it will look once complete...

The one issue I've yet to resolve is with my wheels. My spokes are heavily corroded, and the front hub has all the paint peeling off. I'm tempted to try to put 17inch wheels on, perhaps from another bike. I know the racers us RG125 and TZR wheels, but does anyone know if is a rear which will allow me to use the chain guard and speedo cable?

[DAVID THOMPSON]

the rotax powered 500cc saxon tour has an alloy wheel that is 16 in on rear and 18 on the front
not sure if the stuff on the rear swinging arm will interchange
and where i live 16 inch tires for the rear are hard to find
a good wheelman can do 17inch rims front and rear and then there are bunches of tires that fit
but very few of them are tube type tires... use of 18 inch rims may be better
dave

[arry_b]

AFAIK, there are no wheel conversions that let you keep the chainguard and speedo drive. You've probably already seen that the rear tyre doesn't look to be the right size for the bike - should be 3.50 x 18.

The 18inch ETZ wheels are the easiest to find tyres for and handle beter than the smaller 16" wheels. For road use, a 17" conversion is more pain than gain.

The wheels are easily respoked, one spoke at a time. It's a slow process if you're repainting the hub at the same time, but gives good results. i.e. remove four spokes (equally spaced around the rim), clean and repaint that bit of hub (small wire brush on a drill and modelling paint brush); let it dry, refit spokes, check for trueness, repeat until finished. OSt2Rad have spoke kits, or google for central wheel in the midlands.

[Eric Frith]

I re-spoked my ETZ wheels with stainless. They are one of the easiest wheels to do.

[liam9188]

Cheers for the replies. I have looked at lots of different tyres, and I think I shall stick with my original wheels and clean them up. There are some decent ones for these bikes! Either respoke them myself, or have them done professionally.
Any other comments on the bike?

[arry_b]

It looks like a good solid basis for a rebuild. Check the "foot" under the engine for rust, deal with any you find now before the stand stop and footrests fall off. That's the only bit that suffers from corrosion.

Tyres - Mitas punch well above their price on MZs, especially 16" wheeled bikes. There's a much bigger choice available for the 18 inchers like yours, and so long as you avoid the no-name Chinese imports, you'll be fine, although Michelin M45s (not a cheap tyre) go a funny shape on the front and upset the cornering. The new Michelin Pilot Sporty is a great tyre if you enjoy the odd bit of going mental around the bends.

If the shock adjusters are seized, avoid the temptation to put a pipe over the end and force them around, they'll snap straight off. Search on here for a way of getting them off to clean them up and reassemble properly.

Fit a blade fuse box. That's a *must*, the originals corrode and will leave you stranded. Fit a halogen headlight bulb.

Once you're done, you'll have probably the best all-rounder MZ made. the disk brake, oil pump and 12V electrics make it easier to live with than the TS250/1 (although the engine is sweeter on a TS). Mine was equally at home pottering to work and back, or touring around Europe.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

"Fit a halogen headlight bulb"
after you get it nice you want to see where your going on it...

Gunther Six told me
he has the reflectors for h4 bulbs
oem MZ
so if you need one
http://www.mzsimson.de

dave
by the way it is best to use a relay to switch hi/low beams on a h4 bulb
as there hard on the handlebar mounted switch lots of current
details of how to wire it on request
dave
(OR)the wiring drawings for a bmw r75/6 or r75/7 1975 to 77may show how also ???
it been a few years since i was doing things like that

[arry_b]

There are halogen bulbs available here in the UK with a P45T base that fit straight into the standard light unit normally fitted to ETZs. The wattage is the same as standard, so no need to change any wiring as the load is the same.

I ran one for five years in my old ETZ251, and daughter has one in her ETZ150 at the moment. Fitted with that bulb, it's a better light unit than the rectangular H4 unit in my 301 Saxon Tour.

I've also got a 1991 ETZ125 which is fitted with a round P43T based H4 reflector. It's not dissimilar in output to the earlier light units, but there is a better range of bulbs available which give more light for the same power input.

FWIW, any of the above, even with incandescent bulbs will out perform a standard Skorpion Traveller headlight - they set a new standard in mediocrity!

'arry

[liam9188]

Cheers guys, I'll have a look into the halogen bulb mod. Always nice to see where you're going!
I shall be looking to run tyres which are fairly sticky to be honest.. As I intend to use the bike for commuting and sunday fun on back roads. My other bike is an Aprilia Tuono 1000, which is great fun but speeds get excessive very quickly. I'm hoping the MZ will be as much fun, but at legal speeds, given the power and handling limitations. Of course, as a 22 year old it will still be ridden like it was stolen