TS250

[sidewaysid123]

HI

New to the site today. I have just got myself a 1974 TS250, I got it into my workshop to discover that there was no battery ( I had a Trophy sport from 1972 to 1975 and covered 60,000 miles on it) but that was in my teenage years, I'm an older crock than the bike now, the question is should I get a spark without the battery??? I seem to remember that MZs can run without one, can someone put me right, I'm going to find a battery tomorrow, and I think it is a 6 volt 4ah jobby. The bike has been stood for over a year, I have taken the tank off and emptied the rotten fuel, cleaned the tap and filter, taken the float bowl off, and blown the jets out, so hopefully, we may see some action tomorrow.

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[sidewaysid123]

Well, a bit confused today. I went and purchased a battery 6volt and fitted it, the battery was supposedly fully charged but when I tried the lights they were quite dim, at that point I thought oh no this bike is 12v, so I took an indicator bulb out to read the voltage, it was 6v. My old MZ in the 70s had a voltage regulator, but this TS has some odd thing with an aluminium heat sink I think ? it looks as if it has been set into some black silicon to prevent vibration and tracking maybe, but I cannot get a spark, does anyone on the forum have any suggestions as what would be the best thing to do? I was thinking of checking the points next, but what is the simplest method to go about checking the wiring for the ignition on one of these.

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[Blurredman]

There is said to be an 'emergency position' on the key.. I don't think this exists..

[sidewaysid123]

The plot thickens, I have just returned home from my workshop where I have spent a couple of hours on the MZ, I took the cover off to see the points, only to discover it is some form of electronic ignition, there was a blue wire coming from the sender, and I followed that only to see it was connected to a green, which went onto a terminal at the square box which may be a rectifier, and from this unit went to a green and a black to the coil, I will post pictures of these units later, I think it is an aftermarket ignition and it has gone pop! Afterwards I went inside the headlamp, and for a bike of it's age it looks very clean and un molested.

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[sidewaysid123]

OK, so this is what the electronic ignition is made up of, the one with the aluminium heat sink I presume is the voltage regulator which replaces the old-style box and lid one, the square thing has a red light that comes on when the pick up is covered at the crank end , The regulator smells of that horrible burnt out electrical, I see those VAPE systems are about 300 quid, could I return to points? I would need a backplate, a regulator and whatever, this cheerful cheap bike is getting expensive.

[sidewaysid123]

That's the thing with a red light on.

[Andy_C]

Looks like it has been converted to electronic ignition - lots more to go wrong.

If it has had that conversion it may also have been converted to 12 volts.

As has already been said the orignal points / coil setup works fine, and would be eay to convert back once you have the bits and pieces needed, these are not too expensive either.

I once had an ETZ 301 and that had the factory electronic ignition which worked fine, I have also had an ETZ 250 that had the standard poits / coil, as does my current TS250.

Sorry cant be more helpful.

[sidewaysid123]

Hi Andy

So what would I need to return to points, and where could I purchase them from, there's nowt on flebay

[Andy_C]

Hi Andy

So what would I need to return to points, and where could I purchase them from, there's nowt on flebay

Probably just need a set of points, the capacitor, and the cam that goes on the end of the crank - best place to enquire is "The MZ Shop" - just google that and you will find the website, run by a bloke called Phil Speakman who is very helpful, might be worth giving him a call before you order anything.

Good luck.

[Blurredman]

I've seen that electronic ignition before.. I can't recall who made it.. It is aftermarket..

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[sidewaysid123]

I Have not had much time to work on the bike due to having to go to Brecon with work, however, I have discovered the thing that was smelling of burn was the regulator ( I have ordered a suitable one) I also discovered that there was no continuity in the HT lead, I took the lead out of the red NGK cap and what looks like a fuse fell out, I presume a suppressor? the lead on it's own was OK, but it is in the bin anyhow, so I hope with a new HT cap and lead, and the regulator changed we may be in with a shout. One other thing is that when I tried the indicators they flashed too quickly, that is usually a bulb blown or the flasher relay, all the bulbs are OK, where can I obtain one of those aluminium 6v units? Thanks for all your help guys, and bye the way I have coming, points set up to convert back if needs be.