Introducing myself

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hello everyone,

after lurking for I think almost two years, I decided to do things properly and register. As is usual in these circumstances, I'll spend a few lines to introduce myself.

I'm an Italian, living in London (UK). The nickname, for those wondering, means "the ugly prince", you can shorten it to IPB if you want to avoid all that typing. It's the same I use on a couple of Italian-language bike forums I am registered with, and I thought that keeping it in the original form would be more consistent and easier to remember.
But enough about me, let's talk bikes, and MZ in particular.
I bought a silver 1000S in May 2006 from Gardner and White, of Stoke Goldington, near Newport Pagnell (where they used to build Aston Martins, before moving to Gaydon). I've done two seasons on it, a bit more than 11000 miles in total. I'm not going again into the bike's good points and bad points, suffice it to say it has given me some of the best biking moments ever, at times even better than the beloved Thunderace I had until 2005. I've made very few mods to it: 17/45 sprockets, R&G crash bungs (about to be replaced) and a Bagster tank cover to fix a map holder. Plus the base of an Oxford Humpback soft bag tied to the rear seat, it makes loading and unloading the luggage very easy. I use Continental Sport Attack tyres, nothing wrong with the standard Metz M1s but I wanted to try the Contis, and I have not been disappointed.

The MZ is my long distance and WE toy, and it doesn't get used in winter. When the end of November comes, I take it to G&W for storage, and take it back at the beginning of March. This year a slight variation on the plan took place. I got side-swiped by another guy while doing a track day at Rockingham; both the bike and me slid in the grass, and when I got up I realised it was not going to be an easy fix. Nose cone, Headlamp, the whole left handlebar, clutch reservoir, silencer...the whole left side of the bike was a mess (despite hitting me from behind and almost breaking my shoulder, the guy didn't even offer me the money for my taxi home. Nice moral compass mate, hope to be around to watch the action if you ever get paid back).
Anyway, I've got all the spares, including new GSG-moto crash bungs, which look far more solid than the R&Gs, and the dealer is ready to do his job. After Xmas he'll put the whole lot back together, and by March the bike should be rideable again.

I am a slow rider, never scraped the pegs or got to the very edge of the tyres. Also, I have scant knowledge of Mz's history and can't claim to have been a fan of them since I was aged 6. I bought the 1000S simply because it looked to me like a proper and manageable sport-tourer, powerful enough, fast enough, confortable, solid, practical. And it's a beautiful, uncommon bike, which is always good (I got stares and lots of questions even in Germany, where they should know about it).

That's it, I think I've bored you stiff so I'll stop and it's almost time to go home for me. Thanks for reading, and have a good evening/day.

Ride Safe,

[OLDMTNCARVER]

IPB,
Help me out, how about RS (Ride safe)!
Anyway, really appriciate your imput about the 1000, there's one available on this side of the pond and I shoudn't even mention it other than, IF...
Keep the format/thread going with goodness!
Best wishes,
OMC (Old Mountain Carver, central Ca.)
Robert

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi Robert,

>> Anyway, really appriciate your imput about the 1000,

Apologies for being a bit dumb, but you are asking me for my opinion on the 1000S, right ?
I just want to make sure, before I bore everyone with my writings.

Ride Safe

[OLDMTNCARVER]

Definitely,
I've never even seen one in person.
And I'd hope that MZ would get their business back in order and back over here.
Time will tell...

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

Hi Robert,

Ok, I'm going to give you my opinion on the bike, with apologies to all those who have already heard this from one source or another. I'll start with bad points, then move on to the better stuff.

Bad points.

- the engine requires commitment. The combination of displacement, architecture and long final drive makes the MZ engine a demanding one. In character, it's the exact opposite of those smooth four inlines from Japan, always smooth and polite no matter what the revs. This engine demands revs, and will not pull long gears at will. You have to feed it the right gear in every circumstance, and keep it revving. 2000 revs is a minimum even in first gear, and the threshold goes up with every gear. Hence, I will not use 2nd gear below 2500, 3rd below 3000 and so on until 6th, which I don't use unless I've got 5000+revs on the dial. This is not a strict rule but gives you an idea of what to expect. Basically, drive this bike lazily and it will let you know immediately: the engine will shake and hunt and the whole bike will skip and hop. But if you keep low gears and use all the revs you will get the best results, from midrange on.

- the bike is an absolute pig in town. Very tight turning circle, weight on wrists seating position, stroppy engine with long gearing, all conjures to make negotiating traffic a royal pain in the backside. To all this, add the fact that that engine runs pretty hot, two minutes sitting in the traffic will get both fans going. Really, this is NOT a bike for town work, do it and yourself a favour and avoid traffic if you can.

- Power delivery. There are a couple of niggling issues with the way the engine works. On a minor note, I find that sometimes the engine will keep revving for a moment after I close the throttle, for example when I approach a bend. It's like the engine management takes its time to think about it, and then accepts my desire to slow down. Not a real problem, but the first few times it can be disconcerting. A bit more disappointing is the mute way the engine reaches the upper parts of the range. From 4500 to 7500 revs there is a nice surge of power, but the delivery becomes strangely unrewarding from 8000 to the red line. I mean, after that nice mid-range you would expect a final flurry, a lunge to the limiter but ...no, the engine simply gets more frantic. The bike shifts, no doubt about it, but the way this is accomplished is a bit too polite.

- reliability. I had to replace the front discs because they warped. It was done under warranty, after about 6000 miles, so no complaint. More serious was a crack in the exhaust. The weld linking the bottom of the downpipe to the Catalyzer on the right silencer just opened up. I think this must have been a combination of vibrations and extreme heat after some long runs, as that region of the exhaust is now nicely red, like the surface of a brick (sort of). I had the exhaust re-welded and no problems since, so maybe it was just a bad one-off. I also had a flat battery, but that was my fault for leaving the lights on. Everything else has worked fine.

- The mirrors are useless. Very good position, very good view, very good adjustability...but they shake so much at Motorway speed that you can't see what's going on behind you. All right, you can have an educated guess about it, but really, they should be much better.


Right, and now the good points


- a good long distance bike. The fairing is very protective, the seating position good for a sports-tourer (I'm 6ft), the range acceptable thanks to the 20lt tank (130-150 miles before the reserve light comes on). Also it's one of the very few bikes on the market with decent space under the passenger seat. And the saddle is split into two pieces, another useful feature. The throttle is light, the clutch much less so, the instrument panel clear and with most of the information you need (maybe a second trip would be good).

- very good standard equipment and components. Steel braided hoses all around, hydraulic clutch, stainless steel exhaust, back wheel speedo pick-up, adjustable levers, fully adjustable suspension all around (Marzocchi at the front, Sachs at the rear). Really, there is everything you need, and all of it is good quality.

- a really involving and satisfying bike to ride. Really, this was what convinced me to buy the bike, and it's by far the best aspect of the whole package. The bike is stable, heavy of steering but extremely accurate and precise in translating your inputs into a line on the ground. I'll say it again, stability and precision are the name of the game here, and I can say there is something great and deeply rewarding in feeling a bike this big and heavy following your commands so faithfully, changing poise and holding a line with such a beautiful combination of fleetnees and tenacity. It's a bike that involves you in a sense that what you get out of it is exactly what you put in; line, speed, angle of lean through a bend, you tell it what you want and she simply executes, translating your inputs into results without adding or taking anything away. Due to the engine delivery and the slow steering, really tight stuff will not suit it very well. For what I know of it, some section of the Tail of the Dragon would be a bit too small for her, but the road down the Tioga Pass through Yosemite would be a good one to have a blast (if not for the speed limits, that is).

What I say to all the people that ask me is: go and have a good, unbiased test ride. Avoid towns, take her to a nice road with good tarmac (default suspension settings are just a tad too harsh) and medium-fast flowing bends, and enjoy the precision, the feedback, the sheer feel-good sensation she will bring to you.

Then, only then, you can consider all the potential pitfalls and drawback of owning a bike from an obscure manufacturer without backup in your country. But before you do that, you have to ride the bike.

Sorry about the long text, I hope to be a bit more concise in the future.

Ride Safe,