HELP - MZ 150

[aekins]

Firstly let me give you a bit of history....this September I am starting a course in motorcycle maintenance as I want to get into restoring classic bikes as well as servicing my newer bike. I thought I would buy a cheap classic that I knew had a good build quality and there were lots of spares available. German bikes were a no-brainer as the germans have a reputation for reliable engineering !!! This bike will be my practise bike whilst I'm on the course and hopefully I will be able to restore it to a good standard.

So I have just bid on ebay for a '77 MZ 150 (Trophy I think) and won it for £75 (British pounds)....and now the reality has just hit me !!

Can someone point me in the direction of service / owners manuals and give me some more info about this bike !!!

Sorry to be vague about the bike, but I bought it on an impulse...did I do well or am I going to regret this purchase ???

Thanks
Andy (newest MZ owner here) Ekins

[manumensa]

Hello Andy!

MZ ES 150/1, you said all : "good build quality and a lot of (cheap) spares available".
Sorry, information in german:

http://www.ostmotorrad.de/mz/es/es1215e/index.html

I like the old MZ but the first in Spain was the ETZ models, spanish motorcycle protectionistic market laws...

Best regards, Manuel.

PD.: In your course of motorcycle maintenance you work with "colourtone (crystal) spark plug"? Can you give me information about this. Thank you.

[TS2Fifty]

PD.: In your course of motorcycle maintenance you work with "colourtone (crystal) spark plug"? Can you give me information about this. Thank you.

Do you mean Gunson's Colourtune? http://www.ahspares.co.uk/products/GUNS ... SC224.aspx

Looks like a neat little tool this, I've never had occasion to try one as I find it satisfactory to adjust mixture by plug deposit colour & how the engine responds. I think that it would be useful for those of us with multi-cylinder bikes or if you were having trouble setting up initially though & it seems good value for money too. I'm not sure, but I would expect it to be available in most good auto-spares shops around europe.

Anyhoo, sorry Andy for the thread hijack & welcome to the forums. As manumensa already mentioned, you just about said it all with good build quality & easy parts availability and I'm sure you'll have very few problems with putting the bike back in a decent state of repair. (I have a '77 TS250/1 which had stood outside for 15/20 years and there wasn't a seized bolt on it, despite the engine being locked solid!) Depending on where you are based, Fred Rogers of Winsford may be able to help (I think he still deals with MZ spares & info.) If you want, I'll dig his phone number out for you.

[aekins]

Thanks guys....I'm a restoration virgin so going to take this one very very slowly.

here's a picture...as you can see the main problem is the smashed/missing headlight assembly:

BIKE.JPG (84.81 KiB) Viewed 4082 times

[manumensa]

Hello!

Andy, photo MZ TS 150, look very good.

When I read "Trophy" I thought MZ ES 150/1, two models build in 1977.

http://www.ostmotorrad.de/mz/ts/e150/index.html

Thank you, Dan. Plug deposit we said "café con leche" (coffe with milk) is a good indicative of right carburation...but my curiosity is big since I know "colortune". Is not easy available for me, I never found it. Thank you por AH Spares.

[TS2Fifty]

Looks like you've done pretty well there for the money. Does the engine seem good - not siezed, good compression etc? (I assume you've not been able to see if it runs as the ignition switch would have been on the headlamp shell.) It does look like a very tidy example for it's age, is the speedo. present to give an idea of mileage? It's just got a look about it like it may not have done many miles at all, even the tyres look like the O.E. Pneumant's. (If they are original then it goes without saying that they should be replaced due to rubber degradation, on this front I'd recommend fitting Heidenau for original looks, they're pretty much the same pattern as original and grip about ten times better too!)
Hope the project goes well for you, certainly doesn't look like you'll have too much trouble getting up and running, maybe you'll even end up buying something tattier for the course if it's as good as the pic. suggests!

Manuel, If I could trust the postal service to deliver any further than I could throw I'd say send a cheque & I'll get a Colourtune to send to you but as you know, I've had "one or two" problems with mail not reaching me recently. To be honest I'm surprised that you can't find one in Spain, I would have thought it was a popular tool across Europe. (maybe British DIY motorists just need a bit more help than average?! )

[manumensa]

Hello!

Yes, my ETZ aspect is worse!

Dan, I try in google and found in Spain Colortune http://www.bricoclasic.com . Here is not much popular, you would see the faces in the shops when I asked for colortune kit " ...crystal spark plug??"
Thank you, Dan, I try in the shop in line in Spain, if no available, I send you a PM.

Best regards, Manuel.