Newbie with a question about Wilf Green trail bike special

[Trotsky]

Hi there folks, first post on this forum so hello to all. I have owned numerous MZ's over the years from ES250 Trophy, ES Trophy Sport, an early TS 250 4 speed (with the 16" front wheel), several Supa 5's (still my favourite of the lot to ride and often ridden in favour of my bigger bikes and not just as a winter standby) and currently a ts 125/150 trail bike. It is that one I am wanting to pick peoples brains on. I have had the bike (A reg) for about 20 years and for a lot of that time it has just sat at the back of my garage however my 9 year old is bike mad so I thought I would set about re commissioning it and give him a taste of working in the garage on his first bike project. I am wanting to find out a little history about it though. It is a Wilf Green model as far as I know (I was not the first owner) and has covered just 5000 milkes from new and is labelled on the side panels (which are fibreglass and a totally different shape to standard) as a Pathfinder. The tank is also very different from the normal MZ one of that era. It has a very neat alloy silncer which again is nothing like standard MZ and it has a 21" front wheel and 18" rear. The mudguards ar fibreglass as well. The bike is original as it came from the showroom and has not been a special created afterward. I do know this as I knew the guy who sold it to me and he bought it from new. Does anyone out there know anything about this model? I would really like to know something of the history and would be grateful of any replies. We do not live far from Sheffield and I believe that is where the first owner purchased it from. When back on the road it will be used up in the Dales and the Peak District for a bit of green laning fun. Many thanks for taking the time to read this overlong post, cheers John (and 9 year old Jake!!).

[Skorpion]

In the latest MZ Riders Club magazine, MZ Rider, there is mention of the 125 Pathfinder, and it says the petrol tank is from a Greeves Pathfinder ?

sorry no other info.

[billr]

MZ History lesson
Start here. Interesting read.
Looks like Wilf Green was a dealer in Sheffield.
Good luck with the restore, I know you both will enjoy.
Bill R

[Triviaboy]

Hi T rotsky

Glad to hear there is one of those all in one piece a very good friend of mine actually owned one of those pathfinders about six years ago ! he went on acouple of rallys with me M.Z. rallys of course , unfortunatly it got stolen we found it again but it was all but burned out leaving my pal inconsolable , we both have varios M.Z two strokes and in fact now have a couple of trailie type bikes there is a picture of petes bike on the front of one of the M.Z rider mags from april i think , anyway the fuel tank on your bike is a wussle tank the same one we have on our bikes , hope you get it back on the road i would love to see it some time maybee you should have a look at the m.z riders club web site or are you a member ? Good luck with the restoration a very interesting bike.

[Trotsky]

Thanks guys for the replies. After a lot more research I am beginning to realise that there were perhaps not too many of these made. I have seen a couple of photos from a Derbyshire rally with two bikes which were labelled pathfinders (a blue one and a green one) but they did not have the different side panels etc though were lovely looking bikes. It would be interesting to know just how many were made and how popular they proved with owners. I am not a great one for 'originality' owning a 67 bonneville and a Guzzi Lemans as well as getting pretty tired of folk coming up and sayinf 'thats the wrong brake plate for the year' etc, but as this one is original and only requires a light restoration to be usable then I may well keep it that way. Any other info I would be most grateful for. And does anybody know of a wheel builder in Yorkshire that could lace me in some stainless spokes at a reasonable price?

[Triviaboy]

Yes those bikes you saw in the pictures at Derbyshire would be my bike and my mates! they do not say pathfinder on the sidepanels though , mine is the blue one peters is the green one ( he copied mine ) , the blue one is the original it is a one off made as a dispatch bike for the rhodesion army but they never ordered them it came from concord motorcycles they bought it from c.c.m i believe and they put it together , if you need any pictures of a pathfinder peter has got quite a few. we are always at m.z rallies usually on m.z's ,

[Trotsky]

Hi there Triviaboy, they are very nice looking machines. How do they cope off road? If you or Peter did want the different type of side panels as fitted to the pathfinder I have then I do know a guy up here whose business is fibreglass mouldings and I could always nip and ask him how much it would cost to make using mine as mouldings. I would really like to see some piccies, my email address is john_richard_brook@hotmail.com . Do you know much about the history of the pathfinder model? Years produced, numbers produced etc. How long have you had your bike and how do you rate it? Cheers John.

[Trotsky]

A big thanks to Triviaboy and Pete who are sending me some pics of Pete's original Pathfinder. Any info on this model from anyone else would be really gratefully recieved. Cheers John.

[cat]

Please send me the pics! namavadhuta AT gmail.com
ohh, if i was there, i'd come and buy it from you! I wish i could get one of those old MZ.

[Trotsky]

Hi Cat, dont have any pics yet as the bike is in the garage (20 years now and counting!! but not for much longer) along with all the other projects and I have been too busy in the last month or so to get round to it. Triviaboy and Pete both have MZ 125 trail bikes of which Triviaboys was apparently a despach bike originally headed for Zimbabwe. Perhaps some of them did make their way out there and its certainly a lot closer to home for you! I will post pics when the bike comes out and also when it is finished. Its not a huge job as it is complete and original but I do want stainless spokes and everything ship shape on it before it sees service. Triviaboy sent me an email and seemed to think it may even be the last one left. I hope not as that would seem a shame but I dont even know how many were made. I think I just got lucky really as I bought it from a friend over 20 years ago who had purchased it new from Sheffield and only ever did 5000 miles on it. I had several other bikes at the time so it never got pressed into service and then kids came along and my biking and many other pursuits were severely curtailed. I've taught the youngest, Jake, who is 9 to ride and he loves trials so it seemed appropriate to do the trail bike thing. I always harboured the ambition to do Moscow on an MZ and did have two TS250's which were set to be made into trail trim for that journey with a good mate of mine but as I said the pitter patter of tiny feet put paid to that for both me and my mate. Those bikes are unfortunately long gone as the other half insisted that selling all the bikes would pay for a new kitchen. I did stick out on the Bonnie, the LeMans and the MZ Pathfinder though. At that time I had an ES250 Trophy and an ES250 Trophy Sport as well. Wish I still had them cos ceramic hob cookers dont really float my boat! Best of luck if you search for something similar out there but why dont you follow Pete's lead and convert one. All the best, cheers John.

[veedub1955]

Was interested in this as Ive not seen one before, is this yours Triviaboy?

[Trotsky]

Hi there, there has been a bit of a change of plan as Jake has now a TY80 Yamaha trials bike so am considering selling the Pathfinder. Any ideas how much I shouls ask or wether it is worth putting it on ebay? Tank needs spraying (no dents) and if I do keep it I would respoke the wheels and put a new battery on it but other than that a good clean up would see it back and roadworthy. I may keep it yet but am unsure as so many projects on, Any advice gratefully recieved, cheers John

[DAVID THOMPSON]

always remember if you sell it then want one like it again..
the price will almost always be more than you got for the last one
dave