New to me 1995. MZ Country 500

[Little General]

All went well removing the wheels. Easier than any bike with a chain I ever owned. The tires came off without much struggle using some small tire irons even though they were 14 year old tires. I used my hydraulic press and a piece of wood to pop the beads. I saw that on YouTube. My new tires are arriving today unless FedEx screws it up again. My welded oil pan repair was a thumbs up to Wood Brothers Racing for the repair job. Here are a few pics.

[Little General]

I got the new tires put on today and my air filter mod . I think Im ready to put some kilometers on her when the weather breaks.

[Puffs]

Following a biased and flawed moderator choice (someone posting aggressive personal attacks is rewarded, while my technical posts are removed - behind my back & without any justification!), I have withdrawn from this forum.

[Little General]

There is very little clearance between the exhaust pipe and the chain enclosers , I was hoping they would not rub.

[Little General]

I went for a pretty long cool ride today on my MZ. New tires with balance beads rode pretty smooth for the rough country roads we have here. After 20 min or so I had to lower the idle at a stop sign. Hopefully I won’t have to raise it next time. Acceleration is very linear and I’m not sure about the speedo , 60 mph seemed like 80. Hard to see small Mph numbers Since the Speedo reads in kilometers. My iPhone has a speedometer app. I may check it next time. I understand why the brochure says it’s a Country and meant to be ridden in the country not the autobahn. Lol. As soon as I got back I pulled out my BMW 310 gs and ride the same route. Big difference. But I guess it should be. If I had to sell one it would be the MZ. Or list both and keep the bike that doesn’t sell first.

[Puffs]

Following a biased and flawed moderator choice (someone posting aggressive personal attacks is rewarded, while my technical posts are removed - behind my back & without any justification!), I have withdrawn from this forum.

[Little General]

I didn't think about the fact I own 2 German motorcycles ...I am of German heritage. Makes one wonder if my ancestor would have stayed .........

[Puffs]

Well, German brands at least. The GS was designed in München yet made in India, and while the MZ was made in Zschopau, that Rotax engine came from Austria. But I recently learned from their website that Rotax was absorbed in Fichtel & Sachs at some stage, which makes the MZ pretty much Made-in-Germany.

[Little General]

Well, broke out the MZ today and it would not start. Pulled the plug and had a weak spark. Not enough to get it to fire, not even with either. I went to Rex in the UK and used their coil testing recommendations to check all the ignition components. Waiting to see what they say. The cable going from the coil to the plug itself looks questionable and I may see if I can replace it. I would like to get the bike running good enough to trust it for a long ride. Right now I stay within walking distance to home.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

replace the wire and plug cap....26 years makes it old stock
dave

[Puffs]

Following a biased and flawed moderator choice (someone posting aggressive personal attacks is rewarded, while my technical posts are removed - behind my back & without any justification!), I have withdrawn from this forum.

[Little General]

Dave, my hat is of to you. I was in the process of removing all the wiring behind the battery to remove the stator and when I got to the ground under that little tab you wrote about, I went to the forum to re read what you said about checking it and I read what you said about the plug cap and wire. I took the wire and cap off a Honda CT90 I had on my lift table and the MZ fired right up. I switched back to the old plug cap only and got nothing. Back to the Honda cap and Houston, we have ignition. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

i started with a crystal set in 1954 and was riding an electric assisted bicycle by 1962
us navy gun mount power drives electrical in 67 68 ham radio in 75 most of my knowledge from reading

if i cant get it fixed i usually know someone that can fix it
which is good but i do not work on TV sets or refrigerators

working in dads job shop kept me busy when i was in school

then my ham radio buddies got me into computers

[Little General]

Ok Dave ,here’s another question. It seems I have a 1k olhmn spark plug cap on my MZ. Very hard to find and even harder to find out why a 5k olhm plug cap won’t work. I did find a bmw shop in MA that sells plug wires for old bmws. I don’t need 2 so I am going to call Monday morning to see if I can buy one.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

it a part installed to keep the spark plug out of your am table radio an tv set

there is a mystery bunch of wires in the system on this bike with rotax motor that i think was
included to also fight the problem

i noticed the Germans did some odd things to radios in ww2 before and after the war
they did it differently but it worked