New TS125 owner

[AndyP66]

Merry Christmas to you all

It appears my MZ ownership is going from bad to worse.
My last post was about the gasket on the carb, which I did sort but it failed to improve the running of the bike. So having lost all faith, I decided to send it to a classic bike mechanic at the end of November. I explained the issue with the bike and said I just want it running right so I can ride it. Three weeks later I got it back, at a cost of just over £200. Only to find it’s running worse than before I handed it over.
The tank was taken if cleaned and re sealed, a new fuel tap fitted and was told the float was the cause of the issue and a new one brought. But during fitting the mechanics broke the holding pin for the float. So he fitted a new carb. But it’s a 24N not a 22N. So not once the bike warms up, it won’t rev when I open the throttle and ticks over just above stalling.

Now lost the Will with it.

[Puffs]

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[Gerryman Ts125]

Yea I had a carb off of my Ts 150 on my Ts 125. It ran a little rich. Easily ran once I had put a new air filter on and adjusted the mixture a bit.

Trail and error, is sometimes the only cure for carb or ignition problems. Always carried a spare gapped plug. And set the points up every four months (or 2000 miles or whatever came first). I always took the head off and measured 2.5 - 3mm down, to set up the points, before I made a depth gauge.

[Jay Bee]

I decided to send it to a classic bike mechanic at the end of November. I explained the issue with the bike and said I just want it running right so I can ride it. Three weeks later I got it back, at a cost of just over £200. Only to find it’s running worse than before I handed it over.
Now lost the Will with it.

So it's cost you £200 + to have this incompetent jerk break your original carb. and fit a non-matching replacement ? That's outrageous - and it sounds like the "classic bike mechanic" is a bit of a "classic" himself ! Have you gotten back to him?
I can understand your losing heart ; I feel bad just reading about it, and I'm not the one having his wallet plundered......

[Puffs]

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[AndyP66]

Thanks for the feed back.

Yes I have spoken to the mechanic and he is coming back to collect the bike this weekend. He thinks the need needs setting as he didn’t do it when he fitted the new carb. He was very apologetic to be honest. Before I sent the bike to him I did check other customers feedback, but I am disappointed. But let’s see.

Yes I have the old 22N carb with is the original BVR CARB which I will keep and rebuild at some point.

Fingers crossed it gets sorted

[Jay Bee]

Andy -
I aplogise for being a bit hasty in my initial assessment of the situation. I fully agree with everything Puffs has said, however.
Let's hope your man sorts it.

[AndyP66]

Andy -
I aplogise for being a bit hasty in my initial assessment of the situation. I fully agree with everything Puffs has said, however.
Let's hope your man sorts it.

No offence taken at all.

[Puffs]

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[AndyP66]

Well he came back out yesterday morning. He agreed the carb wasn’t set up right. I had also read another post on here with a similar issue.
Firstly we lowered the needle and very little improvement. On inspection the needle on the 22N is longer than the needle on the 24N, but you can’t swap them as the diameter is different. He lowered the needle to its lowest setting and I did see some improvement on tick over. He did agree that the needle needs to be correct and will be contacting the shop that sold it to him for further advice as he was told it would work on my bike.
Took the bike out for a short ride to test it after it was fully warmed up. Got 300 yards down the road and lost throttle response again and with the throttle closed it was almost stalling so back to square one. He has taken the old carb back to see if he can get it repaired. Anyone got any advice.

[Jay Bee]

Andy -
Sorry to hear of your continued problems.
Last August I said "Don't even think about changing the carb. If you can't sort out the carb. you have (on which the bike has run satisfactorily in the recent past) you will be even further at sea with the unknown quantity of a carb. which was never originally intended for your bike". I think you can now see why....

I think the only satisfactory way out may be a replacment carb. of the correct 22N type.
They are still available new apparently, albeit of the "pattern part" variety. An example :
https://www.ost-moped.de/vergaser-22n2-ts-125-etz-125.html. (This looks like it has a throttle stop screw, as well)
There must be plenty of TS125's still about, and an equal or even greater number broken, if you decide to pursue the seconhand parts route.
Regrettably, none of this would be necessary had your man not broken your original carb.

Other opinions are available.........

[Puffs]

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[AndyP66]

Andy, you say "Anyone got any advice.", but advice about what?

About repairing the carb: I gave some advice, but you haven't actually told us what was broken. Well, you said "the mechanics broke the holding pin for the float", and that would be pin #19 in the drawing above; if that is the problem, a replacement pin would be easily found.
If it's one of the pillars, as I suspect, a repair as outlined may be possible, but it may not be successful on the long term.

About a replacement carb: an original BVF 22 N 1-3 carb will be hard to find. The new pattern (aftermarket) ones will probably be Chinese made (including probably the one JB linked to), but there is no reason why a bike shouldn't run equally well on that too. But you have to set it up right, which can be quite a bit of work. Settings may include the low speed (idle) circuit, the slide cut-out, the needle guide, the needle, the main jet, and the fuel level in the bowl. See the manuals for details.

About 22mm vs 24mm: if set up correctly, it should also run well with a 24mm carb. It might even be marginally quicker (& use more fuel). I say this because when I was a slightly younger boy, I competed in the 50cc MX class. On a 50cc Kreidler, with a 24mm Dell'Orto (as many used). Now if a 50cc 2T can run well on a 24mm carb, I can't see why a 125cc couldn't. Btw, 125 MX bikes of the day used 28 to 34mm carbs (a VM34SS on the YZ125, as I had later). So it is possible.

While a bigger carb might give slightly more top end, at low revs it may actually pull a little less, particularly at fully open throttle.
Anyway, for a TS125 I recommend to stay as close as possible to original, although fitting a 24mm carb shouldn't be a major issue. But it has to be set up properly, and standard settings for the original BVF carbs may not be applicable.

Setting up a carb entails riding by an experienced rider who judiciously tests the engine response, at various RPM ranges & throttle openings, and looking at the plug picture (plug chop). It can take a while.

Sorry about not explaining fully.

Yes it is one of the pillars that hold the pin in place that has broken. He has taken it away to see if he can repair it, but the part is so small I cant see it being done. I do believe the carb needs setting up correctly, and hopefully he will do this. One way oor another its not something I intend to drop, as the bike is worse than when I sent it to him.

I do appreciate you help and advise, as I said in the start of this thread, my knowledge is very limited and thats why I stopped and sent a mechanic

[Puffs]

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[Jay Bee]

Andy's bike is not a Kreidler 50 nor is it a MX'er. If his intention is to ride it like he stole it, WFO everywhere, no problem....
Whilst I agree that theoretically you could get a TS125 to run on any absurdly oversize carb - 34mm ? - you would lose all low-end throttle response, which I believe is the absolute crux of Andy's present problem, isn't it ?
The carb. for which I provided a link is marked "IFA" on one side (suggesting German-made ?) and "FEZ" on the other side (suggesting Turkish ?) - either way, not Chinese. But who knows ?
Interesting that a poster on the link you quoted said "22er Vergaser sind Goldstaub" - gold dust.......