Page 1 of 3

ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 12:01 pm
by Lone-Wolf
Wotcha.

I'm new here, but have owned MZs in the past.
It all started off with aSupa 5 which sort of got me back into two strokes - I owned a few Bantams in my youth ( and have now come back to Bantams too ).
I rather liked the Supa 5, but preferred the 12 volt electrics and oil pump of the ETZ 250 . . . so I replaced the Supa 5 with anETZ 250

Things went well up to the point, when on Halloween 2009, some careless car driver almost took off my left leg. The resultant injuries meant my left foot no longer had any up or down movement - this is not a good thing if your gear lever is on the left. Sadly I sold the ETZ to a fellow bike club member, who incidentally still uses the bike on a regular basis.

Now in September of this year I was offered another ETZ. This one had been standing for quite a few years, but luckily the spark plug had been left in. I went and looked, and for the amount the fellow wanted for it, I couldn't refuse . . . . so out came the trailer and I once more became an MZ owner.
The engine had seized due to being left standing. I poured a mixture of diesel, penetrating oil, petrol and two stroke oil down the plug hole and left it for a day. The next day I heated the barrel with a hot air paint stripping gun and turned the back wheel with the bike in gear. Eventually it did the trick. A new plug and points followed. The carb was removed an thoroughly cleaned . . . a bit of fettling and the bike fired up. I even managed to get the clutch plates to free up.

The next thing was to make some kind of hand operated gear change. Using an old push/pull twistgrip and a few other bits I managed to get something that worked . . . . whether it will work well is another question.

Anyroad - enough of my rambling for now . . . . but be warned, there will be more to follow :lol:

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:19 pm
by Tony the Skin
Welcome from Lancashire. Looking forward to hearing more and perhaps seeing it.

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 5:19 pm
by therealche
Gear change looks interesting! I know MZ actually made a hand gear change for the TS models, not sure about the ETZs

Once you get infected by the MZ bug, you never get rid of it!

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:52 pm
by Lone-Wolf
therealche wrote:Gear change looks interesting! I know MZ actually made a hand gear change for the TS models, not sure about the ETZs

Once you get infected by the MZ bug, you never get rid of it!


Wotcha.

I've seen the MZ hand change listed in the parts book . . . . it's very similar to the one I made for my Drifter. DRIFTER HAND CHANGE

The main problem with this sort of mechanism is the fact you have to use your right hand to operate the lever - when changing down a gear you can't blip the throttle, this results in a very clunky downshift and I don't suppose it does the gearbox any good.

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:53 pm
by Lone-Wolf
Tony the Skin wrote:Welcome from Lancashire. Looking forward to hearing more and perhaps seeing it.


Wotcha.

Oh . . . pictures will follow :D

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 6:16 pm
by Lone-Wolf
Wotcha.

Well the ETZ went for its maiden voyage today. The cable operated hand change worked . . . OK, it needs a little fettling, but the idea's a good 'un.

Sadly the bike never made it home. I suspect an electrical fault. I ended up having to get my VW trike and trailer and bring the ETZ home.

I will perform the autopsy tomorrow :D . . . .guessing a low tension wire off somewhere along the line.

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 7:43 pm
by therealche
Here's hoping it's something easy!

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 8:21 am
by Lone-Wolf
therealche wrote:Here's hoping it's something easy!


Wotcha.

Right - pulled the fuel pipe off - plenty of petrol and it flowed freely. Took the plug out - nice healthy blue spark.
Put the plug back in . . . . .and the bike started first kick. Bloody MZs :D

I'll check over everything during the week.

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:31 pm
by therealche
See it just wanted some attention!

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:29 pm
by Lone-Wolf
Wotcha.

Ah - back again. . . . .and another year to play with.

Now this 'ere MZ started up easily, but would only run for about thirty seconds before cutting out. Leave it a minute or so and it would fire up just fine - run for thirty seconds or so and stop again.
This had me scratching my head for a while, then I remembered something about fake NGK plugs - and I had treated the bike to a new plug - so out came the new plug and in went the original one. Bike runs fine now.

On the hand change front, it's looking like it's not going to work. If you set it up to give easy movement, then you have to rotate the twistgrip a good 90 degrees or so - if you set it up for minimal movement, then you have to put too much effort in and changing gear becomes hard work.

This calls for plan "B" - I'll see if I can find a way of making a crossover shaft and converting the bike to right foot shift.

All good fun eh ?

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 4:52 pm
by Lone-Wolf
Wotcha.

Here we go - the "scooter" type gear change didn't work all that well, so it was on to plan "B" - a right foot shift.

ETZ RIGHT FOOT GEAR CHANGE CONVERSION

So far, so good.
A full road test will follow . . . . . as soon as I get the bike on the road. :-D

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:13 pm
by Lone-Wolf
Wotcha.

Plan "B" was a success . . . .bike is now MOT'd and insured . . .only need to tax it and away I go :smt026

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:14 pm
by DAVID THOMPSON
the odd foot shift has a good effect on some one nicking it maybe he will get mixed up and hit
a brick wall
where i live they just steal 4 wheelers

enjoy the bike and stay warm till spring ...

dave

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:48 am
by Eric Frith
Try using Silkolene light gear oil for the gearbox, it makes finding neutral a whole lot easier.

Re: ETZ 250 owner . . . . again

PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:32 am
by Guesi
Sounds like a synthetic oil.
This will kill the clutch :-)