This is my MZ TS 150 trail bike. It started off many years ago the same as the shed, previously pictured on here, a standard road going bike. When I got it the machine had been half converted into a trail bike. The previous owner had no further need for it and I am a sucker for a poorly motorcycle so I bought it. It's return to proper working order has been a labour of love for sure and is ongoing. It is no exaggeration to say that almost everything on the bike was either broken, worn out, bodged or a combination of all three. It got to my house under its own power, but frankly I was surprised it managed that short journey and if it was a horse, it would surely have been glue many years ago. Since that time various parts of the bike have been painted, a 21" front wheel and high level mudguard fitted and dozens of small repairs carried out before putting the bike through its MOT test and getting it back on the road.
I was skint at this time and so needed to fix or replace the totally worn out engine upon the cheap. I managed to buy a complete engine bottom end for a tenner with the side covers missing and worn out primary drive. The piston and barrel from the original engine were usable and I had enough bits to make up another primary drive and fit the engine covers in my spares collection. I had to buy a few circlips and gaskets and the total cost for an engine that ran pretty well was £13. Result. However it was all a bit too good to last and the the engine which had obviously been stood for years before I got to it started to pump gearbox oil out the breather hole in the crankcase after a few hundred miles. As this is an early 150 engine with the main bearings lubricated by the gearbox oil the main bearing seals are inboard of the main bearings and therefore it is necessary to totally strip the engine to change them. These seals have gone hard and are now leaking allowing the pressure in the crankcase to transfer to the gearbox and pump the oil out.
No longer skint, I paid to have another engine to be rebuilt and I got the bike up on the bench and resting on axle stands supporting the footrests (there is no centre stand on this bike) to swap the engine over. At the same time my electrical guru friend Nigel is to fit one of the electronic ignition kits to the bike to get rid of the 6 volt electrics and reduce the bike's maintenance requirements. I also have removed the swinging arm and painted it as it was getting a bit rusty.
I was surprised and rather fed up when the replacement engine was dropped into the frame to discover that the rear engine mountings were rather a slack fit (see photo below)
It turns out that the later 150 TS series engines have a narrower crankcase casting at the rear, hence the large gap which needed to be filled. I had no idea that this was the case and that there was a difference between the engines but if nothing else it shows that after over 20 years of MZ ownership I still have plenty to learn.
It turns out I needed 4 of these beasties, 2 of which are shown here. That sorted it, a spacer each side, top and bottom rear engine mounts.
The next problem was I discovered that the back sprocket cover and speedometer drive gear which is enclosed inside the cover were for a 250 with a 16" rear wheel instead of the 18" wheel fitted to the 150 TS bikes. This explained why the speedometer was 10% out. I have managed to get a replacement drive gear (the two are different and therefore not interchangeable) but I do not have a sprocket cover and I have recently found out that they are made from that rare material unobtanium. I am not used to this with MZs, most parts are available off the shelf and there is a good chance that more will be made available as pattern parts at some stage in the future, but in the mean time I will have to find a second had one which is proving a little difficult. No doubt there is one somewhere.
I am very aware that there has been a lot on here about spannering and very little in the way of rides out in recent weeks. I did have a good ride out a week or two back getting more RBR clues but other than the clues themselves I did not take any more photos. I intend to remedy this soon, watch this space!
I went to an MZ rally at Masham in North Yorkshire on the Trophy Sport last weekend. I picked a good route taking in twisty and quieter roads once I had got through Keighley. Near Bolton Abbey I caught up with this fine thing, a home made Vincent Comet special. The rider pulled in to tighten a loose lever so I pulled in behind him and we chatted for a while. The bike is a Vincent engine, gearbox and frame member (which includes the oil tank), most of the rest is home made, the rear frame being loosely based on a Norton featherbed. The swinging arm, leading link forks and the operating levers on the front brake are all home made.
The rider likes MZs too and was very interested in my bike. It turns out he had just sold a 250 Trophy. He was on a ride back to Whitby after visiting a friend in Ilkley, so the bike certainly gets some use.
Not much further on I turned on to the really little lanes and completely by chance met up with my friend Ian out for a spin on his mountain bike. Here he is planning his next off road excursion as his bike is apparently very good on rough tracks.
A bit further on I stopped to take in the view. Countryside for miles around, just great. This was taken at Greenhow Hill, above Pateley Bridge.
And here is the view from the other side of Pateley Bridge with Gouthwaite reservoir in the distance. I never got round to taking any photos at the rally and the next morning it was pouring with rain, so no more photos from this weekend unfortunately.
