...........and a happy new year

A nice little threesome part 2

So the next morning I get up and have breakfast, pack my stuff up, throw it in the sidecar and wait for the garage to return. While I'm waiting I start looking at the bike and realise that my idea of restoration differ somewhat from the bloke I just bought the bike from. Loads of nice shiny new bolts, but most are hugely over length, and when I grab the bike and shake it around I find that the sidecar mounting bolts are all loose. So out comes the toolkit I brought with me and half an hour later at least the sidecar is unlikely to come off on the ride home. By midday I'm on my 5th coffee and second packet of fags so I phone breakdown and they say they will find out what the holdup is. When they phone back they explain the garage didn't have a 6V charger so had to wait till the morning to find a bike shop to charge the battery up. Eventually they turn up around 5pm, the battery is connected and off we go. Except that half an hour later I am at the side of the road again with a dead bike. Same problem, and I realise that the problem is that although the bike is charging, its not putting out as much power as I am drawing. So another call to breakdown, the same garage come out and by 9 I am safely esconced in the same hotel I left that morning! Europ-Assistance phone me at the hotel and tell me what the next move was. So at 10 the next morning, after seeing the bike disappear on the back of a truck I get a taxi to the nearest train station, where I book a ticket to Rotterdam. And then the ferry to Hull, and then a train home. (All receipts sent to the company and reimbursed in a month) And a couple of weeks later I get a phonecall at work saying my bike will be arriving at my home address in an hour. I arrive home just in time to stop a mahoosive lorry trying to get down my street, the Pannonia is unloaded and the bloke even gives me a hand pushing it round to my lockup! So thanks Carol Nash... i certainly got my moneys worth from that policy! Oh and the fault was tracked down to the fact that the bike is equipped with a flywheel charging system producing a whole 45W of 6V electrons! And so a collaboration with MZ-B ended up in the production of a 12v 100W system which will, in the fullness of time allow ALL the lights to glow brightly

A nice little threesome!

I blame eBay... and alcohol. Otherwise how would I have found a bike I had never heard of before, and buy it, and arrange to drive it back from Germany.

A Pannonia 250 single, with a Duna sidecar and a Motokuli sidecar. All apparently restore and ready for me to ride back,,,, or maybe not but more of that later. So having won this on eBay I arranged to get myself over to Germany, hand over the money, sign the paperwork and ride the Pannonia back to the UK. And then I developed a lousy cold... snotty, achy and with a fever to light fags off. But the coach to Germany was booked, so off I set from sunny Bradford Many many hours later I arrived in the nearest city to the bike, grabbed my bag with my helmet, gloves, waterproofs etc in it and jumped off the coach. Only after the coach left to its next destination Didi I realise that I had left my jacket, with the money for the bike safely zipped up in the pocket, on the coach.SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!. So I find the coach office and explain whats happened. They explain that the coach will be returning in 4 hours time and they will contact the next stop to tell the driver to secure my jacket. So I phone the seller of the bike and explain the delay, and he is OK and tells me to phone him when I arrive at the train station nearest his place. Four hours later Im feeling even more like death warmed up and awaiting the coach's return. And eventually it pulls up and there is my jacket and more importantly the money. A one hour train journey and I am waiting for the seller to arrive... and wait... and wait. Just as I am thinking it might all be a huge scam, and I'm going to be left at a station in the middle of Germany, he turns up and we set off to finally do the deal. And the Pannonia looks lovely, All shiny paint, new seat, the sidecar has all new internal panels and seat, all looks good. So I hand over the money , sign some papers and we go out to stick my stuff in the sidecar and set off. Now being some 4 hours later than intended its starting to get dark, so i start the bike, runs great, and turn on the lights.... and the lights are like glow worms. SHIT again!. So we set to removing any bulbs we can do without... pilot bulb, speedo lights, rear lights on the bike ( well it's got lights on the trailer) rear lights on the sidecar ( well it's got lights on the trailer!) and off I set, into the increasing gloom A couple of hours later and the motor is running fine, keeping a steady 80kph, but the lights are fading .....and then it just dies. No lights... nothing. I get my torch and tools out and sit at the side of the autobahn trying to work out whats happened. I then find the battery is the smallest 6V battery I have ever seen in my life, and I accept that I am going no where. But I had insured the bike (on its frame number) with a Carol Nash classic policy ( £20 if i remember rightly) and that gives me European breakdown cover! So I phone the number and an hour or so later aq van turns out and out jumps a german mechanic, who scratches his head, prods a few connectors and then gets on the phone, which he soon hands to me. And a lovely lady at Europ-Assistance explains they are going to take me and the bike to a hotel, and the garage will charge the battery up for me and return it in the morning. So off we go to a hotel, and after a few beers and a Schnitzel and chips I head off to bed, looking forward to a nice ride the next day...... to be continued

Found in a pharmacy come gift shop!

If it hadn't been £25 I might have bought it!

The van filler

I blame the internet. And alcohol.
After having won auctions for the Doppelport and the Pitty, we had booked the ferry and hired the van and were ready to go. And then I happened to click on one of my eBay searches ( eBay.de, motorcycles,MZ ES) and there it was. Es250 €100 BIN. So I did. And then realised I hadn't bothered checking where abouts in Germany the bike was. But luckily it was on only a couple of kilometers off the route to pick the other two up. And it was well worth the money. Although well weathered, it is a complete and original ES250, down to the flat slide carburettor and the gold early speedo. Unfortunatly the rear bodywork that would have carried the panniers has been cut off ( this is common on these bikes as it makes access to the rear wheel a lot easier), but the parts have been sourced!

Where is it now?

First trip across the water to get a bike was with Chairman Dicker driving the transit to pick up a MZ BK350 with a Stoye1 sidecar. Its in Robins Mill in Huddersfield apparently.... have to ask someone where that actually is! By the time we got there to collect it it had already been split in two so heres two pictures of it!

Sex on Wheels

This is the bike that started it all.

MZ Brochure Art No 4

Two from Poland

The first is an SHL 175. This was the first bike that Jan drove me to Germany to pick up ( she deserves a medal as big as a dustbin lid to put up with me!) No transit this time, just her Ford Focus... not even the estate! In the days before satnav we printed off directions from Map24.de,as it was at the time, and they got us to the end of a road in the middle of Germany, and less than a 100 yds from the blokes garage

And then there are the WSK 175s bought froma bloke in Essex. There was an almost compete WSK 175 M21W2 Sport ( pictured) and in many bits a W2, the roadster version.

MZ racer

Seen over at the TT in 2007. 100th anniversary of the 1st TT, and the 50th anniversary of me!

MZ RE 125

When we picked up the Doppelport and the Pitty (oh and a MZ ES250/0 just to fill up the extra space) we stopped off at the Augustusburg bike museum just up the road from Zschopau. Starting with a Hildebrand & Wolfmülle the collection shows the development of the local bike industry through DKW to MZ, IWL and Simpson, as well as other prewar German manufacturers and a small collection from other countries. It also has probably the best collection of DKW and MZ race bikes. Acres of hand beaten ally to be seen, as in this 1956 MZ RE125.

MZ Brochure Art No 3

4 Strokes ... How did they get in?

After the end of World War II, the BMW plant in Eisenach found itself in the Soviet occupation zone. However this didn't stop the Soviets producing bikes badged as BMW until 1952 when a lawsuit from the West German BMW company forced a change of name. They must have thought long and hard to come up with the new name and tank badge

Pre 1952

Post 1952

So BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) became EMW (Eisenach Motorenwerk)

Anyway enough of the history lesson. I have a search set up on eBay looking for East Bloc motorcycles and one day up popped an EMW R35. Looking further I found out that the seller also had BMW R35 and an IFA BK350. Seeing that the bikes were in Southampton I bid on, and won, all 3 so I could fill the transit my ever suffering girlfriend would have to drive (didnt get round to getting a car licence till 2005, but thats another story). And thats why there are now a couple of 4 strokes to be restored!

1949 BMW (SAW) R35 ( rigid rear end and hand change and with an "aftermarket" Magneto bolted on the front of the engine!)

1954 EMW R35/2 ( plunger rear foot change, painted with a yard brush indicators and clock from a russian truck!)

The BK350 was sold on to MARK and is now with its new owner Alasdair ( Ive already got one, with a Stoye 1 sidecar if only I can find it!)

The new arrival

Well here is my latest addition.It is a 1956 IWL Wiesel. Its not totally original but theres nothing that cant be corrected. Its interesting to see the differences between this and the more common Berlin

Forgive me father........

OK so I was meant to be concentrating on getting my bikes up and running and on the road. So how come there is a IWL Wiesel newly arrived from Germany sitting in Jan's garage? Well Ive got the set now, Pitty, Wiesel, Berlin and Troll. MARK would have been proud of me! Pictures to follow..............

MZ Brochure Art No 2

MZs were exported around the world. Whether this brochure was supposed to sell the ES250 to the inhabitants of tropical islands, or to cheer up the East Germans on a cold grey day I've never been sure.

IWL Pitty

At the same time as we picked up the Doppelport, we collected a predecessor of the Troll. With a 125cc 3 speed motor from MZ the IWL Pitty was similar to the Goggomobil, and a few other scooters of the time, in having a bulbous all enclosing front shield. The paint is hammer effect blue and appears to be original so when this makes it way into the garage I wont be repainting it, but giving it a coat or two of Owatrol. However the wiring needs looking at as it is the original rubber insulated with laquered cotton sheathing and its cracking up.

An oddity from Augustusburg

A prototype engine seen in the motorcycle museum in Augustusburg. Acording to the plaque this was the IFA L60 from 1948 with "Kolbenladepumpe" and "Kardanwellenantrieb" which if my German is right is a piston supercharger and a shaft drive transmission. However a power output of 2.2KW ( approx 2BHP) was probably dissapointing!

A little jewel

Well another year rolls by and for my birthday Jan has bought me a pocket knife. Not your run of the mill pocket knife. This is hand made my Trevor Ablett, one of the last of Sheffield Little Mesters. 68 years old, he has been making knives since he was 15. He still makes around a hundred knives a month of various designs.It was ordered in December and arrived in March, such was the backlog of orders since he appaered in the national press. I chose this beauty, a clip point blade, with double brass bolsters and a rosewood handle. It will outlive me!

MZ Brochure Art No 1

Mark and I collected original MZ brochures. These would end up with me for scanning and cleaning and quite a few ended up on t-shirts.

The rarest of MZs?

While Im looking to get time to start on the Troll I thought I would look at the projects in the queue once the IWL sooters are done.
High up on the list is the MZ ES250 Doubleport. It's hard to know how many of these were built. Estimates vary from 800 to 8000.A few years ago I found the remains of one on eBay.de and won it for what I thought was a reasonable price ( and NO im not telling you how much I paid)It was a punt in the dark because there was only one photo and it showed a lot of parts missing.

OK a lot of bits were missing but it was a Doppelport.. the holy grail of MZers!

Anyway, seeing that I didnt have a car licence at the time, I managed to convince my better half to drive a transit to Germany with me, to pick up the doppelport, a IWL Pitty and an MZ ES250/0 ( which I bought, on eBay for 100 euro the day before we left) And it wasnt as bad as it looked! It had the rear wheel and seats.

However the front wheel and front mudguard were wrong and the engine was seized solid.

The right front wheel came from eBay at the bargain price of 10 euro, the mudguard was a hell of a lot more and when it arrived it was probably not original. Over the last few years a few more parts have been bought and its now close to being worth starting the restoration. Will it be worth it? Well for once the answer is probably yes. the last restore one to sell on ebay.de went for in excess of 11,000 euro. But then again it did look like this

IWL Troll

So this, for those of you who have never seen one before, is an IWL Troll, a product of 1960s East German design. Mark was strangely proud of somones description of it .... a fridge on wheels! It is registered in the UK so thats one less job that needs doing and was in use until quite recently.

Mark Dicker, Chairman of the Yorkshire Regional Soviet

Mark came late to computers, luddite that he was he couldn't see the point of them. Then he was introduced to the wonders of eBay.de and was hooked. He had a blog, describing his bikes and his love of riding and discovering the wonders of the UK. After Mark's death, Gresh took on the unenviable task of sorting and disposing of Mark's collection with the help of other friends, described in the More weird old bikes blog. So my collection has now grown by one Troll, and one and a half Berlins, and its with these I'm going to start