Terry,
Spreek-je Nederlands?! What's with "Deel Drie", "Deel Vier", etc.
Eliane and I used to speak good Dutch but have lost it now, living in the heathen land on the other side of the Atlantic. Love to get it back, though.
Mark (Ezra)
Memories (Deel Vijf)
Shortly after the departure of the Sanglas a friend gifted me with a Honda CB200.
It was the first Japanese motorcycle I had ever had and was curious to ride. I always felt I was sitting on top of it rather than on it, if you see what I mean. The sight of the rev counter doing revs no other bike I have had was a trifle unsettling also. I was not aware that the swing arm had seized (a common fault, I later heard) until, hitting a large pothole in the Jamaica Road near Tower Bridge one day, one side of the swing arm sheared!
Luckily, the local Honda dealer knew of someone who had a CB200 which he was willing to give away so it wasn’t necessary to try to repair the other’s frame. I installed grease nipples onto the 2nd bike’s swing arm however.
I eventually gave both to a friend at work who had helped me with some building work.

Holland: Henry sitting in his favourite plant pot (really, not staged).

L to R – Henry, Dafna and Schroeder all together.
And I still make plastic models of that which I cannot own: examples below

Protar MZ 250 GP Racer.

Protar MZ ISDT.

B36 Peacemaker – once the largest plastic model in the world, plus some Mistels, Luftwaffe bombers and HMS Illustrious.

B52 Stratofortress.

Does anyone remember Cedric, the plasticene dinosaur which I had in Manchester? He’s old and battered and his ball bearing eyes are long gone, but he’s still hanging on.

A solid metal model of a Venom Engine.
And finally,
The above photo is the CB200. The previous day, on the way home, in sub zero temperatures, with snow already drifting down, the front brake decided to lock, luckily off rather than on. When the snow melted, so did the ice inside the mechanically operated front brake calliper. I found that out when I disassembled the brake to find out WTHWH.
All the photos in this concoction were scanned using the best little scanner in the world. It is the Hewlett Packard SJ5p. It came out in 1997 though I got mine (cheap) in 1999. As an extended self test it will play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy’! When MS suddenly prematurely cut support to Win98SE two years ago I was forced to XP (yes, I could have gone to Linux but my ISP doesn’t support that) and since no-one seemed to supply a driver for the SCSI card in XP the 5p was carefully packed away. In the fullness of time it was discovered that the SCSI driver for Win 2000 also worked in XP so I have disconnected the truly awful SJ2400 and reinstalled the 5p – ah heaven.
SCSI is not magic. There are sound scientific reasons why it is necessary to sacrifice a goat to your SCSI chain every now and again.
It was the first Japanese motorcycle I had ever had and was curious to ride. I always felt I was sitting on top of it rather than on it, if you see what I mean. The sight of the rev counter doing revs no other bike I have had was a trifle unsettling also. I was not aware that the swing arm had seized (a common fault, I later heard) until, hitting a large pothole in the Jamaica Road near Tower Bridge one day, one side of the swing arm sheared!
Luckily, the local Honda dealer knew of someone who had a CB200 which he was willing to give away so it wasn’t necessary to try to repair the other’s frame. I installed grease nipples onto the 2nd bike’s swing arm however.
I eventually gave both to a friend at work who had helped me with some building work.

Above is Hannah, who is currently thinking about rebuilding the Morini.
By now, I only had the TS250 Supa 5 which had replaced the stolen ETZ250.
Early in 1992, a policeman came to our front door while I was coming home and asked Chris if she was Mrs. Rigby. She feared the worst though it was bad enough. My father had collapsed and died on a bus a few days before and they had just located us.
He left me everything in his will and it was a tidy sum.
With it I bought the Morini 500 and we were able to emigrate to Holland.
The Morini originally had the big port conversion and was capable of over 110mph. It was also the loudest bike I have ever owned. One of my co-workers in Holland, as well as a neighbour some years later, complained about the noise it made starting.
One day I was coming home from Hoorn to Obdam. En route there is a beautiful left hander which I barrelled round on a rising throttle. I noticed that three men in a field half a mile away turned and looked as I went past. Another time on that stretch of road, I overtook a livestock lorry. It was dark and I felt some liquid hit me. When I got home I was liberally streaked with blood! I think I was snotted by a cow with blood in her nose.
By now, I only had the TS250 Supa 5 which had replaced the stolen ETZ250.
Early in 1992, a policeman came to our front door while I was coming home and asked Chris if she was Mrs. Rigby. She feared the worst though it was bad enough. My father had collapsed and died on a bus a few days before and they had just located us.
He left me everything in his will and it was a tidy sum.
With it I bought the Morini 500 and we were able to emigrate to Holland.

The Morini originally had the big port conversion and was capable of over 110mph. It was also the loudest bike I have ever owned. One of my co-workers in Holland, as well as a neighbour some years later, complained about the noise it made starting.
One day I was coming home from Hoorn to Obdam. En route there is a beautiful left hander which I barrelled round on a rising throttle. I noticed that three men in a field half a mile away turned and looked as I went past. Another time on that stretch of road, I overtook a livestock lorry. It was dark and I felt some liquid hit me. When I got home I was liberally streaked with blood! I think I was snotted by a cow with blood in her nose.
I once went to a Morini rally near Hamburg. On the return trip an exhaust valve burnt out. When it later happened a second time I got standard heads as it turned out there was a structural problem with the big valve heads.
In 1997, as mentioned elsewhere, the Supa 5 expired on the motorway but was replaced by yet another MZ; an ETZ 250 I found at the back of a dealer in Wormer, with about 11,000 km on the clock and still with the truly terrible Pneumant tyres, which were quickly replaced.
In 1997, as mentioned elsewhere, the Supa 5 expired on the motorway but was replaced by yet another MZ; an ETZ 250 I found at the back of a dealer in Wormer, with about 11,000 km on the clock and still with the truly terrible Pneumant tyres, which were quickly replaced.

Alexander and Hannah playing up to the camera.
Minus de Vries had been a MZ dealer once but, judging from their ignorance of things MZ, a long time ago. The engineer took it for a spin up the road without anyone thinking to check the gearbox oil level. When I got it home and replaced the level screw with a cut down Allen screw I discovered to my horror that the level was low, but luckily not too low.
Since then, as related earlier the capacity has been upped to 300cc. There is also an electronic gubbins replacing the electromechanical VCR on the charging system. I also have an electronic timing kit but have never got round to fitting it.
Another problem, which happened twice in quick succession, at about 75,000 km, was that one of the selector forks started to wear rapidly. Doesn’t sound too bad but I was advised to fix it PDQ or the gearbox might explode! This was the first time in almost 30 years I had heard of what is apparently a common MZ problem. Another semi amusing problem was persistent rough running for a while. I was advised to unscrew the mixture screw a lot and see if that helped – it did.
When the weather warmed up I checked the timing and found it was somewhat out. Went for a test ride and it was rougher than ever. Then, about five miles from home I remembered the mixture screw. As it was screwed in the engine note steadied and then started to sound the way a MZ should. It has now done 95,000 km and I hope to take it round the clock, the first time I will have managed it on any bike.
Once, following “Thrasher” Selfe back from a rally near Cirencester, he suddenly waved his hands in the air which made me wonder. When we next met at the North London centre I asked him what had happened and he told me his bike had just gone round the clock!
I’ve just realised that my resolve to tell the whole sorry tale from start to finish has come off the rails.
SBI. The rally was held in a field next to the Tunnel Inn very near to Cirencester. The Tunnel Inn has the longest bar I have ever seen in a pub. We walked down the bar and found the Wadworth 6X pump where we stopped and supped (deeply).
That weekend I discovered that DaveTyler, who came for the ride, could imitate an owl so well that he could fool an owl. I also discovered what actually happened to an engine when it went underwater, particularly when still running.
The Tunnel Inn is built over a canal which was being slowly restored. The volunteer group that were fixing it had the use of a dumper truck.
Minus de Vries had been a MZ dealer once but, judging from their ignorance of things MZ, a long time ago. The engineer took it for a spin up the road without anyone thinking to check the gearbox oil level. When I got it home and replaced the level screw with a cut down Allen screw I discovered to my horror that the level was low, but luckily not too low.
Since then, as related earlier the capacity has been upped to 300cc. There is also an electronic gubbins replacing the electromechanical VCR on the charging system. I also have an electronic timing kit but have never got round to fitting it.
Another problem, which happened twice in quick succession, at about 75,000 km, was that one of the selector forks started to wear rapidly. Doesn’t sound too bad but I was advised to fix it PDQ or the gearbox might explode! This was the first time in almost 30 years I had heard of what is apparently a common MZ problem. Another semi amusing problem was persistent rough running for a while. I was advised to unscrew the mixture screw a lot and see if that helped – it did.
When the weather warmed up I checked the timing and found it was somewhat out. Went for a test ride and it was rougher than ever. Then, about five miles from home I remembered the mixture screw. As it was screwed in the engine note steadied and then started to sound the way a MZ should. It has now done 95,000 km and I hope to take it round the clock, the first time I will have managed it on any bike.
Once, following “Thrasher” Selfe back from a rally near Cirencester, he suddenly waved his hands in the air which made me wonder. When we next met at the North London centre I asked him what had happened and he told me his bike had just gone round the clock!
I’ve just realised that my resolve to tell the whole sorry tale from start to finish has come off the rails.
SBI. The rally was held in a field next to the Tunnel Inn very near to Cirencester. The Tunnel Inn has the longest bar I have ever seen in a pub. We walked down the bar and found the Wadworth 6X pump where we stopped and supped (deeply).
That weekend I discovered that DaveTyler, who came for the ride, could imitate an owl so well that he could fool an owl. I also discovered what actually happened to an engine when it went underwater, particularly when still running.
The Tunnel Inn is built over a canal which was being slowly restored. The volunteer group that were fixing it had the use of a dumper truck.
While we were supping more 6X the next day there was suddenly a loud noise and when we ran over to investigate the dumper could be seen upside down in the canel with oil oozing out. The VOC immediately swung into action when it became clear the volunteer group were going to do nothing until a crane could be procured. The driver had leaped clear and was uninjured but the dumper could not be left there. Two of our group (not me) waded into the canel and tied ropes to the dumper. It was turned over and then dragged out by the rest of us. (Only the two who got wet were supplied with 6X but, what the hell, we had helped with the restoration of England's canels). When the volunteers took the head off the dumper the conrod was banana-shaped!
Just as a postscript, I almost had a 22nd bike. My English MZ supplier sold me a seized MZ for spares. He only wanted ₤20 (I seem to remember) and delivered it as well. It turned out that the big circlip holding the drive side main bearings in place had come loose and locked the primary drive and with that replaced the engine was fixed. Ken was a bit miffed.
However, I had been toying with a special using a Triumph T90 engine in a T25 “conical hub” frame. With a spare MZ I wondered if the T90 engine would fit into an MZ frame.
However, I had been toying with a special using a Triumph T90 engine in a T25 “conical hub” frame. With a spare MZ I wondered if the T90 engine would fit into an MZ frame.

As you can see it seemed feasible but like all my other ‘special’ projects it came to naught. I bought bits like an oil tank and had that and other parts sprayed hi-purple. I even had special tank badges made, but in the end the frame was needed for the other Supa 5 and that was that.
Anyone want a spare T90 engine?
I also have a confession to make. I needed a bike while the MZ and Morini were both out of action in 2002 and a dealer in the next town had an almost new Jawa 350 going cheap.
Stuart at NLM (Morini dealer) and Martin at Burwins (MZ dealer) had both warned me off Jawa/CZ when I casually mentioned the marque. They both knew them and loathed them. Martin even said that if I got one he would disown me. I thought, surely Jawas can’t be THAT bad. I picked it up one Saturday with a new battery, which was totally flat by Monday. Got it back Tuesday afternoon and went into work on Wednesday. I was sure something was going to break but managed to arrive though it was a most unnerving ride, not helped by the weird petrol/oil ratio and lack of an easy measure, unlike the MZ. It wouldn’t start to go home immediately but after some time it finally deigned to go again.
On Thursday the weather was bad, rain and high winds so I went in by train and bus.
On Friday after about six or seven miles I noticed it was a bit sluggish but since I was on the motorway I pressed on. Just before a service area it suddenly tightened up and emitted a twang sound. I coasted down the hill into the service area while I plotted my next move. I did not like this thing. It filled me with misgivings while I was riding it and it was very unreliable in starting and running.
After a quick ponder I decided I had had enough. I managed to start it and got home at a steady 60kph, then phoned the dealer to take it away and I wanted my money back.
Anyone want a spare T90 engine?
I also have a confession to make. I needed a bike while the MZ and Morini were both out of action in 2002 and a dealer in the next town had an almost new Jawa 350 going cheap.
Stuart at NLM (Morini dealer) and Martin at Burwins (MZ dealer) had both warned me off Jawa/CZ when I casually mentioned the marque. They both knew them and loathed them. Martin even said that if I got one he would disown me. I thought, surely Jawas can’t be THAT bad. I picked it up one Saturday with a new battery, which was totally flat by Monday. Got it back Tuesday afternoon and went into work on Wednesday. I was sure something was going to break but managed to arrive though it was a most unnerving ride, not helped by the weird petrol/oil ratio and lack of an easy measure, unlike the MZ. It wouldn’t start to go home immediately but after some time it finally deigned to go again.
On Thursday the weather was bad, rain and high winds so I went in by train and bus.
On Friday after about six or seven miles I noticed it was a bit sluggish but since I was on the motorway I pressed on. Just before a service area it suddenly tightened up and emitted a twang sound. I coasted down the hill into the service area while I plotted my next move. I did not like this thing. It filled me with misgivings while I was riding it and it was very unreliable in starting and running.
After a quick ponder I decided I had had enough. I managed to start it and got home at a steady 60kph, then phoned the dealer to take it away and I wanted my money back.
A few items to finish off the story so far: We have had some weird cats.
England: Linus on his favourite perch.
England: Schroeder taking over Linus’s favourite spot after Linus was killed.

Holland: Henry sitting in his favourite plant pot (really, not staged).

L to R – Henry, Dafna and Schroeder all together.
And I still make plastic models of that which I cannot own: examples below

Protar MZ 250 GP Racer.

Protar MZ ISDT.

Protar Guzzi V8.

B36 Peacemaker – once the largest plastic model in the world, plus some Mistels, Luftwaffe bombers and HMS Illustrious.

B52 Stratofortress.

Does anyone remember Cedric, the plasticene dinosaur which I had in Manchester? He’s old and battered and his ball bearing eyes are long gone, but he’s still hanging on.

A solid metal model of a Venom Engine.
And finally,
MZ almost buried in snow.

The above photo is the CB200. The previous day, on the way home, in sub zero temperatures, with snow already drifting down, the front brake decided to lock, luckily off rather than on. When the snow melted, so did the ice inside the mechanically operated front brake calliper. I found that out when I disassembled the brake to find out WTHWH.
All the photos in this concoction were scanned using the best little scanner in the world. It is the Hewlett Packard SJ5p. It came out in 1997 though I got mine (cheap) in 1999. As an extended self test it will play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy’! When MS suddenly prematurely cut support to Win98SE two years ago I was forced to XP (yes, I could have gone to Linux but my ISP doesn’t support that) and since no-one seemed to supply a driver for the SCSI card in XP the 5p was carefully packed away. In the fullness of time it was discovered that the SCSI driver for Win 2000 also worked in XP so I have disconnected the truly awful SJ2400 and reinstalled the 5p – ah heaven.
SCSI is not magic. There are sound scientific reasons why it is necessary to sacrifice a goat to your SCSI chain every now and again.
The End.
A message from America.
Roger,
Great to hear from you; good god, my name came up!!!
I am currently riding in the US a 1994 URAL outfit; copy of a 1937 BMW R7
At 'home' in France I finally have my 1975 BMW R90S restored and back in my possession. It was 'remanufactured', by one of my old Yamaha colleagues who lives in Germany. Took 2 years but now it is just like when I bought it when it was 6 month's old; bought it in Amsterdam. Runs really well now !
I am currently lusting after a BMW R1200S; I've not done anything to appease my lust yet, but I will. Has anyone heard from Ken Newton? Anyone want to ride to France; I still have the house there, near Toulouse / Gaillac/ Albi. We even have a pub in the village run by an expat Brit. Maybe now that I have two wheels in France I can get to Manchester; or somewhere to see old friends. Anyone for going to the Thistle next year??!! It is still on.
Cheers,
Mark
Memories (Deel Vier)
While all the previous was going on I was trying to get the Venom oil tight. The replacement timing cover from Dodkins in West London, needed as the previous one had a Triumph rev counter speedo drive cobbled to it, proved to be warped and spewed oil but was finally fixed with grinding paste and a piece of plate glass, though it took a lot of grinding! Before, dollops of gasket goo were needed, to no real effect but afterwards only a small smear of Loctite liquid would seal the timing chest.
The pushrod tunnel and the oil feeds and returns were sealed in accordance with the workshop manual which BTW, I have kept, oily finger prints and all.
Two mods were also done to it. If one countersinks underneath the cylinder head holding down nuts then a small rubber ‘o’ ring will stop any leaks from that direction. Also, a grub screw can be loctited into the head protruding into the exhaust port keeping the exhaust stub in place. It had let go one night. The flames from the port were spectacular, to say the least. After the mod it never happened again.
Once, while going down the zigzags on Box Hill on the scenic route home from a VOC meeting, the main/dip switch failed, leaving me with no front lights heading for a hairpin bend. Luckily the brakes worked and I stopped before running off the road. With a replacement dip switch that wouldn’t stick in the centre I felt safer.
I don’t know if you Northerners have heard of Pride and Clarke, the big motorcycle shop in Brixton. Sometime in the 1970s it was bought up by an ‘investment’ company who promptly asset stripped it! Almost serves them right since they were known as "Pride and Shark", except for their emplyees who lost their jobs. I got a brand new Lucas dynamo during the closing down sale for a knock down price. I also fitted a JG conversion unit which gave me 12 volts and good lights.
Once in 1981 I went with the then girlfriend to Farningham in Kent, a well known beauty spot. The Venom wouldn’t start for the return trip! I got it back due to the good offices of the RAC and the next day set out on the Alpine to a Scout camp in Hampshire. En route the big end collapsed! Again the RAC were called: twice in two days!
As far as the Venom was concerned it turned out that the magneto was kapot and needed to be rewound.
Having got the Venom oil tight, apart from the primary chain case, I sold it in 1982. One reason was I got married that year, though I ‘ring fenced’ the proceeds. The other was, no matter how I tried, I was unable to get, or keep, the clutch adjusted! “Thrasher” Selfe of the VOC came over one day to fix the clutch, and, though he spotted that the box of gearbox bits I had were for a close-ratio gearbox, he was unable to effect a permanent repair to the clutch. Since then, thinking about it, I think it is possible that the chain wheel part of the clutch was slightly warped, which would explain the problems, as well as being almost undetectable.
To supplement the ETZ with the Venom gone I had intended to buy a BSA B50 from someone at work but he seemed unable to build up the enthusiasm to rebuild it. Perhaps I should have rebuilt it myself but I didn’t want to buy a box of bits only to find that a lot of work was needed.
Photo was taken before it had been stripped.
Eventually I decided to buy a Spanish Sanglas 500, as I had come across one a year or two earlier during a VOC rally in mid Wales, and rather liked what I saw.
The one I got did not have a kick-start because the kick-start on the Sanglas is renowned for being fragile and had disintegrated. The electric start worked fine though.
There was what the previous owner had thought to be a misfire which was a slight problem but it turned out to be a missing tooth in 5th gear. The engine is reputed to be based on an AMC design and, despite being unit construction; the gearbox could be accessed without disturbing the engine. The gearbox internals are reversed and 5th gear was just behind the cover and easily replaced.
One weird thing about it was that the original passenger footrests fell apart in quick succession, necessitating replacement with stouter parts.
The most memorable ride on it was from Blandford Army camp (after a MOD course) back to Erith. On the motorway near Basingstoke I ran into a small squall. The bike coped with the wind and rain and we got through it. I went to top speed (85mph, cor) but the squall seemed to try to catch up, cutting across the corner at the motorway junction with the M25. I finally lost it near Redhill.
Despite being somewhat short stroke the Sanglas once had the effect of a very long stroke engine on a female passenger! It was finally sold just after Hannah was born.

The photo is of the Sanglas in Wales – no clear photo of my Sanglas survives.
The pushrod tunnel and the oil feeds and returns were sealed in accordance with the workshop manual which BTW, I have kept, oily finger prints and all.
Two mods were also done to it. If one countersinks underneath the cylinder head holding down nuts then a small rubber ‘o’ ring will stop any leaks from that direction. Also, a grub screw can be loctited into the head protruding into the exhaust port keeping the exhaust stub in place. It had let go one night. The flames from the port were spectacular, to say the least. After the mod it never happened again.
Once, while going down the zigzags on Box Hill on the scenic route home from a VOC meeting, the main/dip switch failed, leaving me with no front lights heading for a hairpin bend. Luckily the brakes worked and I stopped before running off the road. With a replacement dip switch that wouldn’t stick in the centre I felt safer.
I don’t know if you Northerners have heard of Pride and Clarke, the big motorcycle shop in Brixton. Sometime in the 1970s it was bought up by an ‘investment’ company who promptly asset stripped it! Almost serves them right since they were known as "Pride and Shark", except for their emplyees who lost their jobs. I got a brand new Lucas dynamo during the closing down sale for a knock down price. I also fitted a JG conversion unit which gave me 12 volts and good lights.
Once in 1981 I went with the then girlfriend to Farningham in Kent, a well known beauty spot. The Venom wouldn’t start for the return trip! I got it back due to the good offices of the RAC and the next day set out on the Alpine to a Scout camp in Hampshire. En route the big end collapsed! Again the RAC were called: twice in two days!
As far as the Venom was concerned it turned out that the magneto was kapot and needed to be rewound.
Having got the Venom oil tight, apart from the primary chain case, I sold it in 1982. One reason was I got married that year, though I ‘ring fenced’ the proceeds. The other was, no matter how I tried, I was unable to get, or keep, the clutch adjusted! “Thrasher” Selfe of the VOC came over one day to fix the clutch, and, though he spotted that the box of gearbox bits I had were for a close-ratio gearbox, he was unable to effect a permanent repair to the clutch. Since then, thinking about it, I think it is possible that the chain wheel part of the clutch was slightly warped, which would explain the problems, as well as being almost undetectable.
To supplement the ETZ with the Venom gone I had intended to buy a BSA B50 from someone at work but he seemed unable to build up the enthusiasm to rebuild it. Perhaps I should have rebuilt it myself but I didn’t want to buy a box of bits only to find that a lot of work was needed.

Photo was taken before it had been stripped.
Eventually I decided to buy a Spanish Sanglas 500, as I had come across one a year or two earlier during a VOC rally in mid Wales, and rather liked what I saw.
The one I got did not have a kick-start because the kick-start on the Sanglas is renowned for being fragile and had disintegrated. The electric start worked fine though.
There was what the previous owner had thought to be a misfire which was a slight problem but it turned out to be a missing tooth in 5th gear. The engine is reputed to be based on an AMC design and, despite being unit construction; the gearbox could be accessed without disturbing the engine. The gearbox internals are reversed and 5th gear was just behind the cover and easily replaced.
One weird thing about it was that the original passenger footrests fell apart in quick succession, necessitating replacement with stouter parts.
The most memorable ride on it was from Blandford Army camp (after a MOD course) back to Erith. On the motorway near Basingstoke I ran into a small squall. The bike coped with the wind and rain and we got through it. I went to top speed (85mph, cor) but the squall seemed to try to catch up, cutting across the corner at the motorway junction with the M25. I finally lost it near Redhill.
Despite being somewhat short stroke the Sanglas once had the effect of a very long stroke engine on a female passenger! It was finally sold just after Hannah was born.

The photo is of the Sanglas in Wales – no clear photo of my Sanglas survives.
Memories (Deel Drie)
My then superior Alan, who at the time had a Yamaha 250, was also thinking of a new bike and after some discussion, he settled on a MZ TS250 Sport and I got a rather nice blue MZ ES150.
Not much happened to that one in the few months before it became a cat 5 after telescoping itself against a car one summer night. As I have mentioned, early (1970s) MZ switchgear is antisocial, to say the least. I have a scar on my left thigh which required 14 stitches after that incident, as well as 3 on my right knee when the TS125 slid on ice, at circa 5mph (!) into the kerb.
As mentioned before, the next bike was the 2nd ES150.

In a previous missive I mentioned going to the Elephant Rally. Some of the things seen there were an very old Danish in-line 4 towing an almost new Guzzi, a Horex m/c (love the name) and a real green elephant complete with machine gun mounting. The owner bought along his dog, which had its own goggles. The bike’s party trick was to trundle backwards in a circle without a rider.
Our group did a lap of the Nurburgring short circuit, the sole Velocette running without its fishtail (for the effect). We then did the full circuit, inclding the banking.
On the way back to the ferry, the Matchless’s ammeter disintegrated, shorting out the lighting circuits. Leaving the Arielt sidecar to come on behind, the rest of us raced to the ferry to get there before dark: we made it.
There are several entries in “Fishtail” during this period which mentions Terry Rigby with his MZ.
I also found out the hard way that the ES150 is not easy to turn in a sharp circle. The throttle cable goes through a rubber grommet on its way to the carb and while executing a U turn in a narrow lane one day it became trapped opening the throttle wide. The whole plot spun around depositing the passenger on the road while I hung on for dear life.
Next was a TS250 Sport.

One memory I have of the Sport was visiting my dealer one day and flicking down the stand as I came to a halt, the bike settling on the stand before I got off. Ken was surprised and said he’d never seen that done before. I’ve never dared to do it since, as falling off the bike as it topples can be humiliating.
Next was the India Enfield of which no photo exists and then a TS125 Alpine.



Not much happened to that one in the few months before it became a cat 5 after telescoping itself against a car one summer night. As I have mentioned, early (1970s) MZ switchgear is antisocial, to say the least. I have a scar on my left thigh which required 14 stitches after that incident, as well as 3 on my right knee when the TS125 slid on ice, at circa 5mph (!) into the kerb.
As mentioned before, the next bike was the 2nd ES150.

In a previous missive I mentioned going to the Elephant Rally. Some of the things seen there were an very old Danish in-line 4 towing an almost new Guzzi, a Horex m/c (love the name) and a real green elephant complete with machine gun mounting. The owner bought along his dog, which had its own goggles. The bike’s party trick was to trundle backwards in a circle without a rider.
Our group did a lap of the Nurburgring short circuit, the sole Velocette running without its fishtail (for the effect). We then did the full circuit, inclding the banking.
On the way back to the ferry, the Matchless’s ammeter disintegrated, shorting out the lighting circuits. Leaving the Arielt sidecar to come on behind, the rest of us raced to the ferry to get there before dark: we made it.
There are several entries in “Fishtail” during this period which mentions Terry Rigby with his MZ.
I also found out the hard way that the ES150 is not easy to turn in a sharp circle. The throttle cable goes through a rubber grommet on its way to the carb and while executing a U turn in a narrow lane one day it became trapped opening the throttle wide. The whole plot spun around depositing the passenger on the road while I hung on for dear life.
Next was a TS250 Sport.

One memory I have of the Sport was visiting my dealer one day and flicking down the stand as I came to a halt, the bike settling on the stand before I got off. Ken was surprised and said he’d never seen that done before. I’ve never dared to do it since, as falling off the bike as it topples can be humiliating.
Next was the India Enfield of which no photo exists and then a TS125 Alpine.

The TS125 was the first bike I really customised. The (somewhat useless) SLS front brake was swapped with the TLS front brake from a Honda CB250 K4. This was remarkably easy as the spindles were the same diameter. The forks had to be swapped left for right of course as the K4 brake was on the left hand side and a new spacer had to be procured to line the wheel up This was a mod discovered and advocated by Burwin Motorcycles of North London.. The rear brake light switch, which never works properly, was replaced with a front brake switch cobbled together from Honda and Yamaha parts. A MZ prop stand was fitted and finally, the lethal MZ switchgear was replaced with a user friendly Yamaha equivalent. The end result was a joy to ride.
I was living alone at that time and one day it was so cold I fixed the engine in my kitchen. I don’t think I would be allowed to do that now. The TS125 was also capable of laying down a white smoke screen like a destroyer’s black one when given a bit of welly, as I discovered once on the A2(M) and then again going up Shooters Hill from Welling.
Next was the ETZ250.
I was living alone at that time and one day it was so cold I fixed the engine in my kitchen. I don’t think I would be allowed to do that now. The TS125 was also capable of laying down a white smoke screen like a destroyer’s black one when given a bit of welly, as I discovered once on the A2(M) and then again going up Shooters Hill from Welling.
Next was the ETZ250.

When I bought it was the colour seen, but after four years I painted it black: it looked much better.

Sanglas in background and T90 engine on rear of saddle.
Memories (Deel Twee)
Further to my previous posts, since my reminiscences have been somewhat adrift in time and space (rather like the first Dr. Who) I thought I would try to start at the beginning and work through.
Since 1970, I have owned 21 bikes, nine of them MZs. The first bike was the Noddy bike, which could cruise at 55mph and would make the Manchester-London trip at an average speed of 39mph, though by the time I was going down Park Lane the water cooling system had all but boiled dry and it showed its displeasure by emitting clouds of steam from the radiator overflow, which necessitated the refilling of the system via the radiator immediately. It had been an ex-police bike and due to a mechanic having left a piece of rag in the sump (!) the big ends, camshaft and just about everything else lubricated by the oil pump became scrap when the rag finally managed to cover the pump inlet. Despite attempts at repair which included a trip to Hall Green (ah!) it never really worked again and the Triumph T25 Blazer SS came along.
As an aside, Charlie, the old mechanic at Tooleys (later Deeprose) had a rather dim assistant who was once told to refill the sump of a Velo LE that had just been repaired. After a few minutes Charlie asked the minion “done it yet?” to which came the plaintive reply “I can’t find a sump filler cap with OIL on it. The only one I can see has 710 on it”.
The Blazer had a short though eventful life. It had superb electrics, brakes and frame, a reasonable gearbox and clutch but an absolutely crap engine. The first engine expired with a broken big end bolt, which let go at a sedate 60mph. Meriden fitted a new engine which leaked oil from new. It was eventually stolen near Northwich.
I knew the frame and tyres were good after the time I was going along a road somewhere in England (as the newsreels used to say). The road went into a left hand bend that did two things. It tightened up and then went uphill. I started to drift to the right until I saw a large lorry coming down the hill. I quickly discovered that the bike could lean until the (high set) footrests scraped along the road as I went round the bend in safety!
I think everyone knows the Fulmar.
I used to get the comment “didn’t know Ariel made a single cylinder Arrow” every now and then. One thing I did like about it was that it seemed waterproof in the rain, even when running without the dinky little mag cover I found for it at a breakers in Manchester. The cover was rather battered when I got it but, for a small sum, a panel beater returned it nearly to original factory standard. For its time, the brakes were very good and the handling OK.
Once on the M1 I discovered that its cruising speed of 65mph was badly affected by some of the hills. Several times the same lorry overtook me going up the hill and I overtook him going down. We waved as we passed each other. Another time I went down the hill from Crystal Palace in the direction of Anerley. The hill is very steep but the Fulmar would not go faster than 65mph. A policeman who saw me seemed to think I was doing 70mph so I knew he hadn’t got a good radar lock on me.
PS. I’m more law abiding these days.
However, among the Fulmar’s less attractive shortcomings was a totally inadequate lighting system. When one cannot see well enough in the dark the first impulse is to slow down, but that causes the direct lighting to get dimmer, which causes one to slow and so on.
Eventually the flywheel of the flywheel magneto ignition/ lighting system fragged itself (for the 2nd time) and I decided to go for a new (small) bike.
But to keep in sequence, I had bought the Velocette Venom in 1973 and several days later was chased up Dulwich Common by a police car. He caught me at home but had not been able to log my speed. As I was going through my documentation I saw the MOT for the Fulmar and read it out sotto voce. The police man heard the word Fulmar and just said “the throttle works two ways” before departing!

Since 1970, I have owned 21 bikes, nine of them MZs. The first bike was the Noddy bike, which could cruise at 55mph and would make the Manchester-London trip at an average speed of 39mph, though by the time I was going down Park Lane the water cooling system had all but boiled dry and it showed its displeasure by emitting clouds of steam from the radiator overflow, which necessitated the refilling of the system via the radiator immediately. It had been an ex-police bike and due to a mechanic having left a piece of rag in the sump (!) the big ends, camshaft and just about everything else lubricated by the oil pump became scrap when the rag finally managed to cover the pump inlet. Despite attempts at repair which included a trip to Hall Green (ah!) it never really worked again and the Triumph T25 Blazer SS came along.
As an aside, Charlie, the old mechanic at Tooleys (later Deeprose) had a rather dim assistant who was once told to refill the sump of a Velo LE that had just been repaired. After a few minutes Charlie asked the minion “done it yet?” to which came the plaintive reply “I can’t find a sump filler cap with OIL on it. The only one I can see has 710 on it”.
The Blazer had a short though eventful life. It had superb electrics, brakes and frame, a reasonable gearbox and clutch but an absolutely crap engine. The first engine expired with a broken big end bolt, which let go at a sedate 60mph. Meriden fitted a new engine which leaked oil from new. It was eventually stolen near Northwich.
I knew the frame and tyres were good after the time I was going along a road somewhere in England (as the newsreels used to say). The road went into a left hand bend that did two things. It tightened up and then went uphill. I started to drift to the right until I saw a large lorry coming down the hill. I quickly discovered that the bike could lean until the (high set) footrests scraped along the road as I went round the bend in safety!
I think everyone knows the Fulmar.

I used to get the comment “didn’t know Ariel made a single cylinder Arrow” every now and then. One thing I did like about it was that it seemed waterproof in the rain, even when running without the dinky little mag cover I found for it at a breakers in Manchester. The cover was rather battered when I got it but, for a small sum, a panel beater returned it nearly to original factory standard. For its time, the brakes were very good and the handling OK.
Once on the M1 I discovered that its cruising speed of 65mph was badly affected by some of the hills. Several times the same lorry overtook me going up the hill and I overtook him going down. We waved as we passed each other. Another time I went down the hill from Crystal Palace in the direction of Anerley. The hill is very steep but the Fulmar would not go faster than 65mph. A policeman who saw me seemed to think I was doing 70mph so I knew he hadn’t got a good radar lock on me.
PS. I’m more law abiding these days.
However, among the Fulmar’s less attractive shortcomings was a totally inadequate lighting system. When one cannot see well enough in the dark the first impulse is to slow down, but that causes the direct lighting to get dimmer, which causes one to slow and so on.
Eventually the flywheel of the flywheel magneto ignition/ lighting system fragged itself (for the 2nd time) and I decided to go for a new (small) bike.
But to keep in sequence, I had bought the Velocette Venom in 1973 and several days later was chased up Dulwich Common by a police car. He caught me at home but had not been able to log my speed. As I was going through my documentation I saw the MOT for the Fulmar and read it out sotto voce. The police man heard the word Fulmar and just said “the throttle works two ways” before departing!

GMEX
Well!!!!
No Ken- Shame on you.
My dream bikes:-

Note for Terry and anyone else who reads this (Pete Lawrence, Mark Ezra, Eldon Jackson etc.) but hasn't met anyone in over 30 years.
Name the group from left to right(apologies for the blurr, but the operative hasn't been sober for weeks!!!)
And now ----- the group photo:-
Note. Anyone can leave comments,just click on comments below.
No Ken- Shame on you.
My dream bikes:-
Note for Terry and anyone else who reads this (Pete Lawrence, Mark Ezra, Eldon Jackson etc.) but hasn't met anyone in over 30 years.
Name the group from left to right(apologies for the blurr, but the operative hasn't been sober for weeks!!!)
And now ----- the group photo:-
Note. Anyone can leave comments,just click on comments below.
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