How the Sly Siblings Learned to Share

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They went one better and produced yet another model, Silver Star. This was yet another departure although the frame and suspension is very similar to the normal Saxon model. And finally, to add a little icing to the cake, they had a different coloured model, the Red Star which was, would you believe, Red. It is believed that very few (perhaps as few as a handful) of Red Stars were ever made. What is certain is that the imitation of the RT125 by all the other manufacturers did not come down to a desire by those manufacturers to share in MZ’s road racing and ISDT successes because when the RT125 was being copied, MZ hadn’t had any. Not such a Victory. The US brand is not the only bike company to go out of business this century...

The first models imported into Britain by Wilf Green in the early 70’s were the ES150 and ES250/2 Trophy models. The ES150 had taken over from the RT125 when the RT125 ceased production in about 1962. I have an RT125 which the name plate says was manufactured in 1967 and this anomaly is hard to explain because, by 1967 they had long since stopped making the RT125. The name plate says it was manufactured in 1967 and it was registered in 1967 (obviously not an official import) but the mystery remains. Introduced in 2008, the R125 took over as the sports 125 to appeal to every red-blooded teenager thanks to its full-size proportions, full-quota performance and R6 looks. In the late seventies early eighties, styling tastes were changing by the day. The Japanese manufacturers were changing models annually. Without the financial resource of the far eastern companies MZ had to settle with having a make over every six years or so. Even so, they did better than Triumph, who were still making in 1980 a model that was basically designed in 1938. Good old Edward Turner. By the late 1990’s 2 Stroke production had stopped in Germany and MZ were being made in the Kanuni factory in Turkey. Initially bikes were badged MZ with Kanuni written on the seat but, in the early 2000’s they revamped the cosmetics completely and finally dropped the MZ badge a tear forms in ones eye at this point. In our opinion the true Kanunis are probably the ugliest MZs ever made but it is true that they remained as reliable as ever they were right until the end of production in Turkey in 20XX.And, by being such a popular category, there’s a constant stream of newcomers each year all designed to tempt us onto two wheels. In those days the Japanese insisted on using cross headed Phillips screws which were made from some soft cheese like material. As the average motorcyclist had never even seen a Phillips screw driver (as opposed to a Pozi-Drive screw driver) there was certainly no chance that they would possess the impact screw driver required to remove the Phillips screws without butchering them beyond recognition. The result was usually that the head had to be drilled off and the whole screw replaced. The MZ screws had good old fashioned slots. Every motorcyclist had a flat bladed screw driver and so motorcycle tinkering could continue. From 2023 onwards and with the demise of the Suzuki GSX-R1000, the GSX-R125 stands alone as the only sportsbike in Suzuki’s range, too. In the world of 125cc scooters you can basically go one of four ways: affordable sports style (eg Sym Jet); fashion-conscious ‘retro’ (Vespa GTS); premium all-rounder (such as Yamaha’s XMAX or Honda’s Forza) or ‘big-wheeled’ practicality. And the best example of the latter is Italian scooter specialists long-lived and hugely popular Liberty. Most of the former three types have wheel diameter of around 10 or usually 12inches, which helps make them small, nimble and easy to manage – but also makes them less stable, particularly on uneven road surfaces such as in city centres, due their reduced gyroscopic effect. ‘Big wheel’ scooters, by contrast, generally use 14in or larger wheels, so appear more ‘motorcycle-like’ but, while still eminently practical, are more stable and reassuring to ride, which makes them especially popular for city commuters. On the slight downside, they’re sometimes less appealing or trendy, visually and can be more expensive. The A1 category, in effect, allows riders their first taste of ‘proper’ motorcycles. A1 bikes can be up to 125cc and 11kw/15bhp (as long as the power/weight ratio is no more than 0.1kw/kg), are often capable of around 70mph and as such, although targeted at novices, can also include the whole gamut of ‘big bike’ motorcycling features such as six-speed transmissions, proper brakes and suspension not to mention the ‘big bike’ looks that go with it.

Although legally you can start on two wheels at 16 (as long as you hold a provisional licence, have a CBT certificate and display L plates), the restriction at that age to AM category machines, bikes or scooters of under 50cc that are capable of no more than 45kph (28mph), can hold limited appeal. Although Japanese 2 strokes used oil metering for lubrication, MZ relied on premix (oil in the petrol) in all their bikes until 1983. The bikes still relied on 6v electrics but although Japanese bikes were mainly 12v, the Brits had only just gone over to 12v and 6v bulbs were still on every shelf. MZs had another feature, last seen on Sunbeam motorcycles in the 1950s and always use on cars: A rubber mounted engine. With rubber mounts in shear underneath and retained round bushes at the rear, the MZ was virtually vibration free. The GTS is Vespa’s largest, modern, but classically retro-styled machine, first launched as the GT200 in 2004 before itself evolving and being updated into a whole family of machines in 125, 300cc and standard and premium Super forms. All combine classic Italian Vespa style, easy small-wheel riding, decent practicality, plenty of quality design touches to justify their premium prices and, of course, unequalled Italian scooter style. As such, it’s no wonder they’re so popular with fashion-conscious scooter types. In 1930 9D JW revealed the RT125 model, fitted with a new motor designed by Mermann Weber: a humble single cylinder; three speed unit construction engine, that subsequently went on to achieve automotive greatness.First introduced in 2014, the XMAX 125 is, like its bigger brother in the300cc class, Yamaha’s premium, high quality, sporty scooter offering, only this time in the quarter-litre class. As such its closest rival is Honda’s best-selling Forza 125. Yamaha describe it as their ‘ultimate, every day urban commuter’ and in many respects they’re right, attempting to offer, again like the Honda, the ideal balance of sportiness, practicality and functionality. During the 1960s the MZ factory constantly developed their ES range of lightweight machines from 125cc through top 300cc. In 1970 the 1 millionth motorcycle road off the production line in the form of an ETS250 Trophy Sport which can still be seen on display in the Schloss Augustusburg museum in Saxony.