Oh, the shame of it all! The Doc, the guy who suggests an Arpilia RS is a perfectly suitable commuter/learner bike, who considers a Laverda to be a sensible touring bike, is forced onto a winter hack. Not any hack, either, but the Trabant of the bike world, an MZ! Oh, the humanity! 

It had to be done though. The Laverda had spent 2 of the last 5 months in a non-running state, and it really was too much of a handful in the wet and cold. I had a few hundred quid spare, and Loot beckoned. Feeling particularly ill-disposed to the world, I decided to try and buy a bike as diametrically opposed to the Laverda as possible - when my eye fell upon an advert for an MZ, for 250 quid. I went and checked it out. As most MZ owners tend to be, the guy was real enthusiast, and had hardly rode the bike. It was tatty-looking, having sat under a tarp in his garden for almost a year, but still sound - starting second kick, idling easily, with new tyres and a tank full of two-stroke. I offered him two hundred, and rode it home that afternoon. At first I was appalled by it all - the 300cc two stroke engine felt flat and dull after the howling insanity of the RS125 and the roaring wave of torque of the Formula. Still it felt fairly happy puttering back up the A2 from Kent at 60 mph, and could be coaxed to 85 for overtakes. 

It's physically a surprisingly large bike, and really quite comfortable - the seat is nice and wide, the bars similarly high and wide, you sit upright in an "Onwards Into A Glorious Socialist Future Comrade" way, and it's all quite easy. Once I got used to the light weight, tight turning circle, and apalling tyres, it actually became quite a giggle.The engine is flat, there's no two ways about it, but this makes cruising along quite easy, and the front brake is actually stupendously good, particularly after I bled the hydraulics and replaced the pad. The light weight also makes it capable of giving a very nasty surprise to bigger bikes, particularly through quick changes of direction. In town it's unbeatable, IMO - the high bars go over most wing mirrors, and the upright position makes it easy to see over traffic. 

The big attraction, though, is how cheap it all is - a 15l tank full of petrol is good for almost 180 miles, and a litre of semi-synth two stroke (about 3 quid) is good for a thousand or so miles. TPO insurance was 35 quid, and even if it ever got dropped, there's precious little to actually break. The toolkit is good enough to pretty much completely rebuild the bike at the roadside, and it even comes with a bloody pump attached to one of the rear suspension stanchions! The chain is completely enclosed, and I've only had to oil it once in almost 2 thousand winter miles. 

I have a cunning plan for this bike come the summer. There is an MZ racing series, and race-prepping one of these would cost less than two new tyres on the Laverda (clip-ons, lever conversions so that you can operate the gear lever and back brake from the pillion footpegs, Amal carb, race can, racing clutch all come to under 150 quid, and TZR125 wheels (available from any breaker) apparently slot right on, allowing you a wide range of sticky rubber. It's a very, very cheap way into racing, and although I'm quite sure I'll get slaughtered, it'll still be a lot cheaper than a track day - and I get to wave a racing licence around... more to come on this if I ever get round to it...