Mz On the Rise

MZ ON THE RISE

THE IDEA OF ANY NEW model from MZ, of what used to be East Germany, seems pretty farfetched. The idea that any new MZ could be a star of an international motorcycle show is even farther fetched, rather like a Fiat outshining a Ferrari.

Yet that is precisely what happened at England’s Birmingham Show. MZ, which as a state-owned business manufactured two-stroke runabouts,

proved it is serious about meeting the challenge of privatization by debuting a stunning and quite workable prototype called the Skorpion. This is powered by a Rotax four-valve Single and was created as a result of MZ’s unlikely link to a British design studio called Seymour-Powell, which is responsible for the current Norton FI sportbike’s design. The goal was a highquality, low-cost motorcycle

that reflects what designer Richard Seymour called “simplicity, sustainability and common sense.”

The Rotax engine is hung in an innovative twin-tube chassis developed by Dave Pearce, whose Tigcraft machines dominate British Singles racing. The frame’s two 55mm chrome-moly sidetubes slot into a cast alloy rear-engine mount/swingarm pivot, bonded by aircraft adhesives. The en-

gine works as a stressed member, and a cantilevered shock controls the movements of a box-section aluminum swingarm. Much of the rest of the Skorpion is Yamahasourced, including the wheels, fork, front brake and headlight.

So far, two versions of this tiny bike-it rolls on a 53.7inch wheelbase-are projected. One is the single-seat LS500 sportbike said to weigh 298 pounds dry, the other is an unfaired dual-seat SP5 said to tip the scales at 328 pounds dry.

Though both bikes exist in prototype form, development is in its earliest stages, so don’t look for a production bike until the 1994 model year. But MZ clearly is bent upon survival, and upon producing a machine with lots of appeal not only in Western Europe, but in Japan and perhaps even in the U.S.

-Alan Cathcart