What is it ?

[penetrator]

Friend of mine took this pic in Pattaya, after looking at the obvious I was intrigued by the 60's looking black bike. It looks to me like it's maybe a relative of the BSA Bantam going by the engine. Of course the Bantam was a copy of the German DKW and it was taken as war reparations and produced by the British - Bantam, The Americans - Harley Hummer, the Soviets - Minsk and later copied by Yamaha as well as being made in Germany as the MZ and I think in Italy and possibly Poland.

Quite a smart looking bike I think, if I had to gamble my money would be on MZ as the knee pads on the tank and big square side panels remind me of the MZ150TS

Anyone know what it is for sure ?

 

[monsterman]

MZ for sure.

 

[HIKO]

Hi Penetrator

Yes it is quite sure a a MZ, which is quite common in Thailand, Below you can find a picture of a MZ 150.

I am just preparing an post on the Honda CB750 SOHC thread were I tell more about how the Japanese stole all the 2-stroke knowledge of IFA/DKW and later MZ from the Germans. First Yamaha copied the IFA/DKW 100% after the war. Then the top rider of MZ, Ernst Degner was "hijacked" by Suzuki from the Swedish Grand Prix in Kristianstad 1961 with all the drawings and know-how of the 2-stroke guru mr. Walter Kaaden. All the 2-stroke glory of Yamaha and Suzuki is based on Mr. Walter Kaadens theories. If you are interested just wait a few days and I will tell more about it on this other thread.

MZ 150

HIKO

PS The picture is probably from Soi six in Pattaya. The King Kong bar is quite a rough place.....

 

[Muzz]

Also worth remembering, the BMW flat twin boxer engine was taken from the British Douglas Dragonfly 350 of the 1930's. BMW simply turned the engine 90 degrees to improve cooling to the then rear cylinder!

 

[penetrator]

Yes it was taken on Soi 6, I wont ask how come you recognised it HIKO :wink:

Any idea of what model and year MZ it is and if it's in stock state or customised ? If it is a standard bike and made prior to the 150TS then they sure took a backwards step in the styling department, the TS models are among the ugliest bikes ever made whilst this things quite a handsome wee bike, reminds me slightly of a period BMW. I had a MZ150TS with a friend when I was about 14, made it into a fairly competent motocross bike with a Gilera tank replacing the oil tanker sized original and an all speed expansion chamber to make it sound right, bloody good bike apart from having to keep recharging the battery because the generator had packed up.

I remember reading when I was a kid about how Yamaha based/stole their 2 stroke technology on MZ's achievements. The Japanese are very good at refining existing ideas but not quite so good at coming up with original ones.

 

[NDSinBKK]

I love that photograph because it displays my all-time favorite Thai bar name: My Friend You.

My GF and I were diving with a company on that street and saw the bar name - it has been a source of regular discussion and provided me some insights into the wonders of Thinglish.

Thanks for the memories...

S.