Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1345276
37 37 Since this bike had been stored properly, there was no rust in the tank. What I did tend to was a thorough carb and petcock cleaning, along with a length of Mo on Pro fuel line. Points were cleaned and both igni on systems checked and gearbox oil changed. With fresh fuel and big fat spark, the old MZ ISDT roared to life within a few kicks. The sound is unique. It's loud but not raspy. It's a deep powerful tone that demands authority, much like a big bore. Once underway, the ride is also quite surprising. As an quated as this bike looks, the ergonomics are spot-on. With a wide comfortable seat, pegs where they belong, and wide tall bars, it feels eerily similar to a Yamaha DT-1. Where it gets interes ng is when the thro le is opened and you hit the trail. If you like a torquey bike, you'd love riding this machine; it handles great. Those Germans knew what they were doing when they chose gear ra os as first gear is wide. The pull is linear, and as you upshi through the five speeds, you find the MZ ISDT has incredibly long legs. The feel is similar to a 400 Husky of the same era and revs out about the same. As one who's familiar with vintage bikes, I'm thoroughly impressed with the MZ 250 ISDT Replica. What ever happened to MZ? In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down when Communism collapsed. Without Communist government subsidies, MZ also collapsed. The company was then priva zed, and the new owners redesigned their most popular model, the ETZ 250, morphing it into the ETZ 251. Why, we will never know, but they did. They changed various panels, mud guards and instruments, and for a while it wasn't possible to look at any ETZ 251 model and say for certain whether it should have plas c or metal mud guards, round instruments or whatever. MZ seemed to dress their motorcycles with whatever happened to be in the parts bins at the me. In 1991, the company went bankrupt, and between '91 and '96 several owners re-opened the factory using Austrian Rotax 500 cc single cylinder four stroke engines. The bikes were well-constructed and reliable, but at that me there was li le appeal and sales floundered. In recent years there were a empts to rekindle the brand but with li le success. Maybe, with the resurgence in the motorcycling industry, we'll see the name MZ once again!