A Skorpion has joined the stable! :-)

[themoudie]

Fellow loonies!

May I ask if anybody has servicing info. in a condensed form for a Skorpion Tour?

Yam XTZ660 engine not that different from 'Sally', but some suspension/brake info would be appreciated. I have also used the 'search' facility on the site so this'll be a 'hot link' for a while.

Kat now has a Thumper and enjoys it. My quote "You've now got similar poke to a Manx!" raised a grin and a passing wave along a dual carriageway at ~**mph, 10minutes later.

When we got home I said I'd nip into town on it, 100m up the road and I was cra**ing myself, it was twitching and had a reluctance to take a corner , checked tyre pressures . Yes, I shall spare the blushes of others and myself for not checking them after purchase . Suffice to say, I ran higher pressures on a Bultaco 250 whilst doing a section!

How did Kat ride it home?   One of lifes mysteries and I'm pleased we spoke with the fairies last time on the Island. Thank you Fairies. 

Regards to you all, Bill.

[Steffan]

I find them pretty good out of the box but there are a few things which will improve matters.
Brembo caliper in front and MC if you can find one.

Changing the forkoil is also useful as they tend to be a bit on the solid side. Check the bearings in the rear suspension linkage too.

The clocks are crap, I have been through two tachos and have given up as I cannot find yet another one.

Dodgy electrics are known but that's a case of checking the obvious wear points.

If I can think of anything else I'll drop a line.

Steffan

[Steve H]

Brembo caliper make a huge difference to the front brake. The Grimeca works well but is either on or off. SZR or TZR125RR (4DL Belgarda) are good sources.
Bearings in the rear wheel and cush drive are cheap and nasty

[themoudie]

Thank you Steffan and Steve, for taking the time to reply.

Volume of oil in forks?

Rear wheel bearings have been changed already, but I am unsure of the quality.

At present the foot pegs are in the lowest and most forward position, which is B awful . They dig into your calves when at a halt and need to go rearwards and maybe up. If this doesn't rectify the problem, rearsets or a revised mounting plate maybe on the way! Any thoughts/preferences on an alternative location, with measurements?

My regards, Bill.

[Steve H]

Steffan will probabaly know better but I beleive the Sport footrest brackets sit further back so that may be an option.
Manual says 300ml of SAE10 or 220 mm from the top of the fork for the Tour

[Steffan]

I have never measured the mm only the ml and that sounds about right.

Lowest and rear most works for me.

As for manuals there is the SZR manual available free online or on disc and there is the partsbook ++ from the MZRC and the owners manual that comes with the bike and that's it I am afraid.

Best solution with the linkage is drop it out with the shock, give both a good clean and regrease and refit. If you're nifty and I am not you could fit  a grease nipple on the bottom of the linkage which would help to preserve the really expensive spherical bearing. The newer ones come ready nippled. The OE shocks are known to wear pretty quickly but Hagon do a servicable, if stiff replacement for less than the morgage on your house - there are other tastier options like wilbers but I have never tried them.

One thing to watch is not to over fill the oil tank like I am prone to do as it gets everywhere. Oh and check the oil hoses to and from the tank, my mate had one of these let go and only the hugger saved him from what could have been a  very ugly moment.

Finally and at the risk of teaching you to suck eggs - if you ride it like a thumper you will 1. not enjoy the experience, 2. come to the conclusion that the Skorpion is a pile of shite(not true in fact) and 3. end up buggering your gearbox. Ride it like a 2T (not villiers) ie use the throttle and keep the revs up 4-4.5K  and over and she will be a joy.

One more thing there is a Yahoo group called MZOG which is worth being on and has some knowledgable if slightly cranky individuals on it - but they are all good eggs.

Steffan

[themoudie]

Aye Steffan,

My thanks again for more info. It's Kat's machine, not mine and she is quite used to riding 'Sally' the SRX600 and has had 'goes' on the '94 BMW F650, so she isn't afraid to give it some revs. In fact she wasn't changing up into 5th until she was hitting 55 - 60mph in 4th, no lugging and juddering. Just not as revvy as her BROS400!

If anybody is looking for the MZ Skorpion GB manual, parts list, a Yamaha Raptor 660 Quad manual/parts list/pictures or a Yamaha SZR manual, use the URL below, as these manuals are all available in PDF format ready for download onto your hard disc.

http://dougkearney.com/mz

My thanks to Doug Kearney and I like his site, especially the wee bairnie wearing his lid! Start 'em young!

Our regards, Bill and Kat.

[guest18]

"has some knowledgable if slightly cranky individuals on it - but they are all good eggs."
Hmmm, sounds like somewhere I sometimes visit 
A cheery HELLO to you and Kat and I hope you are both hale and hearty and Kat enjoys her new toy.
Will catch up sometime,
Smudge 

[themoudie]

Aye Smudge,

Thank you for your greetings.

Maintanence neglect, would be the most apt term I think. Stripping the calipers, removing clart and generally adjusting things so that they have free runs, slide or remain still when supposed too! Also changing the odd hex bolt and scrunched large Chinese flat washer for a cap screw! I may even post an image of that one.

Fabricating up linkage for the gearchange with the footrests in the rearward position is on the cards today and maybe a test run to follow .

A cool bright day today, with a light to moderate breeze from the NW with a dusting of 'icing sugar' on the Grampian hills, very bonny.

Keep applying the Factor 30 and happy returns for the **! Had the 'T' shirt a while, but none the better for it.

Regards from us both, Bill and Kat.

[andy230]

hullo pal!

Just saw this, well done on the new toy!

Mine is a bit of a rat, but has home made rearsets, I got it as a trackbike:



Its not taxed just now, off the road, do you want me to draw round the rearset plates and post you a drawing? 

They are pretty high, but good with low bars...!

Other impressions- Back shocks are crap, sperical bearing in the rear rocker seem to hve a hard life (lack of maintainance).  Now I have WP Progressive springs in the front, the originals were bent on inspection!

Cheers mate

a

[themoudie]

Aye Andy,

Thank you for the offer of drawings, but at the moment I am trying to get the 'niggles' removed and Kat comfy on the machine. However, the "luggies" handlebar position brought a smile to her face so I may have to carry out some mods in the not to distant future. This includes fabricating another linkage rod for the gears, as the rearset postion requires a longer rod. Left hand dies are expensive (£50-00+) , so it's a cut and insert job, or buy a titanium custom job from Ebay for £11-00 + £1-50P&P. The latter may get the vote .

The beasty has only 17.5K km on the clock with 9 owners since 8/1996! and the last owner and his wife were 'big' people with the shock jacked up to the max [Anyone have a drawing or outline sketch of the 'C' spanner, so that I may carve one out of some plate? Sad, I know!]. Front springs and oil quantity, no idea yet and a good clean and lube all round is ongoing. Clean filter and oil in the engine also required. However, the 74ft/lb for the rear spindle nut seems a bit OTT and noticeably 'nips up' the bearings at 60ft/lb, so 50ft/lb at present unless told otherwise.

The can looks like a fruity one on yours, but I believe this can loose rather than gain umph, so sticking with a 'standard' can at present. I realise the myopic and deef of the a*seh**e of England require an audibal warning system of your imminent arrival .

Our kind regards, Bill and Kat.

[Steve H]

Bill, I had a carbon can on mine for a shot while, in the end I got bored with the noise. It dont think it gained much in power but it did seem to improve throttle response and smooth things out a bit.

[andy230]

Hello

Re. the can, it was on there when I got it (tho at high level), was near unused, and I'm going by the "loud pipes save lives" bulls--t""   

Works well, in conjunction with a bit of light headwork, hi CR piston, DynoJet and clamp-on conical filters.  Not my doing, bought it something like this, I just set it up.  It is happy right up to the limiter, and I'm not going to change that (just rebuild thwe motor when it starts protesting!!)

cheers for now

a