MZ Riders Club
South of Scotland Section
Page updated : 27/12/2005
Site designed by Mike
Dent Summer Rally 2002
My name is Martin McDonald, I own a Simson S51 moped and my dad Bill is a member of the club. No, this is not a confession like AA, I happen to be very proud of my bike.
I am 16 and just passed my CBT a few weeks ago, my ambition is to go to Applecross on the Simson, so how did I end up at Dent – Good Question! I was at Malcolm Peterkin’s BBQ weekend and got talking to some of the others there who reckoned that it was too long a journey for someone of my tender years, they suggested Dent instead. It sounded good, with a lot of other members going and The Barbon Hill Climb included, and only 160 miles each way (if you use the motorway). The journey turned out to be 420 miles round trip.
In preparation I got rid of the original Pneumant front tyre and fitted a Metzeler. There was only a choice of two - Metzeler I had heard of, the other I hadn’t. I had been having problems with the bike starting when it was hot so my dad told me to ask James at JK Motorcycles, Stirling to have a look and see if he could fix the problem. He adjusted the timing, fitted a new plug and played with the carb. It definitely ran better and would now easily start when hot. He is great with older bikes and also likes MZs – good garage!
We got up on Friday morning early and started to pack both bikes ( Simson & ETZ 250). We eventually left about 10.30. It was cloudy and raining slightly, I think Dad was having second thoughts as he was muttering about it being a bloody long way in the rain, I reckon he is just getting old. We planned to head down to Cumbernauld and then across past Airdrie, Coatbridge on the A73 then onto the A721 at Carluke and then the A72 to Peebles and Galashiels. At Galashiels we switched to the A7 all the way down to Carlisle. Our first problem happened at Galashiels where we stopped for Petrol and food. Dad insisted we fill the tanks to the brim, with mine taking just on 5 litres (about 80mpg). We crossed the road to a McDonalds (no relation, unfortunately) where we had some food, we sat outside and ate our burgers and Cokes, even the sun came out and it got nice and warm. In fact Dad even started to smile, until we got ready to leave where we found that the heat from the sun had expanded the fuel in my tank and some had come out the breather hole in the cap, and when I tried to wipe it off it lifted the paint as well. The bike was starting to look travel worn already. Dad wasn’t best pleased, as he had spent a long time re-spraying the whole bike.
We continued down to Carlisle, we arrived at 4.30pm in the middle of the rush hour, it was scary especially when I was cut up a couple of times. We stopped at lights and the Simson cut out, it wouldn’t tick over and it took a long time to restart, leathers get really warm when you are in a panic! I eventually got it started and we were off again, it was a relief to get out of Carlisle and onto the A6.
It didn’t last long as when we reached Penrith it was also very busy. I got stuck at road works on a steep hill, it wasn’t the time to practice hill starts but I managed it (just!).
Coming out of Penrith was a pain as we joined the A66 and I had to move from the slow to the fast lane at the first roundabout as we were turning right. All the cars were doing at least 70mph, me I was doing about 35 – 40mph. Luck was with me as a gap appeared and I made a dive for it and got round the round about safely. WHEW! The next section of the road down to Kendal was uneventful. Shap summit was a drag, 3rd gear and 25mph, the descent was better 4th gear and nearly 50mph!!! After Kendal we got lost, we took the A685 as Sedbergh was signposted on it, we cut off over Lambrigg Fell this was serious 1st gear, 10mph hills. We eventually found our way and met up with Tony Searle who guided us to the campsite, we had arrived at approx 8.30pm. We had covered about 210 miles and had taken about 10 hours with 3 stops, I was holding the speed to approx 35mph where possible, however we had a slight headwind for most of the way.
The weekend was really good, the hill climb was excellent. I walked around with Dad, Terry and Malcolm and looked and criticised all the bikes as well as watching the racing.
At night we went to the pub, where I was presented with a Mug as a prize for getting there. I would like to thank Mike Paterson, and especially Tony Searle for giving me the present and to every one else there, who were really friendly and kind to me. THANKS
Sunday morning came too quickly, as we had to pack up after breakfast and head home. We left about 10am after some pictures were taken. We retraced our route back up the A6 and A7 we had no problems at all until we were near Galashiels where the power on the bike started to surge and die, this lasted for about 10 miles then the engine stopped altogether. Dad appeared quite quickly and we had a look. There was petrol and a spark, however we changed the spark plug and the bike ran sweetly the rest of the way home, maybe it just needed a rest. Dad was worried that there might be something more serious if the bike had burnt out a spark plug in under 400 miles. We eventually reached Denny where we live at 7pm, after riding for an hour in the pouring rain. We unloaded the bikes and pushed them into the garage to be cleaned another day. When we went to check the bike a couple of days later, it started and ticked over and also the old plug worked fine, Dad reckons it was fuel starvation as the fuel in the flat bowl is set low to stop it overflowing onto the garage floor when left for a few days.
We were quicker coming back, there was a bit of a tail wind and I was averaging 35 – 40 mph for long stretches and was getting about 90mpg.
All I need to do now is plan my next trip… Applecross, I reckon
A Father’s View (by Bill McDonald)
When Dent was suggested, I didn’t realise how long it would take on the little bike, but as Martin was keen, we decided to go for it. I leap-frogged him all the way down. I would go ahead for about 10 miles then stop and wait, I would let him get about 20 minutes ahead and then catch him up and follow him for a couple of miles. It was amazing to watch and hear the little bike ‘buzz’ its way past me, I kept thinking it was going too well, however we had a couple of problems but none that stopped us. Credit to the friend that rebuilt the engine.
I was pleased to see the improvements in Martin’s skill in riding and the way he handled the traffic, especially going through Carlisle, as he had only ridden the bike half a dozen times before this trip. It would appear he is a confirmed MZ’er. We are already in the process of rebuilding an ETZ 125 for next year, however if he gets his way there will be a few more trips on the Simson before then, and he has already stated that it won’t be for sale.
Mind you, a 70cc engine would be nice if you have one to spare.