MZ Riders Club

South of Scotland Section

Page updated : 28/04/20075

Site designed by Mike

In Defence of the Skorpion

Recently, some scum-bags decided that they rather liked my Skorpion Traveller. So much so, that they decided to make off with it early one morning without my knowledge or consent. Now, being mentally-retarded, they decided that the best way to remove the disc-lock fitted through the front disc was to repeatedly hit it with a large hammer. They made so much noise that my neighbour, who’s on shifts, came out to see what all the noise was about. On seeing him they dropped the bike and legged it. Great. A whole load of damage not covered by my insurance policy. Final damage - new indicators, new mirrors, new fairing panel, new wheel and new disc. Thanks very much.

However, I’m really glad that they didn’t manage to steal the beast. I really like my Skorpion and would have been terribly upset at having to try and find a replacement for it. I haven’t felt like this about all of the bikes that I’ve owned over the last twenty-odd years, oh no, but the Skorpion I like unreservedly despite it’s many…er, idiosyncrasies. 

So, what’s so good about the Skorpion? Well, it came with braided hoses, a stainless silencer and, unusually for a modern machine, a centre-stand. It’s quick, light and a joy to ride. When new they sold for around £4000. Now, since the factory has stopped production, you are pretty much limited to a ‘pre-owned’ example. Also, since they don’t make them new any more they should now be considered a modern ‘classic’ and mine will be worth a fortune in a few years. I wish!

However, these machines are now floating around the 2^nd hand market incredibly cheaply. Don’t dither, buy one now. Personally; I feel that the Traveller is the best all-round package as it has a decent fairing and panniers as standard, but both the Sport and the Tour have their supporters. The Sport will kill your lumbago, but is a hell of a lot of fun. You can also play around with the end-can and carburetion if you want it to go a tad faster and/or make more noise. The Tour would benefit from a screen, and you’ll be looking at buying throw-over panniers if you want to go camping or touring on either.

I’ve had my Skorpion now for a little over a year, and I like it. It’s a great bike. It’s a 1998 model in white (ex-CSM), which had approximately 21,000 miles on the clock when I picked it up. It’s now done somewhere in the region of 37,000 miles and my feelings about the beast haven’t changed in the length of time that I’ve had it. However, I suppose everything is relative. My previous bike was a Rotax, so I was already familiar with riding a large single.

I don’t know if I’m a typical Skorpion owner/rider or not. The bike gets used most every day to get me to work and back, and it gets ridden in all weathers and over all types of road surface. I even won a Rally Award Scheme ‘Special’ award for most points accumulated last year on it and have managed, comfortably, trips to Wales, Kent, Ireland and the Emmenraush Treffen in Germany. It’s good for around 100mph, with a comfortable, relaxed cruising speed of around 80mph, but I’m sure other folk will immediately write in to tell you that they’ve done 160mph no problems (and their ETZ125s will regularly do 85mph at 120 mpg, and the voices made them do it, but let’s stick to Planet Reality shall we?). Fuel economy is good, averaging about 50-60mpg, with a best of 82mpg while travelling in company at 60mph in Germany last year - and, yes, I know that this is an unlikely speed to be travelling at, hence the extremely, never to be repeated, fuel economy. On the down side it does burn some oil, but as long as you check the tank every 500 miles or so and top it if necessary, that’s not too much of a hassle.

 In common with all modern bikes tyres, spares and servicing for something like the Skorpion are going to be more expensive than the same for your old stroker. Tyres, in particular, can be a pain. There is limited choice of sizes, and most are quite expensive and don’t last over long. About 4k from a rear tyre is normal but then, ask your mate how long the tyre lasts on his Jap sports bike. You’re going to have to pay for that extra grip and performance, it’s not a lightweight with budget tyres you’re on now. I split the difference between performance and cost and currently use Bridgestone BT92s, which are not as ‘sporty’ as some, and manage around 10K from a rear and something similar from the front. Spares come primarily from BSA-Regal and aren’t as expensive as I feared. Servicing - while I happily work on my old two-strokes the Skorpion gets put into the shop about once a year with costs comparable with similar bikes. 

Cosmetically, the bike is a bit tired as it has to live outdoors. I got fed up with the rusty fasteners on the fairing panels and replaced them with stainless ones. Well worth the effort and not as expensive as you might think.

 In many ways it’s quite unlike a traditional MZ; 4-stroke, very fast, expensive to run etc. - and in other ways it’s very familiar; good fuel economy, rock-hard seat after about 100 miles, highly erratic instruments (revs - 2000ish, 3000ish etc.). It also gets a fair bit of attention when I park up and, mostly, favourable comments - except from those too scared to be seen on an MZ in case their mates laugh at them. Get the Skorpion and some new mates, I say.

 How can anyone not like this bike? Only too readily it seems. What’s rather annoying is the amazing amount of crap talked about them. Personally, I don’t really understand someone who goes out and buys a modern, performance sports bike and then moans that it’s not like their old two-stroke. Of course it’s not. That’s the whole point.

There also seems to be an amazing list of perceived ‘faults’. Let’s take a look at a few of these;  

It vibrates :  Of course it does, it’s powered by a dirty great big single-cylinder engine. Why buy a Skorpion, a bike with the aforementioned dirty great big single-cylinder engine, and then complain that the engine characteristics are those of ... a dirty great big single-cylinder engine? What a surprise! Yes, they do vibrate more than a Pan European or a CBR600, but a lot less than something like a boxer BMW, my old Cossack, or any British bike I’ve ever ridden.  

The Traveller’s fairing makes engine access difficult : What? You didn’t notice it had a fairing when you bought it? Or, did it grow a fairing overnight? And it takes ages to change a spark plug? Well, realistically, how often are you changing a plug? If it’s eating plugs then I’m afraid that there’s something seriously wrong with your bike, and it’s got nothing to do with the fairing. Since you should only be looking at the plug as often as you adjust the valves, is it really such a chore to take the tank off once a year?  And, anyway, all bikes with a fairing need the panels removed to work on the bike, so you’re no different to anyone else whose bike is covered in plastic now are you?  

You need to remove the swing-arm to change the chain : Personally, I don’t see this as a great drawback. How many MZs (and other bikes for that matter) have been consigned to the skip with the swing-arm pivot seized? At least it’ll get greased about once a year when the chain gets done so that it shouldn’t be a problem in the future. Also, once you've done it the once it can be done in about half an hour in future.

Skorpions fall off their stands : I’ve seen it put about that you daren’t use either the side-stand or the centre-stand. I tried ‘wobbling’ my bike when it’s on its stands, and it doesn’t seem to be any less stable than any other bike I’ve owned, and a lot more stable than my old BMW that regularly fell over if you looked at it funny. How, pray, are you parking the damn thing? Leaning it against a wall everywhere you go?

The gearbox is horrible around town : The engine was designed for use in a trail-bike and, I readily admit, it can be unhappy under 3000 rpm – just like any number of 2-strokes that I’ve owned. The gearing on mine is standard, as far as I know, yet I use mine in town traffic all the time without any great hassle. However, if you don’t like the gearing then change it, don’t whinge about it. Simply put a different sprocket on the bike, just like half the club did on their ETZs.

You can’t reach the reserve tap whilst riding along and, as a result, the bike sputters to a standstill : Why is this a problem? If you can’t reach the tap when it starts to splutter then don’t let it go onto reserve, Just switch the tap over before you need to and you won’t be caught out. Simple, really.

 Finally, my favourite gripe.

The Skorpion would have been a lot better if it had had the Rotax engine : I guess that there are three possibilities; (1) you’ve never ridden a Skorpion. (2) you’ve never ridden a Rotax. (3) you’ve never ridden either. I’ve even heard it put about that the Skorpion would have been better with the ETZ301 engine. Some people really have a problem.  

If you bought a Skorpion and don’t like it then, for gawd’s sake, do us all a favour and just sell it and buy something else. Don’t keep going on and on about it. The most annoying thing that I have managed to find with it so far has been that the indicator switch is a bit fiddly to operate with gloves on. This hardly makes it a ‘bad’ machine’. In fact, there’s really no such thing as a bad machine in my mind, just the wrong machine. 

Oh, one last thing. A big bike with a white fairing is the ideal machine if you like putting the wind up other road users. Simply ride along the motorway in your fluorescent jacket and watch everybody else on the road drive at exactly the national speed limit ‘cos they think you’re the law. It reminds me of days gone by on my white BMW with my fluorescent jacket.

(Update: I am now the proud owner of three Skorpions. A Tour, a Sport & a Traveller. They must be doing something right)