TS250/1 Gearbox question...

[TS2Fifty]

Hi all, I've just acquired a 1977 TS250/1 in very straight (if slightly dusty) condition. All that is really needed mechanically is the bearing for the gearbox output shaft, behind the sprocket as the original has collapsed.

What I need is to know-:
a) Can I buy this part seperately, where from & how much should it cost.
And most importantly-:
b) Can the new bearing be fitted without having to split the casings? (The rest of the mechanicals seem in such good fettle that it would be a real shame to have to pull it all apart & possibly damage something else.)

It looks as if it may be possible, even more so because the original came out that way, but then it was pretty FUBAR so it would.
If anyone could answer this for me & possibly provide photos of the job or the output shaft minus just the sprocket (I think there may be a plate or bearing cup gone AWOL so this would be a great help.) that would be much appreciated by a newb to these bikes.

Thanks, Dan.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

if your in the uk there are several shops that still fix the broken 2 smokers

or
http://www.mz-b.de
for spares there in Berlin germany
disclaimer they are NOT part of the current MZ company

also i think there is a mod for the transmission in some of the 2 smokers that make them
stronger so a full take apart may be the way to go if yours is one that will take the upgrade

some of the fellows in the uk may have more info
as we do mostly 4 strokers on this site
but always glad to help get a 2 smoker running as a way to thumb our nose at the
officials that band them....

[TS2Fifty]

Thanks for that, I am UK based. Crewe in Cheshire to be more exact, if anyone knows a decent bike shop for MZ round here it would be great. (I'm pinning my hopes on Earl Street M/C for the moment, my usual haunt only the owner's on holiday at the minute.)

Do you mean "the man" has banned strokers in the US then? Effing Bar stewards if they have!

[Garf]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I have just started getting more interested in the MZ 2 strokes so have been doing a bit of trawling for info with a view to building a fun track day bike ....dont laugh, they are good little bikes and have their own racing series in the UK (check out http://www.bmzrc.net) and wont break the bank to run / crash it.

Anyway, from what I can gather a place called Burwin Motorcycles in London seems to do just about everything for the 2 strokes and seem to be well respected ( http://www.mzspares.com ) and there is also a guy with an ebay shop MZ motorcycle heaven who is apparently very helpful.

Good luck
Garf

[TS2Fifty]

Hi Garf, Cheers. (Not laughing by the way, seen some of the racers & trackday bikes & they look good)

I've just started to try to decipher the "english" section of http://www.mz-b.de/eindex.htm and from what I can make out it looks like I'm not going to have much problem sourcing the parts I need, nor am I going to break the (meagre, it must be said) bank!

[DAVID THOMPSON]

if you decide to make a daily driver out of it check out the 12volt electrical systems
at the same parts site
http://www.powerdynamo.biz/eng/systems/lists/mz.htm
this is what mz-b.de also does as part of its biz

about 155 uk pounds and you are using a real 12v 150 watt system
make it run like a champ and the guy doing the mot insp. will love it
ar dave

http://www.powerdynamo.biz/eng/systems/ ... 24main.htm

[dozzyd]

Ah,the old 'stinkwheel', there's a place in my heart for these old strokers,I paid a mate £400 for a 1990 TS251 about ten years ago and i remember it with great fondness! Not only did it get me back into bikes,but served me very well as a commuter and for the occasional 'loon' round the dales,fix it with hammer too! Happy days,who needs 170bhp? Garf,I too considered racing one and even went as far as contacting Burwins in London for advice,it seems the place to go,not just for racing info,but also for general spares and service items. Keep an eye on ebay,a fully sorted MZ 'racer' incl two spare bikes for bits sold for £480 very recently! Let us know how you get on,sounds an interesting project... Ian

[TS2Fifty]

Thanks for the support folks, I will be looking into going 12v if I decide to keep the bike as a long termer, probably just via a combo. of bulbs, regulator etc & revving the crackers off it to start with as money's fairly tight but the 12v dynamo conversion has got to be worth looking into in future.

[TS2Fifty]

Went to the local engineering workshop today with the remains of the original bearing & picked up a load of 11/32" (I think) loose bearings, my theory being that by adding one or two extra balls without a cage it should make for a stronger than original setup with no shrapnel to grind into the cups if it fails again. I'll let you know how this works out as the loose bearings are a lot cheaper than buying the proper item (although at £5 that isn't extortionate but every little helps...)

[Louis Mair]

In the ETZ manual it gives details of fitting the sprocket bearing without splitting the cases. You need to heat things, cool bits and be a good mechanic. It is probably just as easy/hard to split the cases. Manuals available from the MZ Riders Club.

Are you planning to run loose balls between the alloy casing and the steel shaft?

[TS2Fifty]

No, the outer race is still intact. Actually, at the time of writing the previous post I hadn't noticed that it was supposed to be a cartridge style bearing, it looked to be a cup/cone setup with the outer cup on a seperate (missing) plate & that's why I thought the bearings had fallen out. Since then I've realised the inner cup is in fact a groove and that it's a collapsed (somehow, without damaging either shaft or outer race) cartridge unit, but have managed to install (through heat/cold) around 11 bearings into the original races & when I get a sprocket I will see if this has worked or not. I'm hoping this should be OK as even if I push all the bearings together on one side they still cover more than half the working area of the outer.

Either way I think I might be splitting the cases sooner than I thought because now I've had it running I know the mains are shot!

[TS2Fifty]

Well it's been a while since I've been online, but in the time away I've managed to source a 4 speeder & bottom end in working order & have fitted this to good effect for the time being.

Last night I got round to undoing all the set screws & couple of bolts from the right hand side casing, removed the genny/armature etc but I'm now stuck on the seal side of things.

The case is a loose fit now but won't seperate from the crank, I'm assuming there must be a circlip holding it into the main bearing or similar, or perhaps heating would help? Either way I'm struggling to get the right hand seal out also. Do I have to ruin the seal & just gouge it out or is there a non-damaging way of doing this? (I have removed the circlip from the outside of this but it seems solid & I'm also worried about gouging the alloy casing)

Cheers, Dan.

[brennain1]

Hello Dan, i know this is probably a bit late for your gearbox needs but there is a chap called Fred Rogers, a member of the MZriders club and near you in Cheshire, who sell parts new and used for all manner of two stroke MZ's. I also have a rather dilapidated TS250-1 that im currently trying to revive and so have read these posts with interest.

Regards.
Brendan.