Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128137
The RT125 was developed and built entirely in-house, using an engine built by MZ and not a purchased Yamaha or Rotax, as was the case in the MuZ days. models of a distinctive nature, so we plan to do the same with MZ. This is only the start of that process - and I assure you we have the resources, and commitment, to see the job through." MZING IN MALORCA cially those powered by Yamaha engines, whose worth was proved by the company's success in Supermono racing. But these were niche-market products which could not possibly guarantee MuZ's survival - so when we took over the company, we had two immediate objectives. One was to start development of a range of small-capacity road bikes powered by our own engine - I do not believe you can be considered to be a genuine manufacturer in your own right unless you build your own powerplant. Secondly, we determined to raise the company's image by taking part in a much more prestigious form of competition - which is why we entered 500cc Grand Prix racing back in 1998, and succeeded in establishing ourselves as valid contenders, with two pole positions in 1999." Part two of the Lim link between MZ's workaday past and pragmatic future has now come on line, with the introduction of the first-ever MZ motorcycle powered by the company's own four-stroke engine, designed elsewhere in Germany, but developed and manufactured inhouse at Hohndorf. What's more, in creating the RT125 - named after MZ ancestor DKW's ultra-successful preWW2 two-stroke runabout, later transplanted to Britain as part of post-Hitler war reparations as the BSA Bantam - MZ has created the basis for a family of different models powered by the same liquid-cooled 125cc DOHC single-cylinder fourvalve engine, as well as laying the foundation of what Lim insists will be a full range of four-stroke motorcycles, from 125cc up to a full 1000cc, to be introduced over the next decade. Even more to the point, however, is the fact that the new RT125 finally represents the motorcycle that many were expecting all along that the East German company would develop in the post-Glasnost era: a dependable, practical everyday commuter product long on reliability and short on glitz a modern-day replacement, in short, for the tried and trusted 125/250/300 MZ two-stroke range of yesteryear. Okay, it's about time - but why a four-stroke, given the increased manufacturing costs this must entail, in a price-conscious market? "We intend that this should be a world bike," says Ron Lim, "and the fact is that Asian markets are already rejecting the two-stroke, just as in Europe, for two reasons - emissions, and economy. We in Malaysia already have tough new pollution laws based on the European Union's but the fact is that the RT125 passes even the strict Euro-l emission standards without the use of a catalyst. Secondly, with the increasing cost of fuel, the Asian customer already favors more economical four-stroke models, even though their initial cost Well - that's telling them, and if the day's ride I enjoyed on Spain's deserted Balearic island of Mallorca aboard one of the first MZ RT125 roadsters off the Hohndorf production line is anything to go by, Leong's wager looks like paying off. I'll readily admit up front that 125cc street bikes are not my usual line of test machinery - but I do have some recent experience of such ho-hum hardware, from Cagiva's 125 Planet developed from the Mito hotrod (has all the design flair the MZ lacks in looks, but the peaky two-stroke motor just doesn't make it), to the Honda 125 CityFly. built in Barcelona, and powered by the Japanese company's venerable, air-cooled SOHC CG 125 four-stroke mill. Well, pepper-grinder might be a more suitable epithet to describe such a rattly, noisy and frankly gutless runabout that was obsolescent at birth, and can only be described as cheap - in every sense. Compared to any other 125 on the market, and especially the venerable Honda, the MZ engine gives an immediate impression of quality, and robustness: it's quiet, smooth (thanks to the gear-driven balance shaft), relatively torquey and, even in restricted 11 kW guise, quite quick - it'll allow the RT125 to beat the national speed limit in any country it's sold in - other than Germany, of course, where there is nonel Almost 70 mph is a feasible wide-open indicated cruising speed on the flat, with the needle on the tach surprisingly fitted as stock on what is a low-cost, entry-level model costing a competitive $2966 on the road in Germany, creeping into the of acquisition is higher. Of course, the way around this in the future may be with fuel-injected two-stroke engines offering the best of both worlds - but these are costly to develop, and are as yet unproven: even Ford has scrapped its plans to produce a range of fuel-injected twostroke car models. That's why we chose the RTl25 engine format - and another reason to do so was the extra-perceived quality a four-stroke design such as ours offers. It's the only double overhead-cam engine in today's 125cc market, gives the potential for a family of models of different performance levels and capacities, and ensures that we have a distinctive image in keeping with MZ's engineering heritage in the road racing world. That's why we have readopted the MZ name: just as Suzuki or Yamaha made their name with two-stroke Grand Prix racers of avantgarde design, then built up their road bike range with four-stroke (Below) Simple and clean - the analog control panel on the RT125. (Right) The 125cc four-stroke features a DOHe, four-valve design and may end up being the basis of an entire family of future models to come from MZ. eye' e n e _ s • JANUARY 16, 2002 19