[ST] a MuZe ment

["Marc Danziger" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

So got MuZe back from Geoff's shop yesterday (bought the bike on eBay, had
some problems with the shifter, which are semi-sorted out, and a new
shifter is on the way ... for those new to the story, we bought a 99 MZ
Skorpion Sport Cup (not replica)...660cc single with low clipons, now named
MuZe (weird capitals are critical part of the name)) and went for a spin
today.

Had to meet the Tuttles (Hunter, call me re freelance work) at Pierview at
10:30, so we wandered out of the house at 8:20 and headed up the 405. I'm
not used to being outaccelerated by cars on onramps...but it was
surprisingly smooth at freeway speeds. Lots of hobbyhorsing on the
expansion joints, and a _lot_ of sensitivity to bobbles in the road
surface, but all in all not too bad.

Headed up PCH to Latigo, and turned up the hill. 

A couple of things; the powerband is narrow and the gear spacing is wide. I
hardly ever found the 'sweet spot' of power in corners, I was either
pulling up toward the powerband or bouncing off the top of it. When it was
in the powerband, it was v. snatchy...on/off throttle would really jerk the
bike back and forth and upset it quite a scary lot. Carburation, cush, or
character??...we'll figure it out in time.

But the bike corners like a bicycle, just think and go...it's amazing,
really. I was riding maybe 20% slower through the corners than I normally
do on the Sprint ST and felt like I was going 50% of normal speed. One
could get into _biiig_ trouble on this bike, I think.

I tried my normal "in slow, peek and throttle up" corner entry a few times,
and just bogged the bike completely or overrevved the engine.

Latigo> Kanan>Mulholland>Rock Store>Cold Canyon>Piuma>Las Flores and
breakfast.

We did it backwards afterward.

Lots of - stuff - on the roads after the storm. Piuma lost a complete lane;
it's buried under 4' of rocks. There was a full-on tree in the road on Las
Flores. Having a nimble bike helped.

So basically here's the short version: I'm clueless at riding this thing,
it's more fun than a Beetle full of well-oiled coeds, and I have a new
project...figure out how to ride it well and do some incidental debugging
on it.

Once that's done we'll work on the style issues.

Grace took it for a spin "around the block" when we got home and didn't
come home for half an hour. I envision a lot of negotiation in my future...


MarcD





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