[Buying The Mastiff] [Tech Spec] [Service Info] [Modifications] [Links] [Back to the Garage]

Me: Blimey, it's ugly...
Me: Your point being....?
Me: It's UGLY! Look at that orange seat.
Me: It's......different. Don't forget, it's an MZ. It stands out against the hundreds of Jap rockets. It's got style. Well, a style to itself, anyway.
Me: IT'S BLEEDIN' UGLY
Me: Okay, it's ugly.
Me: It's uncomfortable.
Me: But if I can get the 90 miles to Dent on a Simson Enduro in one go it can't be that bad. Besides, the small tank means I'll be stopping more often to relieve the aches.
Me: That's a point, there's only 2 gallons to reserve.
Me: But it still manages 60mpg!
Me: And where are you going to put everything?
Me: Like what?
Me: Like camping gear, waterproofs, shopping, etc. In fact anything larger than a spark plug.
Me: Ever heard of a company called Touratech?
Me: They do all the fancy alloy luggage systems for Beemer GS's and Jap off-roaders?
Me: And Baghiras. So it'll go on a Mastiff too.
Me: So you want to tour on it, do you? A bike with a horrible seat, a 100-120 mile range...
Me: And an upright riding position so you can see the places you have gone to see instead of blasting past them on the Skorp or taking ages to get anywhere on the 4-speed or the outfit.
Me: Like where?
Me: Germany...
Me: Germany? On a Mastiff? You're mad! To be polite, you'll get a sore bum. Go on the Skorp.
Me: Nah!
Me: Why?
Me: 'Cos.
Me: So you've no real reason to fork out all that money on a bike that's no better than doing anything that you other bikes can already do. So why buy it?
Me: Maybe 'cos it sticks two fingers up at everything else and tells them to go [DEFINITELY DELETED!]
Me: That sounds good enough to me. Let's go find some money!

And so I did. And what a machine it's turning out to be. Yes, it's rather impractical, uncomfortable, has a miserable fuel range, and like all off-road style bikes it's gonna be a bugger to service. But you've got to remember that this is a bike designed primarily for having fun, so you can counter the bad points with good handling, insane acceleration for it's 50hp, and good fuel consumption at 60mpg.

Once again, I've bought one that's needed a little work to get it into one piece.. The speedo wasn't working, which turned out to be due to a cheap and nasty cable, which was better than having the drive box or the speedo itself fail. The horn didn't work, which I didn't realise until after I'd picked it up, which was replaced with a Durite item, similar to the horn fitted to old MZ's. The plastic chain guard and rear shock guard have been replaced with a hugger, which whilst doesn't fit too well does a fair job of keeping the back of the bike clean. I've also had to replace a few bulbs and set up the headlights.

Modifications  in the pipeline are limited to fitting a set of Touratech panniers and doing something about the seat, which I  admit I seem to getting used to rather quickly.

Cosmetically, all I was worrying about was getting a Mastiff with the black/purple colour scheme, despite the orange seat. The MZ stickers on the tank covers have already been removed, and the white stickers at the rear have gone too. I'm thinking about fitting a pair of Skorpion tank badges to the tank covers as they look so much better than the original stickers.

July 2001

The panniers are on. They had to be. There was no other way of getting that much stuff around Germany for 2 weeks. Go to the technical page to find out more, or the holiday page when it's ready. Tyres are disappearing rapidly as are the cars in my mirrors, especially of the main roads. 4000 miles in 4 months is crazy on that seat, but it's so addictive to ride you just can't help it.