Journey from the past

[Nachodaddy]

Peter, that is an amazing story. I am glad you came through with everything you started with. A lot of pain and suffering, but a strong and determined father to thank for the friend we have today.

[peterbaron]

Thank you all who enjoyed reading this story.

In the spring of 1982, I took an ESL course at Centennial College, where I met motorcycle enthusiasts from Central America.
Then a plan came to my mind to ride a motorcycle from Toronto, CAN to Panama City, Panama.
I even went to Kawasaki dealer to see the 550GPz in red...
The seller even promised some financial assistance with purchase or travel...??
After graduating from school, contact with motorcycle friends loosened and nothing came of the trip, which is a pity...

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Toronto,+...FQAw%3D%3D

[the Ferret]

GPZ 550 was a very cool bike.

Pity the trip never materialized pb.

[Cormanus]

It’s not too late, Peter. It would be quite the ride and you could visit pdedse in Costa Rica.

[MagnaRider]

That would be a fun trip!

[peterbaron]

CHAPTER 3 - how the bike was built.

My father never wanted to financially participate in any of my bikes, regardless of whether it was a 50cc moped or a 250cc bike.
He had believed that motorcycles of any type were dangerous.
So, all two wheelers were financed by me.

In 1969 after selling my last sporty bicycle, I bought my first 2-speed 50cc used moped. No mods were done to it, and I had it for about 1-2 seasons. Its max speed was 50-55 km/h.
I bought it at night and the next day it was raining but I decided to ride it to school, grade 9. I arrived to school and returned home soaking wet.

My second 50cc moped was also a 2-speed. During the off-season in winter, I slightly modified its cylinder by polishing all ports, ensuring a smooth transition between the bottom of the cylinder inlet port entry and the crankcase and installed modified cylinder head from a 125cc bike. Its max speed was about 75km/h. Many times I was stopped by cops questioning its 50cc volume and speed. I always got away from it after a short explanation.
During a rainy day, I entered a 90 degree corner a bit too fast and fell down, breaking the gear lever that was located on the handle bar, but was still able to ride it home.

Then in August 1971 I had my nasty moto accident as a passanger....

In about 1973/5 I got my third and last 50cc. It was a real marvel.
A 2-speed had its limit and high rpm, so a 3-speed moped was needed.
A 125cc, 3-speed engine was placed in moped's chassiss. The 125cc cylinder, head and piston were replaced with 50cc set from GDR-East German Simson Schwalbe-51


Recent image, stock 50cc S-51 cyl head

All mods with 125cc carb and racing/louder muffler were able to do a whopping speed of +-100km/h for a little 50cc. A third inlet port was added and all channels and ports were enlarged accordingly. Also all piston rings were replaced with a single L-shape type and the cylinder head with its combustion chamber altered.
No helmet was required for a 50cc moped, only a bicycle license, but a 125cc or higher requierd a helmet and an M license. I already had GM.
Many times I was pulled over by cops for speeding, but I was never clocked for speeding, so a friendly and long conversation with an explanation that this is a 50cc...a bit faster than a factory one.... Its skinny, 50cc chasses, was always helpful and supporting explanation in all pull over cases.
One day returning late from school I noticed my mini bike was gone from the garage. There were no signs of a break-in, so I knew my one year older brother took it without my permission... but he would never get one anyhow.
Late that evening, he returned home without my toy. One cop impounded the bike for speeding and lacking registration. My brother would not get into an argument with a cop at all to defend the bike.
We were living in an appartment building and a City police chief/captain used to live above us.
I had a very good relation with him and his two older daughters, and I expressed my pain to him. He was a man of a great heart, peacefully and lawfully helping people. The only complaint he had about my bike was its noisy muffler.
He promised to resolve the issue in the next few days, and he did.
I got an official order from the police/him to unconditionally release my bike.
I got my bike back the same day and installed a secret killer switch to prevent from starting.

In about 1975, I still had some money left over after the accident paid by the insurance, and I was looking for an East German MZ-250cc which were very difficult to buy new or used due to limited quantity, so finally after some time I was happy with my first and brand new yellow WSK-175cc, 4 speed.


WSK-175cc image

For the first season due to warranty policy I kept it stock.
Winter was the best time to do mods.
The cylinder was ported and an additional transfer port was added, L-shape ring installed and cylinder head chamber modified to gain more hp and better combustion and exhaust gases flow.
Unfortunatly reboring and rejetting the carb did not help enough to get max power out of it. The bike beat every stock 250cc on a take off and max speed and horse power. I can estimate its max speed of about 160km/h and about 20 hp.
After a carb frustration, I sold its engine to a friend of mine, because I was already thinking of putting MZ-250cc engine into its chassis.
I couldn't find any modern engine alone and had to buy an entire, older version MZ-250cc bike.
Its engine was seized by sitting outside for the last few years.
There were only a few things I adopted from this bike; rear wheel ass-y with bigger hub/drum, ignition switch, rectifier and a rear trailing arm, motor without the cylinder, head and piston.
To buy a new set of cylinder, head, piston, muffler and a few more MZ parts I had to take a train trip to East Berlin, East Germany, where I had a friend I could stay with.
Rest of it I just scrapped, had no choice.
Took the engine apart and overhauled it, just polished all ports to make a smooth fitting between the engine crankcase and the cylinder inlet ports.
The crankshaft had to be rebuilt due to a bent connecting rod while separating it from the cylinder, seized solid.
The entire electrical circuit was built from a scratch, and I only had few different wire colours, which were not enough. So I divided the entire electrical wiring into a few different sections;
- red wiring was ignition circuit. I painted the red wire with white small dots or double dots or little lines that gave me a red wire in 4 different varieties
- green wire for lighting system .. with dots, line as above
- black wire and its variety for ground circuits
- white wire and its variety for the charging system.
This way I knew what colour circuit was responsible for what system.
Also, I always carried an electrical circutry diagram with the bike, but never needed.

All frame brackets holding the engine had to be cut out and new ones fabricated and welded in to accommodate the 250cc power plant.
All welding work on the motorcycle was done by the workshop where my friend worked.
I had to push the bike about 2 km in each direction, for a total of 2x = 8 km
Lots of mechanical parts had to be fabricated and custom built from a scratch.
The OEM handle bar was already ditched a year ago and left and right racing handlebars fabricated and installed. There was no major issue with clutch, gas and brake cables length.
I also installed a bigger gas tank that also came from a newer MZ250 model.

Many parts I fabricated myself and shaped them as needed in my garage.
To bend and shape them, I used this Petroleumlampe:



Welding and fabricating some parts which required a lathe, milling machine and similar equipment went to two different people and shops. I always supplied a technical drafting with all the measurement and details.
I had a friend named Bogdan at a big government-owned rail shop that handled most of my requests for cash, and these were made while I was watching and waiting. Bogdan was a very skilful and professional locksmith, turner and milling machines operator in one person. I loved watching him make my parts from a raw material to its final shape.

Sometimes, due to a better or specific material needed, I had to use my friend's father, Marian.
He used to work for a big, also government-owned factory, that was producing big marine ship engines on Shulzer license. I could never go inside due to very high security.
They had everything there, best materials, machinery, equipment and professional workers. Cash was king.
Marian or his co-worker made me parts I needed.
They also fabricated for me a true copy of a CB's stop light bracket based on my draftng, which I drew based on the picture from a motorcycle magazine. It was made from a chrome steel. What a job they did!
Theoretically, they were able to build or fabricate anything as per request.
Almost always, I ordered parts to be made when Marian worked at his night shift just to be finished and picked up the next day in the morning when he finished his work.

Not always I was perfect with my drafting. Sometimes after making the part it did not fit perfectly. Sometimes such an error was rectified by some modification of that part already made, but often, a new properly fitting part had to be made again and paid for again. It was costly.

Financing this project forced me to work at nights as a residential parking attendent, go to college during the day… and find time to build my dream bike, rest and sleep.
At that time I went to college from Mon - Sat included, 6 days a week.
My 24 hrs schedule was as follows:
Mon - Thur school from 1 pm to 7 pm, then I went to work from 10 pm to 6 am.
Fri - Sat right after work, I went to school from 7:30 am to 1 pm
All homework and making plans for the bike were done while at work, rest of the time was divided between working on the bike in the garage, resting and sleeping.
No work, no school was from Saturday, 1pm to Sunday, 10 pm.
This schedule I had to carry out for almost 6 months, which allowed me to successfully finish my college, building my dream bike and generate the needed income.
Work was often suspended due to lack of financial resources.
Once a month I received payment for my work.
When I received my pay, the money was spent within the first 10 days
Some small painting and touch ups I did with this simple "mosquito painting" gun:



All other professional paint jobs were done by a local paint shop.
If something wasn't painted, it had to be chrome-plated.

Finally one day the bike was ready to be started, yet not ready to be ridden, entirely new electrical circuit, new engine and etc.
I started the bike by the second kick so I knew everything electrically so far was OK.

The bike was made of parts from a few different motorcycles:
Chasis/frame - my present WSK-175, including the front and rear suspension that had to be modified and strengthened abap
Front 19" wheel, hub and bigger brake drum came from an Hungarian 250cc Panonia and was modified to fit
Rear 18" rim and hub came from already bought MZ250 cc and modified to fit
My OEM seat was modified and upholstried.
The carburetor, very hard achieved was Keihin and worked flawlessly. If I had this carb while already having my modified 175cc engine, I think I would stay with my 175cc making some further improvements with the motor, wheels/tires, suspension and few more items for much le$$.

I was already running behind my schedule to finish my bike, especially with some final detailing.
It took a lot of time and effort to finish installing a fairing, which most likely came from a 250cc racing Yamaha like this or was an exact copy:


Property and courtesy of Z.Chomko, City of Bialystok, multiple national champion in various cc classes

It had an "orange look", not painted as it can be seen in chapter 2 pic, when the bike was in its 1st generation stage.

Within the next few weeks the bike was almost ready for its maiden test, and I decided to take it to a side, wide road with a long almost 90 degree curve....
I knew I was riding too fast but everything was under control until I entered the curve... sand spilled all over, dump truck coming from the opposite direction and a bus unloading its passengers.... don't know how but today I think it was the best decision at that situation I could've made.....so I veered right, took the shoulder, I gently brushed against the bus shelter then a big stone and ended up leaning on a fence, while still sitting on my bike...
After a short inspection I noticed a bent rear wheel rim that hit a stone.
Rode home, removed the tire and took the wheel to a special guy who fixed the aluminium rim to its perfection within a couple of days.
Another wasted week.
I was back in my saddle for road test #2 and I took the same road and curve, this time without any incident. I noticed two weaknesses, weak, not bouncing back front suspension and soft rear trailing arm.
To quickly and inexpensively fix the front suspension, I simply added an outside spring reinforcement which was sufficient.
There was no time to modify the rear swing arm..... so Jack and I decided to move on and to fabricate the infamous side racks....before our trip to Varna, Bulgaria.

During next winter, the bike received a 2nd generation face lift.
I painted my fairing black & yellow by using the above described hand painting gun but the gas tank with both side covers were painted metallic-green by a local shop.
I had an older friend from Sweden whom I was repairing his Peugeot 504, tune up and brakes.
He always paid well and promised to bring good paint from Sweden as a reward so that I could paint my motorcycle. He never took any money for it and delivered his promise.

Next couple of seasons, the bike was not ridden much due to the purchasing of my first car, an old 1962 Fiat 600D, 750cc-4 cyl, water cooled with 4 speed tranny which was financed by both of my parents....ironically I rebuilt its engine next season while parts were still available.
I think my parents bought me that car to discard me from riding my bike, my safety and peace of their mind.

My father's garage where I wrenched my bikes and cars was a single and simple one with electricity and a 100W bulb in the ceiling.
It was equipped with couple of shelves for storage, a chair with stool, no bench, no grinder, no vice or any other accessories.
Besides my regular tools, I had some files, hacksaw, soldering and prehistoric painting guns and lujt lamp, drill plus a few more things. Vernier caliper was my best friend.
During winter wrenching, I used double cloth layer and had a portable electric heater to stay warm.

The final fate of my bike was very quick and unexpected....

It was end of April 1981 with lots of Solidarity movement and some anticommunist riots in Poland.
The situation was very tense and future uncertain, so I decided to immigrate, first to Vienna, Austria where I spent 7 months, then I went through the Australian and US embassy finally immigrating to Canada in December 1981.

......and I placed a sudden and unexpected call to a friend from the next apartment building of mine who always wanted to buy my bike, while the bike was not for sale yet....
I never wanted to sell my bike to him, even though he already had his GM license mostly because I thought he was not bike ready, especially this one.
He came in right away, paid cash for the bike as is and without testing, despite warning him of the bike's few flaws.
I've never seen my bike since or heard about its new owner whatsoever.

Today's contemplation about my 175 & 250cc bikes:

1. The best option would be to buy a brand new or gently used MZ250 and modify it to the max. It would be a glorious bike with close to a 180km/h speed, I guess. This would be achieved with my older friend's help. He was a great racer and Formula B/250cc champion in Poland.
2. Keeping modified 175cc, buy the right carb like Keihin I later bought, further modify its engine, better front & rear suspension and including the rear swing arm replacement, buy a better set of tires like Dunlop etc, it would cost me less money and labour.
There was a plan on fitting the 175cc with a 250cc cylinder & head but initial calculations and measurements failed this plan. Maybe I was wrong or...
3. What I really think about the green, 2nd generation 250cc bike..
I think it was a good and gorgeous looking, unique, eye-turning bike at the end of the 70s.
Weak spots; front & rear suspension, tubular type was already sitting in my garage.
Too expensive to make. I think I underestimated it, there was too much of an experiment and wasted money but it was fun to build and own a rare also one of a kind bike like this.
It definitely needed a tachometer, a 3rd and final generation that never materialized.

Here are the only four pics of my green bike.











Thanks for reading!

[rdprdp01]

CHAPTER 3 - how the bike was built.

My father never wanted to financially participate in any of my bikes, regardless of whether it was a 50cc moped or a 250cc bike.
He had believed that motorcycles of any type were dangerous.
So, all two wheelers were financed by me.

In 1969 after selling my last sporty bicycle, I bought my first 2-speed 50cc used moped. No mods were done to it, and I had it for about 1-2 seasons. Its max speed was 50-55 km/h.
I bought it at night and the next day it was raining but I decided to ride it to school, grade 9. I arrived to school and returned home soaking wet.

My second 50cc moped was also a 2-speed. During the off-season in winter, I slightly modified its cylinder by polishing all ports, ensuring a smooth transition between the bottom of the cylinder inlet port entry and the crankcase and installed modified cylinder head from a 125cc bike. Its max speed was about 75km/h. Many times I was stopped by cops questioning its 50cc volume and speed. I always got away from it after a short explanation.
During a rainy day, I entered a 90 degree corner a bit too fast and fell down, breaking the gear lever that was located on the handle bar, but was still able to ride it home.

Then in August 1971 I had my nasty moto accident as a passanger....

In about 1973/5 I got my third and last 50cc. It was a real marvel.
A 2-speed had its limit and high rpm, so a 3-speed moped was needed.
A 125cc, 3-speed engine was placed in moped's chassiss. The 125cc cylinder, head and piston were replaced with 50cc set from GDR-East German Simson Schwalbe-51


Recent image, stock 50cc S-51 cyl head

All mods with 125cc carb and racing/louder muffler were able to do a whopping speed of +-100km/h for a little 50cc. A third inlet port was added and all channels and ports were enlarged accordingly. Also all piston rings were replaced with a single L-shape type and the cylinder head with its combustion chamber altered.
No helmet was required for a 50cc moped, only a bicycle license, but a 125cc or higher requierd a helmet and an M license. I already had GM.
Many times I was pulled over by cops for speeding, but I was never clocked for speeding, so a friendly and long conversation with an explanation that this is a 50cc...a bit faster than a factory one.... Its skinny, 50cc chasses, was always helpful and supporting explanation in all pull over cases.
One day returning late from school I noticed my mini bike was gone from the garage. There were no signs of a break-in, so I knew my one year older brother took it without my permission... but he would never get one anyhow.
Late that evening, he returned home without my toy. One cop impounded the bike for speeding and lacking registration. My brother would not get into an argument with a cop at all to defend the bike.
We were living in an appartment building and a City police chief/captain used to live above us.
I had a very good relation with him and his two older daughters, and I expressed my pain to him. He was a man of a great heart, peacefully and lawfully helping people. The only complaint he had about my bike was its noisy muffler.
He promised to resolve the issue in the next few days, and he did.
I got an official order from the police/him to unconditionally release my bike.
I got my bike back the same day and installed a secret killer switch to prevent from starting.

In about 1975, I still had some money left over after the accident paid by the insurance, and I was looking for an East German MZ-250cc which were very difficult to buy new or used due to limited quantity, so finally after some time I was happy with my first and brand new yellow WSK-175cc, 4 speed.


WSK-175cc image

For the first season due to warranty policy I kept it stock.
Winter was the best time to do mods.
The cylinder was ported and an additional transfer port was added, L-shape ring installed and cylinder head chamber modified to gain more hp and better combustion and exhaust gases flow.
Unfortunatly reboring and rejetting the carb did not help enough to get max power out of it. The bike beat every stock 250cc on a take off and max speed and horse power. I can estimate its max speed of about 160km/h and about 20 hp.
After a carb frustration, I sold its engine to a friend of mine, because I was already thinking of putting MZ-250cc engine into its chassis.
I couldn't find any modern engine alone and had to buy an entire, older version MZ-250cc bike.
Its engine was seized by sitting outside for the last few years.
There were only a few things I adopted from this bike; rear wheel ass-y with bigger hub/drum, ignition switch, rectifier and a rear trailing arm, motor without the cylinder, head and piston.
To buy a new set of cylinder, head, piston, muffler and a few more MZ parts I had to take a train trip to East Berlin, East Germany, where I had a friend I could stay with.
Rest of it I just scrapped, had no choice.
Took the engine apart and overhauled it, just polished all ports to make a smooth fitting between the engine crankcase and the cylinder inlet ports.
The crankshaft had to be rebuilt due to a bent connecting rod while separating it from the cylinder, seized solid.
The entire electrical circuit was built from a scratch, and I only had few different wire colours, which were not enough. So I divided the entire electrical wiring into a few different sections;
- red wiring was ignition circuit. I painted the red wire with white small dots or double dots or little lines that gave me a red wire in 4 different varieties
- green wire for lighting system .. with dots, line as above
- black wire and its variety for ground circuits
- white wire and its variety for the charging system.
This way I knew what colour circuit was responsible for what system.
Also, I always carried an electrical circutry diagram with the bike, but never needed.

All frame brackets holding the engine had to be cut out and new ones fabricated and welded in to accommodate the 250cc power plant.
All welding work on the motorcycle was done by the workshop where my friend worked.
I had to push the bike about 2 km in each direction, for a total of 2x = 8 km
Lots of mechanical parts had to be fabricated and custom built from a scratch.
The OEM handle bar was already ditched a year ago and left and right racing handlebars fabricated and installed. There was no major issue with clutch, gas and brake cables length.
I also installed a bigger gas tank that also came from a newer MZ250 model.

Many parts I fabricated myself and shaped them as needed in my garage.
To bend and shape them, I used this Petroleumlampe:



Welding and fabricating some parts which required a lathe, milling machine and similar equipment went to two different people and shops. I always supplied a technical drafting with all the measurement and details.
I had a friend named Bogdan at a big government-owned rail shop that handled most of my requests for cash, and these were made while I was watching and waiting. Bogdan was a very skilful and professional locksmith, turner and milling machines operator in one person. I loved watching him make my parts from a raw material to its final shape.

Sometimes, due to a better or specific material needed, I had to use my friend's father, Marian.
He used to work for a big, also government-owned factory, that was producing big marine ship engines on Shulzer license. I could never go inside due to very high security.
They had everything there, best materials, machinery, equipment and professional workers. Cash was king.
Marian or his co-worker made me parts I needed.
They also fabricated for me a true copy of a CB's stop light bracket based on my draftng, which I drew based on the picture from a motorcycle magazine. It was made from a chrome steel. What a job they did!
Theoretically, they were able to build or fabricate anything as per request.
Almost always, I ordered parts to be made when Marian worked at his night shift just to be finished and picked up the next day in the morning when he finished his work.

Not always I was perfect with my drafting. Sometimes after making the part it did not fit perfectly. Sometimes such an error was rectified by some modification of that part already made, but often, a new properly fitting part had to be made again and paid for again. It was costly.

Financing this project forced me to work at nights as a residential parking attendent, go to college during the day… and find time to build my dream bike, rest and sleep.
At that time I went to college from Mon - Sat included, 6 days a week.
My 24 hrs schedule was as follows:
Mon - Thur school from 1 pm to 7 pm, then I went to work from 10 pm to 6 am.
Fri - Sat right after work, I went to school from 7:30 am to 1 pm
All homework and making plans for the bike were done while at work, rest of the time was divided between working on the bike in the garage, resting and sleeping.
No work, no school was from Saturday, 1pm to Sunday, 10 pm.
This schedule I had to carry out for almost 6 months, which allowed me to successfully finish my college, building my dream bike and generate the needed income.
Work was often suspended due to lack of financial resources.
Once a month I received payment for my work.
When I received my pay, the money was spent within the first 10 days
Some small painting and touch ups I did with this simple "mosquito painting" gun:



All other professional paint jobs were done by a local paint shop.
If something wasn't painted, it had to be chrome-plated.

Finally one day the bike was ready to be started, yet not ready to be ridden, entirely new electrical circuit, new engine and etc.
I started the bike by the second kick so I knew everything electrically so far was OK.

The bike was made of parts from a few different motorcycles:
Chasis/frame - my present WSK-175, including the front and rear suspension that had to be modified and strengthened abap
Front 19" wheel, hub and bigger brake drum came from an Hungarian 250cc Panonia and was modified to fit
Rear 18" rim and hub came from already bought MZ250 cc and modified to fit
My OEM seat was modified and upholstried.
The carburetor, very hard achieved was Keihin and worked flawlessly. If I had this carb while already having my modified 175cc engine, I think I would stay with my 175cc making some further improvements with the motor, wheels/tires, suspension and few more items for much le$$.

I was already running behind my schedule to finish my bike, especially with some final detailing.
It took a lot of time and effort to finish installing a fairing, which most likely came from a 250cc racing Yamaha like this or was an exact copy:


Property and courtesy of Z.Chomko, City of Bialystok, multiple national champion in various cc classes

It had an "orange look", not painted as it can be seen in chapter 2 pic, when the bike was in its 1st generation stage.

Within the next few weeks the bike was almost ready for its maiden test, and I decided to take it to a side, wide road with a long almost 90 degree curve....
I knew I was riding too fast but everything was under control until I entered the curve... sand spilled all over, dump truck coming from the opposite direction and a bus unloading its passengers.... don't know how but today I think it was the best decision at that situation I could've made.....so I veered right, took the shoulder, I gently brushed against the bus shelter then a big stone and ended up leaning on a fence, while still sitting on my bike...
After a short inspection I noticed a bent rear wheel rim that hit a stone.
Rode home, removed the tire and took the wheel to a special guy who fixed the aluminium rim to its perfection within a couple of days.
Another wasted week.
I was back in my saddle for road test #2 and I took the same road and curve, this time without any incident. I noticed two weaknesses, weak, not bouncing back front suspension and soft rear trailing arm.
To quickly and inexpensively fix the front suspension, I simply added an outside spring reinforcement which was sufficient.
There was no time to modify the rear swing arm..... so Jack and I decided to move on and to fabricate the infamous side racks....before our trip to Varna, Bulgaria.

During next winter, the bike received a 2nd generation face lift.
I painted my fairing black & yellow by using the above described hand painting gun but the gas tank with both side covers were painted metallic-green by a local shop.
I had an older friend from Sweden whom I was repairing his Peugeot 504, tune up and brakes.
He always paid well and promised to bring good paint from Sweden as a reward so that I could paint my motorcycle. He never took any money for it and delivered his promise.

Next couple of seasons, the bike was not ridden much due to the purchasing of my first car, an old 1962 Fiat 600D, 750cc-4 cyl, water cooled with 4 speed tranny which was financed by both of my parents....ironically I rebuilt its engine next season while parts were still available.
I think my parents bought me that car to discard me from riding my bike, my safety and peace of their mind.

My father's garage where I wrenched my bikes and cars was a single and simple one with electricity and a 100W bulb in the ceiling.
It was equipped with couple of shelves for storage, a chair with stool, no bench, no grinder, no vice or any other accessories.
Besides my regular tools, I had some files, hacksaw, soldering and prehistoric painting guns and lujt lamp, drill plus a few more things. Vernier caliper was my best friend.
During winter wrenching, I used double cloth layer and had a portable electric heater to stay warm.

The final fate of my bike was very quick and unexpected....

It was end of April 1981 with lots of Solidarity movement and some anticommunist riots in Poland.
The situation was very tense and future uncertain, so I decided to immigrate, first to Vienna, Austria where I spent 7 months, then I went through the Australian and US embassy finally immigrating to Canada in December 1981.

......and I placed a sudden and unexpected call to a friend from the next apartment building of mine who always wanted to buy my bike, while the bike was not for sale yet....
I never wanted to sell my bike to him, even though he already had his GM license mostly because I thought he was not bike ready, especially this one.
He came in right away, paid cash for the bike as is and without testing, despite warning him of the bike's few flaws.
I've never seen my bike since or heard about its new owner whatsoever.

Today's contemplation about my 175 & 250cc bikes:

1. The best option would be to buy a brand new or gently used MZ250 and modify it to the max. It would be a glorious bike with close to a 180km/h speed, I guess. This would be achieved with my older friend's help. He was a great racer and Formula B/250cc champion in Poland.
2. Keeping modified 175cc, buy the right carb like Keihin I later bought, further modify its engine, better front & rear suspension and including the rear swing arm replacement, buy a better set of tires like Dunlop etc, it would cost me less money and labour.
There was a plan on fitting the 175cc with a 250cc cylinder & head but initial calculations and measurements failed this plan. Maybe I was wrong or...
3. What I really think about the green, 2nd generation 250cc bike..
I think it was a good and gorgeous looking, unique, eye-turning bike at the end of the 70s.
Weak spots; front & rear suspension, tubular type was already sitting in my garage.
Too expensive to make. I think I underestimated it, there was too much of an experiment and wasted money but it was fun to build and own a rare also one of a kind bike like this.
It definitely needed a tachometer, a 3rd and final generation that never materialized.

Here are the only four pics of my green bike.











Thanks for reading!

What an incredible story. A lesser man would be in a far different place in life than you are now. It appears that mopeds and motorcycles helped focus you and shaped you in a positive way. It is not just a story about machines. It is a story about a good man overcoming adversity and finding a way to make his dreams come true. Well done, Peterbaron.

Keep those pictures. They are priceless.

[Cormanus]

Great story, Peter and wonderful pictures as well.

[Nachodaddy]

Thank you for sharing this with us, Peter. Great story well told.

[pdedse]

It’s not too late, Peter. It would be quite the ride and you could visit pdedse in Costa Rica.

Indeed!!! And a fun story to read.