Quick Ride

Quick Ride

MZ SKORPION TRAVELLER Cross-town tourer

LET'S MAKE ONE THING PERfectly clear: A set of saddlebags do not a touring bike make. That said, we can begin to look at the MZ Skorpion Traveller for what it is, rather than what its name suggests it should be.

When the MZ first arrived at the CW offices, reactions ranged from “Hey, nice bike,” to “Traveller, yeah right. If you’re traveling to work, maybe.”

Oddly enough, both remarks ring true. Because the Traveller is in fact a nice bike that’s better suited to commuting than touring. Not that the Traveller isn’t capable of traveling-remember, Yamahas powered by this very same twin-carb, fivevalve XTZ660 Single have completed the grueling, 6000mile Dakar off-road rally. It’s just that it doesn’t fit the modern definition of a touring bike. That’s okay, because ridden

without prejudice, the Traveller is a fun and surprisingly capable motorcycle. Built on the same platform as the sporty Skorpion Sport, the Traveller adds a fullfairing, cushier two-person seat and saddlebags. Talk about sport-touring: With a sparse yet stout steel-tube chassis and short 55.9-inch wheelbase, this Single rails through corners better than Multi ever could.

Its Paioli fork, Bilstein shock and Grimeca brakes aren’t what you’d call top-shelf items, but all are up to the task at hand.

We would, however, like to see suspension adjustability expanded beyond shock spring preload; we’d gladly exchange the cost of the adjustable clip-on handlebars for a few damping knobs.

Given its slim waist, low 30.9inch seat height and light dry weight of just over 400 pounds, the Traveller can be manhandled easily by smaller men and women. Yet it’s also reasonably comfortable for 6-footers-albeit at the expense of windscreen buffeting. Smaller riders will, however, disapprove of the nonadjustable brake and clutch levers, which favor larger hands.

With just 44 horsepower on tap, the Traveller doesn’t exactly set freeway entrance ramps ablaze, but it will cruise comfortably at 70 mph and (eventually) reach a top speed of just over 100. Its tall overall gearing widens the spacing between the five transmission ratios (a six-speed gearbox would help considerably), but the payback is excellent fuel economy; our testbike averaged 46.7 mpg, giving it a potential range of more than 250 miles.

Not that you’d really want to go that far in one sitting, because engine vibration limits long-distance comfort-never mind the gear-driven counterbalancer.

At $7595, the Traveller isn’t cheap, falling into the same price bracket as sportbikes with four times as many cylinders. More significantly, though, the MZ is priced within a few hundred dollars of its primary competition: BMW’s F650ST. Choosing which one of these “German” motorcycles best suits you is a simple matter of deciding whether you want a sporty sport-tourer with a Japanese engine, or a streetified dual-purpose bike built in Italy using an Austrian engine.

Confused? Good. You’re in just the right frame of mind to go touring on a Single.

Brian Catterson