The MZ Silver Star is an interesting and very rare “classic” styled bike with a 494cc single cylinder. They company also offered a factory sidecar variant called the Gespann – which is what you find in front of you today.
This thumper produces 34 horsepower, which isn’t tremendous – but it’s only carrying around 322 pounds of bike (I don’t know how much this hack weighs, though). If you’re looking at any MZ, your best option is MZ Riders, by far the best resource out there online. Unfortunately, these bikes are just so rare that you’ll end up having to do a lot of your own work. Thankfully, the engine in this Silver Star is built by Rotax, so some mechanics will have a small amount of institutional knowledge about the powerplant. Just make sure you’re the kind of person that can constantly put up with being asked what kind of bike you’re riding any time you stop!
This specific MZ Silver Star has just under 18,000 miles and is claimed to be in excellent riding condition with no rust. The only non-stock part is an upgraded master cylinder for the front brake. The last time I featured one of these, the asking price was $11k (though it had 16 miles). It ended up not meeting reserve at around $7,900. Find this MZ Silver Star Classic with Sidecar for sale in Lino Lakes, Minnesota for $4,400 here on Craigslist.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by David N!