Muz 500
Encyclopedia
The Muz
500 was a motorcycle that competed in the and 500 cc Road Racing World Championship.
. The Muz 500 competed in the 500 cc World Championship in 1998
and 1999
. In its first year it remain largely unchanged, but it was 1999 that saw true progress being made with the bike.
Riders:
Doriano Romboni
,
Eskil Suter
,
Jean-Philippe Ruggia
,
Luca Cadalora
The team was formed after the Malaysian group Hong Leong bought the historic motorcycle manufacturer MZ
. The bike again used a Swissauto
engine in a ROC frame. The team began the year with a single rider – Doriano Romboni
(ITA), who scored a 12th at Suzuka in the bikes first race. At race 2 in Malaysia however he crashed, breaking his wrist, and was to miss the rest of the season. He was replaced by test rider Eskil Suter
(SWI) who tried to continue development of the bike. He rode the bike to three point-scoring positions: two 14ths and one 13th, with a best qualifying of 14th. He finished the season on 7 pts in the Championship. Jean-Philippe Ruggia
(FRA) took the bike out at Assen, and qualified 15th but failed to finish the race. The Muz didn’t race at the penultimate round in Australia due to internal difficulties. The hugely experienced Luca Cadalora
(ITA) raced the Muz in the last round of the year in Argentina, having also raced for both Yamaha and Suzuki during the same year. He failed to finish the race but had qualified a respectable 9th on the grid, just a second off Mick Doohan’s pole position time and the best qualifying position for the Muz by far this season. The team finished the season 5th in the Championship on 11 pts.
Riders:
Jurgen van den Goorbergh
,
Luca Cadalora
,
Noriyasu Numata
(replacement),
Simon Crafar
(replacement),
Bernard Garcia (replacement),
Anthony Gobert
(replacement)
Crew Chiefs:
Andy Wuthrich,
Thierry Feuz
Ex-sidecar Champion Rolf Biland
took over the running of the team, now Team Biland GP1, in 1999. The Muz also picked up sponsorship from German engine block manufacturer Weber. These weren’t to be the only changes however. Frustrated with the ROC frame, the team brought their association with ROC to an end. The 1999 chassis was designed by ex-test rider Eskil Suter
and manufactured by British firm Fabrication Techniques.
It was to be a year of highs and lows for the Muz as Cadalora skipped Rd 2, the Japanese GP. Noriyasu Numata
(JPN) was drafted in to ride his bike and although qualified second last, finished a creditable 13th in the race. Cadalora returned for Rd 3 and over the course of the next few races the bike was clearly improving. Both riders were regularly qualifying in the top 10, and at the Catalunya GP, van den Goorbergh gave the bike its first pole position, by nearly 0.3 seconds from Max Biaggi
. He would later claim a second pole, this time at Brno, just ahead of Àlex Crivillé
. Cadalora’s best qualifying was 3rd but neither rider was able to carry this success into the races, with both riders best finish being 8th . While van den Goorbergh may have kept team morale up with his qualifying success, Cadalora was clearly suffering from a severe lack of motivation. He again skipped a race – Donington - and was replaced by Simon Crafar
(NZ) who came in 10th. Cadalora then returned for the German GP and then left again for the final time. He was initially replaced by Bernard Garcia (SPA) for two rounds, who in turn was replaced by Anthony Gobert
(AUS) for the final four rounds. Both Gobert and van den Goorbergh qualified inside the top 10 at the penultimate round, the Brazilian GP, but again neither rider could replicate their qualifying pace on race day.
The Muz-Weber finished, as in the previous year, 5th in the Championship but with a much more credible tally of 64 pts. It had achieved 6 top ten placings, 2 pole positions and 2 lap records. The bike had also showed potential for impressive top speed even when compared to the factory Hondas, but its power delivery was harsh in comparison, making it more difficult to ride. The team had hoped that Cadalora would prove to be the established and experienced development rider they needed, but the on-off relationship Cadalora had with the team and the resulting one-off replacement riders filling his absence did not help the development or profile of the Muz. Due to financial pressures, and with no sponsor for the following season the Muz team ceased GP competition at the end of 1999, but the bikes themselves were to re-appear on the grid in 2001 in the guise of the Pulse 500
.
MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk
MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH is a motorcycle manufacturer located in Zschopau, Germany. MZ an acronym, stands for Motorradwerk Zschopau in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony...
500 was a motorcycle that competed in the and 500 cc Road Racing World Championship.
Muz 500
The Muz 500 started out as essentially the same machine as the ELF 500 ROCELF 500 ROC
The ELF 500 ROC was a motorcycle that competed in the and 500 cc Road Racing World Championship.- ELF 500 ROC :A new European motorcycle made its debut under the Elf banner in 1996. The engine was a Swissauto 500 cc two-stroke V4 engine, designed as a compact and powerful unit which...
. The Muz 500 competed in the 500 cc World Championship in 1998
1998 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1998 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 50th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Mick Doohan and Honda continued to dominate the 500 class with the Australian taking 8 victories and Honda winning all but one race. Simon Crafar winning the British Grand Prix for...
and 1999
1999 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1999 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 51st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The dominant reign of Honda's Mick Doohan came to an end with serious injuries suffered in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. In his absence, his Honda team-mate Àlex Crivillé...
. In its first year it remain largely unchanged, but it was 1999 that saw true progress being made with the bike.
1998
Muz Roc RennsportRiders:
Doriano Romboni
Doriano Romboni
Doriano Romboni is an Italian retired Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.- Career :He raced in 125cc and 250cc World Championship races on Hondas. In 1996 he rode for the Aprilia factory in the 500cc class aboard a bike with a V-twin, 250cc engine that had been enlarged to 380cc...
,
Eskil Suter
Eskil Suter
Eskil Suter is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and current motorcycle chassis constructor from Switzerland.In 1991, Suter finished in second place in the 250cc International Lightweight class at the Daytona International Speedway. Suter had his best seasons in 1994 and 1996 when he...
,
Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Jean-Philippe Ruggia is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from France. His best year was in 1995 when he finished in fifth place in the 250cc world championship. He won two races in 1993 riding for Aprilia and ended the season ranked sixth...
,
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.-Early career:He won the 1986 125cc World Championship on a Garelli and then the 1991 and 1992 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto tuned Honda.-500cc:In 1993 he rose to the blue riband 500cc division...
The team was formed after the Malaysian group Hong Leong bought the historic motorcycle manufacturer MZ
MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk
MZ Motorrad- und Zweiradwerk GmbH is a motorcycle manufacturer located in Zschopau, Germany. MZ an acronym, stands for Motorradwerk Zschopau in the Erzgebirge region of Saxony...
. The bike again used a Swissauto
Swissauto
Swissauto is an engine company from Burgdorf, Switzerland, best known for the V4 engine used in the, ELF, MuZ and Pulse 500cc Grand Prix motorcycles and World Championship Sidecars. It also has developed one of the most efficient ICE range extender engines for plug in hybrid electric...
engine in a ROC frame. The team began the year with a single rider – Doriano Romboni
Doriano Romboni
Doriano Romboni is an Italian retired Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.- Career :He raced in 125cc and 250cc World Championship races on Hondas. In 1996 he rode for the Aprilia factory in the 500cc class aboard a bike with a V-twin, 250cc engine that had been enlarged to 380cc...
(ITA), who scored a 12th at Suzuka in the bikes first race. At race 2 in Malaysia however he crashed, breaking his wrist, and was to miss the rest of the season. He was replaced by test rider Eskil Suter
Eskil Suter
Eskil Suter is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and current motorcycle chassis constructor from Switzerland.In 1991, Suter finished in second place in the 250cc International Lightweight class at the Daytona International Speedway. Suter had his best seasons in 1994 and 1996 when he...
(SWI) who tried to continue development of the bike. He rode the bike to three point-scoring positions: two 14ths and one 13th, with a best qualifying of 14th. He finished the season on 7 pts in the Championship. Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Jean-Philippe Ruggia
Jean-Philippe Ruggia is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from France. His best year was in 1995 when he finished in fifth place in the 250cc world championship. He won two races in 1993 riding for Aprilia and ended the season ranked sixth...
(FRA) took the bike out at Assen, and qualified 15th but failed to finish the race. The Muz didn’t race at the penultimate round in Australia due to internal difficulties. The hugely experienced Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.-Early career:He won the 1986 125cc World Championship on a Garelli and then the 1991 and 1992 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto tuned Honda.-500cc:In 1993 he rose to the blue riband 500cc division...
(ITA) raced the Muz in the last round of the year in Argentina, having also raced for both Yamaha and Suzuki during the same year. He failed to finish the race but had qualified a respectable 9th on the grid, just a second off Mick Doohan’s pole position time and the best qualifying position for the Muz by far this season. The team finished the season 5th in the Championship on 11 pts.
1999
Muz-WeberRiders:
Jurgen van den Goorbergh
Jurgen van den Goorbergh
Jurgen van den Goorbergh is a Dutch motorcycle road racer also known as The Flying Dutchman....
,
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.-Early career:He won the 1986 125cc World Championship on a Garelli and then the 1991 and 1992 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto tuned Honda.-500cc:In 1993 he rose to the blue riband 500cc division...
,
Noriyasu Numata
Noriyasu Numata
was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer born in Chiba, Japan. He competed in 250cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1995 to 1998. He was killed in an accident during tyre testing for Dunlop at Okayama International Circuit in Japan.- Early career :...
(replacement),
Simon Crafar
Simon Crafar
Simon Crafar is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand.He won Malaysia's Superbike championship in 1991. In 1993 he was racing for Harris in the 500cc World Championship before joining the Suzuki factory racing team in the 250 class for the latter part of the season...
(replacement),
Bernard Garcia (replacement),
Anthony Gobert
Anthony Gobert
Anthony Gobert is a professional motorcycle road racer nicknamed The Go Show. He was a rider of immense promise and talent who had his career derailed by a personal struggle with drug abuse...
(replacement)
Crew Chiefs:
Andy Wuthrich,
Thierry Feuz
Ex-sidecar Champion Rolf Biland
Rolf Biland
Rolf Biland is a Swiss former sidecar racer. He is known not only for his seven FIM Sidecar World Championships and 81 Grand Prix wins, but for his experimentation and innovation with new types of machine, like the Seymaz, the BEO and the LCR. His success was not limited to Grand Prix tracks, as...
took over the running of the team, now Team Biland GP1, in 1999. The Muz also picked up sponsorship from German engine block manufacturer Weber. These weren’t to be the only changes however. Frustrated with the ROC frame, the team brought their association with ROC to an end. The 1999 chassis was designed by ex-test rider Eskil Suter
Eskil Suter
Eskil Suter is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and current motorcycle chassis constructor from Switzerland.In 1991, Suter finished in second place in the 250cc International Lightweight class at the Daytona International Speedway. Suter had his best seasons in 1994 and 1996 when he...
and manufactured by British firm Fabrication Techniques.
It was to be a year of highs and lows for the Muz as Cadalora skipped Rd 2, the Japanese GP. Noriyasu Numata
Noriyasu Numata
was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer born in Chiba, Japan. He competed in 250cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1995 to 1998. He was killed in an accident during tyre testing for Dunlop at Okayama International Circuit in Japan.- Early career :...
(JPN) was drafted in to ride his bike and although qualified second last, finished a creditable 13th in the race. Cadalora returned for Rd 3 and over the course of the next few races the bike was clearly improving. Both riders were regularly qualifying in the top 10, and at the Catalunya GP, van den Goorbergh gave the bike its first pole position, by nearly 0.3 seconds from Max Biaggi
Max Biaggi
Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi is an Italian motorcycle racer and winner of the 2010 World Superbike Championship. Throughout this racing career, he has won the 250cc World Championship four times, and finished as runner-up in both the 500cc and MotoGP championships...
. He would later claim a second pole, this time at Brno, just ahead of Àlex Crivillé
Alex Criville
Àlex Crivillé is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1992 he became the first Spaniard to win a 500cc Grand Prix and, in 1999 he became the first Spaniard to win the 500cc World Championship....
. Cadalora’s best qualifying was 3rd but neither rider was able to carry this success into the races, with both riders best finish being 8th . While van den Goorbergh may have kept team morale up with his qualifying success, Cadalora was clearly suffering from a severe lack of motivation. He again skipped a race – Donington - and was replaced by Simon Crafar
Simon Crafar
Simon Crafar is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand.He won Malaysia's Superbike championship in 1991. In 1993 he was racing for Harris in the 500cc World Championship before joining the Suzuki factory racing team in the 250 class for the latter part of the season...
(NZ) who came in 10th. Cadalora then returned for the German GP and then left again for the final time. He was initially replaced by Bernard Garcia (SPA) for two rounds, who in turn was replaced by Anthony Gobert
Anthony Gobert
Anthony Gobert is a professional motorcycle road racer nicknamed The Go Show. He was a rider of immense promise and talent who had his career derailed by a personal struggle with drug abuse...
(AUS) for the final four rounds. Both Gobert and van den Goorbergh qualified inside the top 10 at the penultimate round, the Brazilian GP, but again neither rider could replicate their qualifying pace on race day.
The Muz-Weber finished, as in the previous year, 5th in the Championship but with a much more credible tally of 64 pts. It had achieved 6 top ten placings, 2 pole positions and 2 lap records. The bike had also showed potential for impressive top speed even when compared to the factory Hondas, but its power delivery was harsh in comparison, making it more difficult to ride. The team had hoped that Cadalora would prove to be the established and experienced development rider they needed, but the on-off relationship Cadalora had with the team and the resulting one-off replacement riders filling his absence did not help the development or profile of the Muz. Due to financial pressures, and with no sponsor for the following season the Muz team ceased GP competition at the end of 1999, but the bikes themselves were to re-appear on the grid in 2001 in the guise of the Pulse 500
Pulse 500
The Pulse GP team was formed by Dave Stewart, ex-team manager of BSL. Stewart had left BSL at the end of 2000 with the intention of setting up his own European-based GP team the following year. The Pulse 500 competed in the 2001 500 cc World Championship....
.
Specifications
| Muz 500 Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| Engine Type: | 2-stroke water-cooled V4 | |
| Displacement: | 499.27 cc | |
| Max Power: | 200 BHP @ 12500 rpm | |
| Carburation Type: | 4 Mikuni carbs | |
| Ignition: | CDI digital | |
| Clutch: | Dry multiple discs | |
| Transmission: | 6-speed cassette type | |
| Final Drive: | Chain | |
| Frame Type: | Twin spar aluminum | |
| Suspension: | Front: Inverted telescopic Rear: Ohlins mono shock |
|
| Tyres: | Michelin | |
| Wheel: | Front: 3.5 x 17 inches Rear: 6.0 x 17 inches |
|
| Brake System: | Front: Carbon composite disc (320 mm), Nissin 4 pot calipers Rear: steel disc (220 mm) |
|
| Overall Length: | 2040 mm | |
| Overall Width: | 490 mm | |
| Wheelbase: | 1410 mm | |
| Weight: | 129 kg (without tank) | |
| Fuel Tank: | 35L | |