1952 IFA-MZ BK 350
After World War II, the German DKW
factory, universal leader in the building of two stroke engines, found itself
on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain in East Germany, and was renamed first
IFA, then MZ. ("Motorradwerke Zschopau")
Leading Link Forks
The 1952
BK 350 was one of the first models to bear the new MZ badge, and it remained in
production until 1959, with an important modification in 1956, when Earles
leading link front forks were fitted. The BK 350 was an example of that great
rarity, the flat twin two stroke. Its highly advanced construction made use of
such techniques as shaft final drive, but its commercial success was restricted
by the depressed state of the market.
Sporting Success
In 1956, it
was shouldered aside - and ultimately replaced - by simpler, more economical
single cylinder two strokes. As a prelude to it'sgreat sporting success in
speed and off road events, and in its first years of existence, the MZ factory
at Zschopau utilized the BZ350 for its first entries in ISDT -International Six
Days Trial - where in 1956 Horst Liebe won a gold medal riding a BZ 350. Apart
from its cross country equipment, this bike was no different from the standard
machine.