I just bought a new, non-current, Saxon Country (in May 1997).
The Country is MuZ's "dual sport" model.
The MSRP was about $4800 US. Due to MuZ taking back control of their distribution from the US importer, all of the Saxon MuZ 's (Rotax 500 based bikes) in the USA were being sold for $3200-3350 US! $4800 is a bit steep for a twin shock, 500cc single (IMHO). Other bikes in that price range are KLR650s, sale priced XL650Rs and DR650s, leftover KLX650s , 650 Savages (about $4000) and a bunch of sale priced CB750s, Seca 2s and 600 Bandits. So $4800 seemed very high but the $3350 I paid for the MuZ was a steal.

My previous thumper experience was riding a 1994 Suzuki DR650..a great street bike, light, narrow, torquey, good seating position with the following shortcomings: annoying vibration at speeds above 65 MPH, a seat that had me begging for mercy after 1/2 an hour, wimpy front brakes. Since I've never ridden off road, I can't say how it is as a dirt bike.

Anyway, since owning the DR, my idea of a perfect bike was a DR with a better front brake, better seat and less vibration. Detachable hard luggage would be a plus. I was looking for a used KLR or KLX650R when a magazine article clued me in to the MuZ sale prices. I called the local dealer- Aloha BMW/MuZ, Aloha, Oregon- to see if they had a Silver Star for sale. They only had the Country on the floor but could order a Silver Star. I went to look at the Country to check fit/finish and test ride to see if the 500 had enough power and if it vibrated. Clever folks at Aloha!

First, the Country has a BRIGHT yellow paint job with black, sort of Zebra/Tiger striped decals. The Saxon Country and Saxon Tour models have, um, unusual styling, to put it charitably but the bright yellow really complemented the bike and made it into one of those "so ugly it's cool" bikes.

Finally, the test: A big selling point for me was the size of the bike- it's small and light ( 328 pounds/149kg dry weight, 55.9 inches/ 1420 mm wheelbase) but has a good seat height (32.2 inches/ 820mm) and a wide, dirt bike style handle bar that gives it an upright, comfortable seating position for me (6'1", 250 pounds). The seat is flat and wide with a small step up for the passenger, beats the heck out out of DR and KLR seats. The thundering 34 horsepower, 4 valve Rotax engine is quiet and smooth up to 5000 rpm, pulling well from idle. 5000 RPM is 70 MPH in top gear and the vibration is tolerable for long distances. There is a slight, part throttle hesitation/surge, probably caused by lean jetting of the 33mm Bing carb. Not bad, just mildly annoying. A 1 size larger needle jet cured the problem and improved cold starting/idling (and was installed, gratis, by the mechanic at Aloha during the first service!). A larger main jet caused the bike to bog above 5000 rpm. The mechanic said that the Silver Stars that they worked with responded well to larger jets and seemed more powerful than the Country, even though the Country is geared lower. He guessed that the funny shaped muffler on the Country was choking off the engine (1st modification on my list). The front brake (single disk, 180mm) works well. The rear drum is very wimpy- I couldn't get it to lock-up doing the MSF 20-0 MPH test and it seemed to barely slow the bike at all. I checked the adjustment (as did the mechanic) and it was adjusted correctly. The Silver Star rear brake reportedly works better and we guessed that the Country's brake is set-up soft for dirt use (next modification: make a new brake lever with a better leverage ratio). Handling is good, like most dual purpose singles. The light weight, big ground clearance, torquey engine and good brake makes riding on twisty roads easy and fun. Exiting slow corners and getting hard on the throttle unweights the front end enough to give a slight head shake- no problem though- not enough power to worry about having the front end sliding out. Seriously, the bike easily handles road conditions that I deem prudent (usually within 10-20 mph of the posted speed limit. My knee dragging/bike smashing days are behind me). If you are looking for a tire scorching, road burner- this isn't it. The windscreen cuts a little of the wind off of my chest but it is more decorative than useful.

Off road: this is obviously not a real dirt bike. It has a 19" front wheel, 7 inches of suspension travel, too big a gas tank, too much front brake and too wide a seat (so I've been told). It also has a front fender mounted low over the tire. It seems more of an "adventure bike"- KLR 650, NX650, Trans Alp, R100GS type bike. Ok for dirt roads.

Fit and finish: Great paint and fitting of the components and body work. Some of the fasteners have a cheap finish that is already rusting around the heads. The foot controls are cheap, chrome plated, stamped steel. Functional dirt bike type stuff. Good quality major components- Rotax engine, Paoli forks, Grimeca brakes, Akront wire rims, Bilstein shocks.

Features: Large, rectangular section, steel,spine frame with the engine held by twin down tubes. The spine is the oil reservoir for the dry sump, 494 cc, air cooled, 4 valve Rotax single cylinder engine. 5 speed tranny with wet, cable operated clutch. Rectangular section, steel swingarm, twin shocks. 35 mm forks with fork tube protectors. 6 gallon, non-metal (fiberglass or plastic?) gas tank (approx. 300 mile range). Small luggage rack. Center stand. Front, single disk, hydraulic brake. Rear drum, mechanically actuated. Tachometer (no redline is marked, I'm guessing 8000 rpm is a safe redline), speedometer, odometer, idiot lights. O-ring chain, enclosed in a lubricated chain guide/guard (reports from other MuZ owners claim mileage as high as 60,000 miles with out replacing or adusting the chain!). Available hard luggage - at $600 for racks and bags, it's cheaper than Givi, BMW or Krauser bags- they are on my list to buy.

Things I like: Smooth, torquey engine. Good riding position. Funky/weird styling. Bright yellow color. Center stand and luggage rack. Exclusivity! I get lots of "what's that?". The licensing department clerk and my insurance agent had never heard of MZ or MuZ . I've yet to see another MuZ on the road and there were only 50 of the Country's brought into th US in 1995. Big gas tank. 50 MPG. Adequate performance (for me). The 90-95 mph top speed and 14 second range 1/4 mile times give plenty of power for passing and freeway use. It's a very fun, practical commuter bike with decent freeway capability and should even have a little off road capability. I plan on doing some dirt road type dual sport riding as soon as I work up the nerve to scratch my new toy. The price was unbeatable. The odometer and the major scale on the speedometer are metric - no big deal, it just makes the bike a little more different and fun. Great tool kit. In fact, there are 2 tool kits. An MuZ tool kit and a kit with tools for the Rotax engine. Kick and electric start. 2 year, unlimited mileage warranty.

Things I don't like: 190 watt alternator - there go my plans for twin, 100 watt head lights, heated hand grips and an electric vest :( Funky/weird styling. BMW style, self-retracting side stand. With a bike this light, a strong gust of wind could unweight the side stand and cause the bike to fall. Fortunately, the center stand is very easy to use. Cheap looking switch gear with an engine kill switch that has a hard to find run position. The twin shocks look outdated and don't match the integrated, euro-style DP body work. The euro-style mudflap/rear fender has got to go. The word "Country" was painted on the seat in large white letters. I got rid of that with nail polish remover, a tooth brush and elbow grease. Some spray on vinyl dye covered the evidence of scrubbing off the paint. Warning stickers every where! I scraped off 8 of 'em!

When I got the bike, I had schemes of souping it up and making a KTM Duke style "hooligan bike". I've read about engine build-ups of up to 70 HP, using big bore kits up to 670ccs. The bike is light but I bet that there is 20 pounds or more that could come off pretty easily. I also toyed with the idea of improving the dirt capabilities but the bike works so well and is so much fun to ride that I fear I'll screw it up with heavy modifications. My current plans are...

1. To ride the bike.

2. Set up the ergonomics to fit me a bit better- trim the seat foam to fit my fat butt, lower the foot pegs 1/2 inch or so, possibly get heated hand grips and dirt bike style hand guards to cut the wind. Get the hard luggage.

3. Fiddle with the styling- get rid of the mudflap, maybe get dirt bike fenders- the yellow UFO plastic is a pretty good color match and I think I'll do something with the turn signals.

4. Get a little better power with muffler/air box/ jetting changes. Possibly fool around with the gearing- see if I can drop the rpm enough for steady, low vibration, 75 MPH cruising without making the acceleration suffer too much.

5. Play around with the handling- stainless steel brake lines, aftermarket pads, try different weights and amounts of fork oil maybe different springs or shocks, sportier rubber (if I decide that I don't want to go off road). Really, the handling is fine and I probably won't do much unless increased familiarity reveals deficiencies.

One last thing- Aloha BMW/MuZ were very good to deal with. Not only did they allow me a test ride and improve the jetting at no charge, they also allowed me to watch the first service so that I'd be able to service the bike without having to buy a manual. Service like that will make me a repeat customer, if I ever develope a taste or the budget for one of the new BMWs or if MuZ ever comes out with their Kobra (heresy on the thumper page!).

07/01/97