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1956 to 1957. I’ve heard sidecars are not fun to ride with because of how it completely chang- es the handling of the bike. You’re essentially riding a three-wheeled vehicle driven by only one of the rear wheels, so it takes quite a bit of getting used to. Still, there’s something to a sidecar that I fnd fun in theory. Then there were the more modern looking dirt and enduro bikes, also marked as ES250 mod- els. They will seem quite familiar to any off- road enthusiast, though I am curious why one Your faithful correspondent failing the "drunk driving" test with the beer goggles on or the “junkyard” piece featuring piles of old parts. At least they’re not in a landfll somewhere. The museum also gave some sense of the culture at the time, with motorcycles paired next to famous movie stars of the day who used them, like “the popular East German actress Agnes Kraus [who drove a scooter] as sister Is that meant to be ridden? I can't argue with that advice Agnes in the movie The Villages.” of them is labelled Yamaha! The off-road graphic next to There were police and firefighter it on the rock also seems quite unnecessary. bikes, and more somberly consid- ering the history of East Germany, bikes produced for the military. The MZ ES250/2, in blue with the white headlight. All of these models were around You’ll be able to see everything in the museum in an 250cc. In fact, few of the engines hour or less, which I fnd to be a good value considering were any larger than that. The the tickets are around six euros. The museum is a fun largest I saw was the 342cc BMW and well put together homage to an entire industry of bike I mentioned earlier. East German bikes that has disappeared, and any fan of motorcycle history will enjoy this opportunity. The museum is also another memorial, in its own way, to the The MZ motorcycles were my fa- deep marks war leaves on a people, often in unexpect- vorites, including several paired ed ways. with sidecars, like the ES250 Dop- Heated gear: defnitely an investment I need to make, as should any winter riders pelport Gespann, produced in Your faithful correspondent, trying out the Harley-Davidson Street Rod 16 APRIL 2018 17