FROG BLOG

Walter Kaaden - MZ genius

2009-11-07T07:11:28+01:00

As well as being a fan of Vincent motorcycles (see previous posting), I'm also a big fan of MZs. This may come as a surprise because the two brands are at opposite ends of the biking spectrum. One's iconic and taken very seriously, the other's considered a joke. Grossly unfair.

My enthusiasm for MZs began way back in the '70s when I first rented a bike shed to garage my trials bike. In the next shed along, a little old man kept his beloved 250cc MZ Supa 5 and on Saturdays, when we'd both be tinkering with our bikes, I'd often pop in to see how he was doing. Surrounded by old Castrol posters and faded black and white biking photos from a bygone age, he'd pour me a cuppa from his Thermos as he started nattering about 'the good old days' of the TT races. Kept me enthralled for hours. When I first asked him why he had a crappy old MZ, he laughed and said "because it's all I can afford!". Then he explained that he'd also bought it because he admired the way a tiny little East German factory took on, and beat, the 'big boys' at the TT. And it was all down to some chap called Walter Kaaden. Who? So he told me the MZ story. There's a lot you can learn from an old man in a shed. Sadly, the old boy died about a year later. But his stories, enthusiasm, and love of MZs never left me. As I said, I've been an MZ fan ever since. Had five so far.

A book has recently been published ('Stealing Speed' by Mat Oxley) which goes into greater detail about the story I first heard from that little old man. Extracts have appeared in one of my classic bike magazines and, for some months now, I've been meaning to order the book. Finally did so this afternoon. Really looking forward to a riveting read.

Even for non-bikers, it's a fascinating tale and a ripping yarn...

Where to begin? Well, perhaps the moon landing is as good a place as any. When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, it was the ultimate step in NASA's space programme of the '60s. Head of NASA at that time was Werner von Braun, a German rocket scientist who fled to America after the second world war. I presume the Yanks gave him an offer he couldn't refuse: come to America and give us your rocket science 'know how' or be hanged (von Braun designed and developed the V1 and V2 'doodlebug' rocket bombs that caused so much devastation towards the end of the war). There's no doubt that von Braun's contribution propelled the USA ahead in the space race, but people forget that they also benefitted from Sir Frank Whittle's jet engine secrets conned out of the UK (along with millions of pounds, land, and heaven knows what else) as payment for the US assistance in WW2. Hah! The Yanks would never have got their moon-landing plans off the ground if left to themselves. I mean, look at their cars and bikes - rubbish.

I digress.

During the war, Walter Kaaden was a junior member of von Braun's 'V' Series rocket team. Working alongside von Braun, Kaaden gained valuable knowledge of jet engine gas flow, resonance, air pressure harmonics and all sorts of other stuff that I don't understand. After the war, he chose not to join von Braun in America, settling instead for a simple life as a carpenter in Zschopau, East Germany. His means of transport was a humble little 100cc DKW motorcycle. In order to make it go faster, he experimented with different exhaust systems that he knocked up out of old bits of tin, utilising knowledge gained from his wartime experience. His test track was the road that went by the DKW factory where his speed and the banshee wailing of his screaming exhaust soon attracted the attention of the factory bosses. Impressed with his bike's performance, Kaaden was invited to join the DKW workforce. To cut a long story short, Kaaden soon became head of DKW's race team, DKW later became MZ (Mottorwerke Zschopau) and Kaaden was tasked by the communists to make MZ a world-beater on the racetracks. Some challenge! Especially with very limited resources.

Until Kaaden came along, the two-stroke engine was regarded in race circles as being uncompetitive. Four strokes were faster, more efficient, more powerful and more reliable. But Kaaden reckoned he could beat them. Working day and night in a scruffy little garage, he soon perfected his theories of exhaust gas expansion chambers and disc valve carburetion, thereby creating the same effect as supercharging. Miraculously, in a very short space of time, he almost doubled the power of his racing engine. Kaaden was now ready to challenge the might of Honda, MV and various other grand prix factories.

(MZ team - Kaaden far right)

While developing the MZ racer, Kaaden had groomed a young East German mechanic named Ernst Degner as his assistant. He was also to be Kaaden's no.1 rider. When Degner entered the grand prix circus, he gradually started to win races which surprised everyone except Kaaden. He saw life in Europe. He saw his competitors' fancy cars and tasted their champagne lifestyle. He thought about defecting but, with a young wife and baby back home, he always had to return behind the Iron Curtain when racing was over.

(Kaaden and Degner)

In 1961, Degner was just one race away from becoming 125cc world champion. The next race was the Swedish round and Kaaden was ready to celebrate. But it was not to be. Degner's bike had apparently broken down somewhere on the far side of the track. After the race, unbeknown to Kaaden, Degner defected. The rumour is that he was whisked away with his wife and kid by the Japanese in a pre-arranged plan, taking Kaaden's secrets and a few vital engine parts with him. Kaaden was devastated. The communist government immediately shut down Kaaden's operation and he became a forgotten man.

However, his legacy continued. Armed with Kaaden's secrets, Suzuki won their first world title: the 50cc world championship. The rider? Ernst Degner. Then Yamaha and Kawasaki began utilising Kaaden's two-stroke theories. Pretty soon Japanese two-strokes dominated racing. Take a look at Barry Sheene's world championship winning Suzuki and you'll see it bears a remarkable similarity to Kaaden's MZs.

The guy was a genius. A true genius.

Walter Kaaden died of cancer, aged 76, in 1996. He lived to see the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. Just before he died, he was tracked down and interviewed by Jan Leeks (author of 'MZ - Birth of the Modern Two-Stroke Racer). Kaaden said he was amazed anyone remembered him or his deeds and achievements at all.

Walter, you'll never be forgotten. You changed the world.

But that's not the end of the story.

Ernst Degner retired from racing after an accident on the Suzuka racetrack when he fell off his bike and it burst into flames. Degner's burnt body was pulled from the inferno and he somehow survived, but he suffered horrific burns. He moved back to Germany. In 1983, while in the Canary Islands (on holiday?), he apparently committed suicide by overdosing on the medicine to ease the pain of his burns OR by slitting his throat OR by shooting himself (seems to be some confusion from the reports I've read - hopefully 'Stealing Speed' will provide clarification, when it arrives!). Inevitably, there's speculation that it wasn't suicide but murder. KGB/Stasi hitman? A revenge killing? Possibly. We'll never know.

(The humble MZ - a proper biker's bike)

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