Posts
92
Joined
8/30/2017
Location
Canyon Country, CA
US
smithers57
9/7/2017 10:17am
9/7/2017 10:17am
Edited Date/Time
9/16/2017 12:09pm
This is my first vintage bike build finished up not to long ago wanted to get ur guys thoughts on it.
The Shop
People would put on light bodywork, shocks, a pipe and carb, and then a CZ would acquit itself well against anything in its class in those days. Very popular among privateers because there was a network of old dealerships for some support and the bikes didn't break easily. Tony Distefano very nearly won the 1974 500cc championship with two bikes & a van loaned him for the year, plus a parts supply & some gas money, sleeping in the van a lot of the time. Had he not broken his thumb in an outside race on an off weekend, he'd have beaten all the factories. Nowadays somebody with that level of talent and drive and focus is unlikely to come seemingly out of nowhere, I mean somebody who could use all the power of a 450 the way Tony D could ride a 380 CZ. 40 mins. + 2 lap motos helped.
Around 1974 someone asked Jim Weinert what kind of racebike someone who was sacking groceries for a living, bringing home $80 a week or so (!!!) should get, and he said get an old CZ, it's always reliable and you can just race it. Bob Hannah actually started racing motocross on a CZ an older friend loaned to him, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo of him at that stage. Remembering things like those is part of why I like your bike--just get the bike squared away in a workmanlike fashion, and go racing. I also love seeing the off-the-charts extrapolations created by some of these CZ guys with money nowadays, but I can relate to your bike better.
It's weird about Akronts, since back then people wanted to change them because they can trap mud. I think they're hard to find because they almost all got melted down. :-(
Pit Row
There is an interesting CZ engine analysis by Harry Klemm, the guy who at 20 yrs. old built Rex Staten's 1975 CZ that got both holeshots at the Carlsbad GP.
My old 250...
Awesome bike there Evoracer.
Why don't you stop blathering about the past and build another damn CZ and come race with us?!!
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