MAN AND MACHINE
Peter Zeh CZ
Peter Zeh has been faithful to his CZ trials machine for more than 50 years. The relationship between Peter Zeh and his Czech ‘Girlfriend’ began just as relationships with women should not begin – as Peter loaned her out to his brother! However, as this partner is not a woman but a motorcycle, it looks different and it is, therefore, no longer reprehensible. On the contrary, it is not uncommon among brothers for the machines to be passed around! What led me to the heading and to this introductory sentence with the comparison of Peter’s CZ to a companion in life is how long Peter and his CZ have been together. In this respect his CZ can certainly be called a life companion; after all, this motorcycle has accompanied him almost his entire life!
As soon as Peter had bought the CZ from his brother, he received an invitation to enter for a trial in spring 1969. Since he was already a member of the ADMV club at that time, he was obviously regarded as a potential interested party. And the invitation did indeed arouse spontaneous interest in him. He directly mounted a smaller sprocket on the machine and started training for the event in the area, with the firm plan to participate in this trial in the production class. Surprisingly for him, he took second place at this event, which made him even more enthusiastic. Since there were a lot of events near him at that time, he carried his rucksack weekend after weekend and rode his motorcycle to these trials.
When he won his fifth trial for the first time, there was a wreath for the winner: “Never before have I driven so slowly through the town as on my way home” Peter remembers with a smile.
EAST GERMAN TRIALS
In the same year, 1969, he competed very enthusiastically in the series class at the championship in Berlin in September and finished fourth. Now at last the name, Peter Zeh, was known in the East German trial scene. Despite further successes in trials in his region he was unable to take part in the championship the following year because he could not find a lift to the championship event. But Peter took the year 1970 as his starting point, not only to take part in the championship again in 1971, but, with increased motivation, to win the GDR championship title in the series class.
In the following two years, 1972 and 1973, he was able to defend this title on his CZ. But things didn’t always go according to plan, as they rarely do. In 1974 ,he broke his fibula and ankle during a training crash, and had to drop out of the championship and say goodbye to the title. But in bad times a true champion is
ultimately distinguished by the decision not to stick one’s head in the sand, but to return from defeats stronger. And so is Peter Zeh, because he came back after the injury break and won back the championship title in 1975; his fourth and last GDR championship title.
MEMORIES
Peter likes to recall two anecdotes from his championship-winning time in the ’70s: “During a trial near Jena, on the first lap, I dropped the machine in such a way that the gearshift lever was so bent that I could only complete the rest of the trial in first gear. Although the laps at that time were at least three to four kilometres long I was able to finish the trial as the winner – and wasn’t even the last one to arrive back!” he recalls.
he second anecdote is even wilder. “Even in the production class, there were more and more stones in the sections over the period of time, which greatly increased the stress on the motorcycle. During one event the welded seam of the frame cracked and opened up, which extended the steering head angle. Without further ado, I visited a welder during the trial. He looked at the problem and, after a little work, welded the open seam back up and I finished the event. I was not the last rider to finish the event and even won again!”
The consequences of the impact from the harder stone sections can still be seen very clearly on Peter’s CZ today. The originally round frame tubes are flat like pancakes from making contact with so many stones, but the main stand is still attached to the frame.
THE TURNING POINT
Peter read in the excellent German motorcycle trials magazine Trialsport that Rudi Munstermann was organising a Pre-65 trial. He made the decision to enter there and then and converted from the 16-inch wheels, required in the GDR series, to the typical wheel dimensions for trials of a 21-inch front and 18-inch rear. This, of course, gave him the opportunity to mount genuine trial tyres for the first time.
“I could not believe the traction I could obtain when riding up hills; there was no comparison to the old 16-inch wheels and tyres”.
Amongst the competition would be Helmfried Riecker with his Triumph and Jurgen Baumann on a Zundapp. Against these machines his CZ, which was very production based, looked so old and outdated. He started
to make some changes and improve it further and didn’t let himself be restricted by the GDR regulations anymore: “Apart from the wheels, the fuel tank had to remain original, the handlebars couldn’t be wider than 70cm and the exhaust couldn’t be raised and had to reach beyond the rear wheel axle, and these were the most important points”.
With Rudi’s four-stroke trial it was still possible to compete but the sections in the Classic D-Cup were simply too hard for that.
MODIFICATIONS
First he exchanged the Jawa front forks, which were not as good as the forks his competitors had, for an MZ front fork which was much better. He also modified the shock absorbers using MZ technology. Although their housings are still from a Jawa the interior is from an MZ because it offers the possibility to make adjustments to the damping. Nevertheless, the 80mm of travel is very little for today’s classic sections where there are often steps to clear. The wheel hubs are also Jawa, with the rear one from a later model. So is the air filter box, which Peter also retrofitted from a later model as it offers more volume which in turn gives the engine a much better throttle response from the carburettor slide.
The closed drive chain case has proven itself over the years. Peter used the last chain without any problems for three years. Only the lower chain guide is made of rubber from an MZ because it is exposed to the rocks when riding up steps or over rocks. The exhaust and manifold are home-made based on the CZ one.
In 1994, he copied the main silencer chamber from a JCM after reading a report in Trialsport. Alfred Muhlberg, a friend, helped him to make the new expansion chamber but there is nothing fancy about it. He also still has a lot of work to do in other areas such as the seat and the Triumph Tiger Cub fuel tank which came from England.
RELIABLE
In 50 years of riding, the machine has proven to be very reliable with very few problems. The crankshaft bearings are a large diameter and have never failed in competition use. But we, in the East, have always listened to what Gunter Ruttloff, who has always been regarded as the great expert in the engine department, does and then tried to take a look at our own machines.
Peter converted his CZ to short-stroke and installed a larger piston with a 71mm bore instead of the original 66mm. By the way, Peter has also been faithful to the colour green for half a century. Only in the very beginning was his CZ black for a year before it got its characteristic fresh green from him and has remained green ever since; the green is a VW colour.
Now Peter is quite satisfied with his CZ and wants to ride it for as long as possible in the condition it can be seen in here. With engine power becoming more critical due to the constantly increasing degree of difficulty in the D-Cup class he may overhaul the engine. There are enough engine parts available and also at very reasonable prices, Peter points out.
In the ’80s, many of these machines were scrapped as nobody wanted them anymore. If you saw one standing at the roadside you would get it for free if you asked for it!
I met Peter and his green CZ at the start of the German Classic Trials Cup 2019 in Gressenich in the spring and took the photos. This event was their golden wedding, so to speak. And as befits such an impressive anniversary with his partner, she was given a ring: after so many years Peter donated a new rear tyre to his CZ for this occasion.