CZ ownership memories

I’ve enjoyed Roy Poynting’s recent articles about Jawa/CZ motorcycles, so I thought I’d share my memories of CZ ownership.

I paid £273 for a new CZ Model 477 (the 175cc roadster) in 1976. I passed my test on it, used it for a daily round trip commute of 20 miles, and made several long journeys to the north of England and Scotland. In the year I owned it, I clocked up 10,000 mostly reliable miles, and it revealed the pleasures and possibilities of motorcycling to me.

I first saw it in the showroom of Perce Small motorcycles in Southampton; just down the road (and even further downmarket…) from Alec Bennett’s emporium. Sadly, both businesses are long gone.

CZ was a popular brand in the 1970s; their endorsement by motocross legend Dave Bickers meant that your cheap CZ roadster had something of the glamour of international sporting success about it. And they were a common sight.

CZ had updated their range in the early 1970s. Gone was the slab-sided styling, replaced by teardrop tanks, with art-deco-esq coach lining, two-tone colour schemes and stripped down suspension, although they wisely kept the full chain enclosure.

The 172cc engine produced a claimed 15bhp, which gave a top speed of about 75mph and comfortable cruising speed of around 55. Fuel consumption was 70-90mpg, depending on how ridden.

With firm, well-damped suspension and the excellent Barum tyres, it held the road and cornered well enough. The brakes may have been drums, but with full-width ally hubs, and twin leading shoes at the front, they stopped the 247lb bulk of the little CZ effectively.

As Roy noted, there were some touches of real quality. I was impressed by the alloy wheel rims, at the time usually only seen on high end brands. Also in alloy were the ball end levers and mounts, the top fork yoke, the (strangely shaped) instrument binnacle and the centrestand. Why aren’t all motorcycle stands made of something that doesn’t rust?

Of course, the factor that raised it above all other Eastern European two-strokes was the posilube oiling system; none of the cost and inconvenience of petroil.

The oil pump fed just the right amount of oil into the inlet point so that the engine ran smoothly with very little exhaust smoke. A pint of oil lasted about 750 miles; with the 2½ pint oil tank, the oil could be topped up as often as one might change the oil on a small four-stroke.

I did decoke it once and found very little carbon accumulation in the engine. The handbook gave full advice for decoking the engine and exhaust, including some rather inflammatory advice… To clean the exhaust they recommended removing the baffle, taking it to a ‘remote place’, pouring petrol over it and setting it on fire. When it had burned out and cooled, any remaining deposit could be burned off. By a ‘remote place’ I imagine they meant well away from any building that might catch fire; but whenever I read the phrase, I always imagined Czech motorcyclists heading for the Tatra Mountains for their annual decoke…

The handbook was clearly written by someone for which English was not their mother tongue. “Having thus finalised your journey, withdraw the key and place the motorcycle on the stand” was one I remember. Sometimes there’d be whole paragraphs of incomprehensible gobbledegook.

Downsides? It broke down twice, the first time a fuse blew (insulation tape and silver paper got it going) and the second, outside a motorcycle shop in Doncaster, 200 miles from home. They had no spares but they had a second-hand CZ in the showroom; they removed the cable and sold it to me for 50p.

They were some quirks – every CZ had exactly the same ignition key, so if you lost yours, a friend could lend your their’s. Otherwise, a lollipop stick did the job. Never did a large key offer so little security.

Overall, CZ got it almost right. Improvements to the finish and electrics would have made them more competitive, though I always thought of my single as a Bantam done properly. So why did I part with my Model 477?

I was young and hankered for more power. I traded it in for a Jawa, thinking that a 350cc twin would be twice as good as a 175cc single. It wasn’t. I persevered for years, before getting a Honda.

So, I wonder if LTP599R is still out there? I hope it gave reliable and enjoyable transport to its later owners, and, if it no longer exists, I hope they enjoyed wearing it out.