Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126248
. ; Want to try World Championship ; MX on a privateer's bUdg~! n<(~\- 1 ' B -ad-Br ad-, ;.-nd - , .- .,. - g t I Former works CZ rider and retired Belgian trials champion discusses the "real" works CZ with the racing chief from Strakonice. Yeah. it 's Roger checking out the competition. He liked the bikes, A-nd-------~!-I who ? The truth is. a fte r th., first three positions, it's a pn'lt y o pen fie ld ('XCepl that Akc Jonsson's b a ck o n a M ai co a nd rhar 's a lwav s to h(' co n re n ded with . There's a not her ~ood re aso n for ra cin g th e 500 class. It is more po ssibl e to bu ild a com pe titi ve bike , in terms of p ow e-r, for that c lass . Fort y -tw o horsepower ca n he jUM as useable a s 50 . You m av h a ve notice th at then' a n ' not a 101 of fa ct ory GP ra cer positions ~o in~ hegging th ese da ys, If you ' re go in~ 10 expand yo u r horizons this ye a r, it' s goin~ to be as a privateer. You will still need a m or orcvch- 10 race in a Grand Prix , howev("r : If nobody wants to ~iV(" you one in yo u r fir st season , yo u a n" soon (OX posed to t he privateer's # 1 problem : mont'y . Mo re specifi cally , the la ck of it. Oh . well . ha ck to 100% Expert Pa yb a ck a t Poco Lo co , If we rea lly ha d your ln-st interests a t hea rt , we'd . stop now. having be en co ntent 10 he mo ra l in savi n~ yo u from you rse lf. Bu t you won ' t la - d issuaded ? You will hav e a GI' b ike? Wh al kind ? Wh at a rc t he othe r pri vateers using-? As a m atter o f st atist ical fa ct, more- G rand Pr ix · ridin~ privat eers in Europe st ill ride CZ th an a n y o ther hik e in t he " Oll c lass. J\ 1 a ic~s in va rio us states of tr ickery are p roh ahly seco nd Iavo ri u -, with KTi\ls ~nd R:>.I Suzukis starting to be seen. The re an' o ther ways 10 ~o . A 390GP H usq va rna ~ot'S for 522 00 plus tax . Ma ybe add som e air for ks fo r a bo u t 550 . a n aluminum a lloy p ip " for rnavbe 580 10 m ar ch a n on -ra d ic al " c lea n -u p" pon jo b a t 60 or so a nd you' re prt'u y c lose to La ck ey's bik e of last y("ar . T h at 's if you gel a lo ng well with a Husky. B('ngt Ab e rg ro de a nearly stock Bulr a co last season bu t the gearbox blues wouldn't get o ff him . A st andard Suzuki R I\1 370 ca n be Cable routing becomes critical with the valve stems atop the air forks, Other subtle touches include aluminum handlebars, plastic antibreak levers. and good sticky grips. rode in th e ,,00 W orld C ha m p io nsh ip las t "...aso n. You ca n do it , too . t' xc("pt th a t p os sihl y for ca st in g a ll magnesium . A good pla ce to sta rt on th e Backya rd GP C Z proj ect is in th e fin e print a t th e b a ck o f t his nt'wspapt'r. Therein , vou will often see things that re ad like : ' 1974 red frame CZ G.P. mo del. Mikuni. MOfoplat. Bilsteins. H.D. spokes. high seat, Maguf a. 0 .1.0.. much more. First cash takes it . $650 or best. After 5 p.m . (7141646-0000 . (7) '14 CZ 380cc. $650.00 Super clean & dependa ble. includes all stock plus all desert equipment - Mikuni. Femsa. extra sprockets. Girlings and Curnutts - Days onlv till 7 p.m.121J) 256~ 0000. 1712x1 Here's ho~ to build a backyard Grand Pr'ix racer. • • By John Huetter Well , the new season's just about here. Be on you in force before you know it , so you'd better start making firm plans for any motocross racing you'll be doing this year. With that first 6 hea d y rush of the sa p risi ng in you (whic h p ro ba bly means a ll th e ol d bru ises a re h eal ed . your last sca b fell 01T. and you wa nl to ge t that extra in ch off your waist) you d ecide yo u've ha d e noug h of blowing off th e loca l sq ui ds at Poco Loco Ra cewa y wee ken d after weekend . T his year. you 're really go i n~ 10 do so met hi ng - m ake your m ove . It' s tim e to go to wo rk o n a la rger ca nvas - like mayb e in G ra nds Pri x . Wh y not th e Worl d Championship? After all, DeCoster is 32 : Mikkola's 31. T hose guys sho u ld be ra cing in th e Old Ti mers class . Bu t m a ybe you 've a lso d ecided th a t your relia b le , victorious DT , IB wit h t he G YT kit m ~y n? t b; th e hot set -up ~or. a Grand Pri X CIrc uit (even , thou~ h It has taken you to 37 const"cuuv.. class wins at Poco .Loco ). Then th er; is I~t' matter of whic h W o rl d Champions hi p class yo u sho u ld ride. Last thi ngs first. T here a re 10 or II "pileu-s' in rh e 250cc class who ca n win a Gra nd Pri x m oto . T hat means your cha nces of breaking in to t he to p 10 points and m 0 n I' y ' pay i n g p o sit ion s are . , . unlikel y, shall Wt" say . T he 125 class? Ma ybe , if you 're not 10 0 p ut off by having Gaston Rahie r a n d Marty Smith lap yo u two or three . , ' , urnes a moto . th en dl~lIIg with th e p rol ife rat ion o f crazy It al ian 1l!5 riders . Which lea ves the 500 class , " Are you crazy?" you may ask wit h b ri llia nt logi c . "That's whe re DeCoster rides , And Ihe DUlc h guy Wolsink who wins th(" U .S. GP at Carlsbad all Iht" Air forks provide an honest 8" of travel and seemed to work best with 30 psi when nosprings were installed or 12 psi with springs and a kit that modified stock damping; Terry or Number One. had fo r S1600, if it suits your style but it . 100. requ ires so me work be fore it's G P·rt'ady .. ' So you look at the wor ks 500 class CZs (as a former CZ rider is pictu red doi ng) a nd you see a m otocross bi ke tha t is simple, st urdy , a n d vt'ry da m n fast with sn a p -crackle pow e r out of th e t u r ns . Ex ce pt for a basketfu l o f magnesium whi ch is about as h eav y as a bask..t of lea ves of th t"sa me size. tht"y don't look tha t ha rd to reprodu ce or even im p rov .. o n. W ith co nfiden ee horn of bo th ignora nce a nd t hat da ngero us lit rh- h it of know ledge. we sl"l out to build a privatet'r vl'rsion of a works rt'plica 380 CZ lik~ th(' Russians In fact , a fairly re cent used 380 CZ m a y j ust be barely broken in . A rea lly id eal but un like ly situa tion wou ld De to lind a dua l sparkp lug hea d CZ engine in a red Fra me with t h e asso c iate re cent running gt'ar (alloy rim", er c .) . Befort' we g(·t much farther a long , there is another va lid if subtle re aso n for campaigning a 380 CZ if yo u race GPs as a privateer, There se-ems 10 be a lo t of CZ racing su p po rt servi ces at all the European Grands Prix , parti cularly out of BeI~ium and Italy. And only IWO G Ps art" not in Europe . - Wt' did not copy the works bik e exa ctl y in huilding our backyard . ra cer . Wht"re we honestl y believed American . or other. parls were better - we went with those . Who is " WI''' ? All fra me and sus p e n sio n mods we rt' designed jointly with O ff, Ro ad Ra cing Rear fender loop i. cut away since it becomes an unnecessary structural member and its removal saves about two lb• .