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/126849
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One guy showed up with a perfect 1969 Husqvarna. Everybody thought it
was brand new. Turns out it was.
If
•
",
Thi s guy d id the same stylis h crossup every lap fo r t he crowd. I n icknam ed him " Team Smitty. "
Smitty goes to the
1985 CZ World
Championship
By Jim Smith
I have been looking forward all
m on th to cove ring this story.
In fac t, I had practically written
it in it s entire ty two full da ys
18
before th e even t. I was kepi in fo rm ed
o f th e progress of a friend 's preparation 0 1 hi s ol d Czech warhorse lo r
this race.
" Fra me 's pa inted . a nd I've found a
g uy in th e vall ey with orig ina l fenders. " he would ;lIl n o u n ce. triumphant ly. " A gu y in Bakersfield's go t
two sets o f stoc k shocks. and he say s
he'll sell m e one!" The Trea sure o f
Sier ra Mad re. These a n no u nceme nts
I would receive with a ll the a nt icipa tion du e th e first moon landing. m y
interes t level at a fever p itch .
T h is, I co u ld tell by my swea ty
palms, was im porta n t. A race. an
ac tua l race. using old CZs. Mai cos,
a nd Husqvarnas ! I co u ldn ' t sleep th e
ni ght before. My mind wa s full of
vision s o f peace-sig n-wavi ng wheelies. rea l leathers. a nd T he Big J um p
a t Li on 's Racewa y. Even Chris tmas
would be a letdo wn a fter this . S ure.
things cha nge . time march es on . and
you ca n' t sta nd in th e way o f progress. bu t for six bucks I was goi ng
back to th e 1970s.
Wh y a ll th is fu ss? Wh a t's the big
deal , resurrectin g th ese o ld bik es fro m
th e grave> Wh y d ist ur b the dead? Rest
in Peace. I a lways say. T h is year's
m o tocro ss bik es ha ve it h.... d and
a
shou lde rs over bikes from th e '70s.
H eck . th ey ha ve it o ver even la st
yea r's bikes. fo r tha t m a tter. Wh o ca n
relat e to th at o ld Slu ff, w ith a ll th is
new machinery arou nd?
Im agine. yo u 're bar el y into th e
21st century. sitt ing in yo ur bro therin-law's ga rage drinking Spa ce Beer .
a nd th ere. n ext to the nuclear dryer . is
a CR250! You 'd go nuts.
"I used to race o ne of those!"
j um p ing up a nd down . pointing to
the dusty reli c.
Ch an ces a re. if yo u' re in your 20s,
yo ur cl ock ought to be stop p ing right
a bout n ow. Whatev er seems cool to
yo u n ow w ill p roba bly remai n so fo r
th e rest o f yo ur life. (Thi n k o f a ll th e
poor basta rds th ai bough t Bearles
wigs. Ha , ha .)
That 's basicall y wh at hap pened to
th ese g uys a nd th eir CZs. T hey all
looked lik e m otoc rossers, but a little
grayer. h ....a vier, a nd exce p t for th e
ma chines. had more faci al ha ir. T h is
was n ot so much a ra ce as a celebra ti on. As if to say. "S u re. we had Kent
Sta te. Spi ro Agn ew . and ski n ny ch icks
wea ring grann y dresses. but we a lso
had CZs!"
The CZs th ems elv es didn 't seem to
mind. Th ey were p robabl y bu ilt to
la st a t lea st th is long in wee kly service. They sure looked made for th e
ta sk. Probably so me so rt of Five Year
Plan to dominate world co m pe titio n
by building a bik e that wouldn 't
wear o u t aft er a mea sly o ne 'o r two
World Ch ampionship seasons . Even
aft er a decade and a half o f spo ra d ic
maintenan ce. the CZs seemed to fol lo w the rule that if yo u push any bike
lo ng eno ug h. it has to sta rt sooner or
la ter .
There were a few Husq varna s. a n
O ssa. even a ha nd fu l o f Pen to ns . but
co ns picuo us by th eir ab sen ce were
Mai cos. Th is sett les a t lea st 20 yea rs
o f a lmos t-forgo tte n enthusiast bick ering. I'll ad m it it. I wa s wrong . I
guess. (sigh) . CZ does indeed rule.
Hey. I was only H at th e time.
Ed Arnet rode this long-travel CZ to the Open Pro class win .with a 1-2
score at the 1985 CZ World Championships at Perris Raceway.
1985 CZ World Chamll,;orishill
Arnet crowned
at Perris'
By Terry Whytal
PERRIS. CA. NOV. 9
Ed Arnet topped a tou gh field of CZ Pro
ri ders at this year's CZ World Championsh ips
held for the first time at Perris R aceway.
Arnet, wh o was riding a CZ wi th lo ng-travel
Full Floater rear suspension,
was crowned the CZ World
Champ after posting a 1-2 score
in th e Modified Pro class on a
day that sa w a record turn out of C7..
a n d Vintage bik es.
Three-time National MX Champ ion Gary Jones. on another Full
Floater. led the sta n o f th e first m oto,
but a first -lap tumble left Arn et in th e
lead. J ones rem ounted la st a nd began
a charge th at eventua lly end ed in a
third-place fini sh as Arn et had opened
a huge lead at th e chec kers over
runner-up Roger McCabe.
It wa s Arnet's turn to fight a dversity in round two as Jones powered to
th e win and Arnet dropped to a di stant seco n d with a slowing motor.
Arnet ea rned th e overall win with
J ones ta kin g seco nd o vera ll an d McCabe placing third ahead of Lee
Honh a nd G ary Deforest . Larkin
Wight earned th e fin al points-paying
spot a t six th .
Ro bert Dykman swep t bo th 250cc
Modified Pro rno tos to ea rn the overa ll win a s Phil Ha ll p laced second
a hea d of Joel Cotner.
Scott Hendricksen proved fastest
in the Open Modified Intermediate
C7.. class with Ken n y Averett placing
seco nd a nd Mit ch Well s taking th ird.
Nick Larson swept both motos of
th e big 250cc Modified C7.. class to
earn top honors a head o f Derek Der r esteyn and a co ns is te n t Chr i s
J ohnson.
The 250cc Stock cla ss was a Raben
Wethern benefit as he pulled away to
win both rnotos ahead of Randy
Pavich and Joe Lorenzen.who once
again best fit th e im age of a n oldtime CA pilot. in h is Martini jersey
an d pudding-b ow l helmet.
In OPen Stock acti on. John Pavich
proved best a ble to negotiate th e
tough Perris track as h e reached th e
chec kers first in each moto, P lacing
second o vera ll was Doug Schweher
with Jim Keeton follow in g in third.
The Modified Open Novice CZ
class featured th e toughest racin g of
th e day as th e top four riders tra ded
positions throughout eac h rnoto with
Ron Aldrich fin ally ta king th e overa ll win with a 2-2 sco re. Bob De
Miranda claimed th e runner-up spot
as Terry Pratt ca me from behind to
win th e seco nd moto a nd move to
third in th e final standings.
John Baumgartner powered hi s
BSA single to th e Open Vintage class
w in over Husk y p ilot J ohn Pavich
and CZ rid er Jim Keeton.
Phil Ha ll rode hi s a nc ient CZ to
th e 250cc Vin ta ge bike win despite
pressure from runner-up Matt Hi lge n berg. who was riding a 1974 Penton sponsored by Goleta Vall ey Cycle.
R ich See used another old Penton to
claim th ird-place honors.
Results
.
OPEN PRO: 1. Ed A rn et (CZ); 2. Gary Jo nes (CZI;
3. Roger M cCabe (CZI.
250 PRO: 1. Raben Dy1