element would help keep the
Honda's eat-my-dust roost out
of its venerable Jikov carbure-
tor!
The CZ earned a modicum of
respect, though perhaps grudg-
ingly, from its testers. "Throttle
response is the usual CZ:
predictable." While the Honda
demanded "smart" shifting to
stay on the powerband, the CZ's
new five-speed gearbox snicked
all the way to fifth, the rider still
fully on the gas and bearing
down. "Those who have ridden
older CZs frequently find cor
-
ners approaching much more
rapidly than they remember
when they're on the new five-
speeder."
Indeed, the CZ was fast, dis
-
playing enough moxie that the
testers labeled it the "second-
fastest" 250 that could be found
in 1973 dealer showrooms.
Unfortunately, the first-fastest
one was also sharing the track
that same day.
Honda's new Elsinore was
equally adept at the handling
aspect of mx. It handled the
bumps well and its powerful
brakes allowed the rider to get in
and out of the corners quickly.
The forks were described as
"twitch free" and the rear sus
-
penders got the job done, while
also showing off their beauti-
fully finned fluid reservoirs.
The CZ, meanwhile, received
yet another back-handed
compliment. Handling was
described as "nice" but also
"confusing." While the Honda's
cornering ability was going to
enable "the rider with the skill
and the will to go very fast," the
CZ's handling was described in
polite terms, staffers once again
resorting to the adjective of the
day—"predictable."
In the end, the Honda
CR250M was "worth the wait…a
superb, first motocrosser. For a
price of $1150, it's going to be
hard to beat." Indeed, later that
year, Gary Jones and his modi-
fied Honda CR250 would give
the company the 1973 AMA
250cc National Championship.
In the closing paragraphs
of the write-up on the CZ, CN
offered a kind, albeit slightly
condescending conclusion.
The Czechoslovakian machine
was labeled a motorcycle which
"excels to the ultimate limit of
their available materials." It was
a gentle way of acknowledging
that those who operated the
means of production behind the
Iron Curtain were handcuffed
by the politics of the day, and
there would be no much-needed
outsourcing for the parts that
would make this racer com
-
petitive again. The CZ was still
good, but it was as good as
it was going to get. Lined up
against the new Honda Elsinore,
that simply wasn't going to be
good enough.
CN
CNIIARCHIVES
P128
Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives
Seemingly overnight, the
Elsinore had replaced the CZ in
everyone's garages.
