Your Collection: CZ 400's
Sunday, September 9, 2012 | 2:00 PM
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PrintThis weeks collection comes to us from Tim in CA.
These are my CZ400's that I have put together and restored to compete around the country in the AHRMA Vintage Motocross Nationals +50 Expert class. The one with the porcupine head is a 1972 and the one with the radial head is a 1973. Both use a 1973 CZ frame. I wouldn't have been able to build such quality racers without the help of Charlie Richardson of CR High Performance Products in Fallbrook, CA.
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Love the grass looks like St Augustine !
I remember seeing those things back when I first started racing. those things were like tanks and I saw many guys just jam the bike in gear with the gas wide open and nothing would happen to them. For the much younger guys, riders did this on the start because many times you had to do what was called a salute start where you had to keep your hand on your helmet til they waved the green flag before you grabbed the clutch and put the bike in gear. Not taking the time to grab the clutch made it easy to get the holeshot but you had to really practice this technique otherwise you could get yourself in a lot of trouble.
@ thatcatschaaf HOT----- YOT WHATS UP !
@thatcatschaff----- I was gonna mention that the old hand on helmet start. The CZ is one of the few bikes I never rode nor raced in the early 70's. I remember in late 73 when this guy named Don Zach I think, showed up with the first long travel CZ and he went from mid pack to first. WE got the cycleNews article on the thursday before that race at our shop. It was a bout DeCoster moving his shocks up and he did it himself, iin 2 weeks every expert had it done. Myself included.
Hint, hint to Racer X do an article about the most inovative change in Motocross history! I will help! After I did it we had everyone wanting our shop to do it for them.
I modified the frame and swingarm to make my YZ work right.
Oh ya I love those old CZ's they look pristne!
PS: Maybe it was in 74 hay that was a long time ago. Yes I do think it was in the fall of 73 just before the Trans AMA races at the end of the GP's
Some one correct me if I am wrong.
@ Welker
http://www.racerxonline.com/2011/03/01/where-are-they-now-darrell-shultz-
Welker wrote: 1:54pm March 1, 2011
Hey endoman, second place is the first looser lol, I get tired of these young uns and think they know racing. I had to laugh it was a long time ago when Short was suprised to se DeCoster in the machine shop at KTM how many people know that Roger has a Mechanical Engineering degree? After all, was it Adolf Weil or Hans Mash beat DeCoster in the GP's after moving his shocks up that DeCoster wrote in MXA that he stayed up all night moving his shocks up? Well I did it on my silver tank YZ the next week and blew emaway also. Back then I was lucky enough that I was working at a major race shop. I built a Silver tanked yz ya know with the straps a 125 chrome bore that could beat the fabled Hondas LOL
Awesome bikes, thanks!! I had a '72, which my dad and I heavily accessorized (starting with plastic tank, fenders, etc., to cut the weight down). As someone said, they were like tanks - only 4 speeds, indestructible gearbox (you could just stomp on the shifter w/out the clutch), mega-torque. I had a '75 Yamaha 400 MX after that, but as my dad said, the Yam was better, but the CZ had SOUL.
Sweet Chey Zed's! from my understanding not that I want to destroy the gearbox in my 380, but those gear boxes were indestructable. Also Charlie at CR HIgh Performance does have what you need.
@codjh9- "the CZ had SOUL", so true!
@Welker- how is that Texas heat ?
Welker, your spelling is pretty good today. No sauce on Sunday?
Oh, and the first comment really made me giggle!
We have a sweet 73 CZ250 for sale - check us out!
http://www.eastcoastvintagemx.com/1973-cz250.html
@ EastCoastVintageMX
Great job on everything..............If all the money I had from restoring that thing I would of used it towards a new bike no offense.. Still great piece..
@CZmark....those some beautys ? err what! , OK, since ya'll brung up the days of "layed down shocks"....I was about 12, ridin a 74 TM400....we welded new mounts and layed those stock puppys down, and omg, it spit ya on your head even faster...When I finally Got a RM, it was truely like riding on a cushion of air, and destroyed the competition.
Sweet wagons. I like a racing restoration over a showroom restoration any day of the week. Hats off to you to be willing to open the taps on those death traps, although back in the day they were pretty sweet rides. Let me ride a vintage 93 cr250 (20+ years is vintage to me) instead of the lead sleds of the 70s! On the other hand, I have a restored 70 bultaco Pursang that is going into the living room as furnature soon. Sometimes performance art devolves into just art, but it doesn't mean that it devoves beyond the high art it is...
My very first dirt bike (I bought with my own money) was a '74 Falta replica (red frame, snail pipe, Fox Shox). It was sitting in the back of a machine-shop I worked at so I saw it every day when I went to work. It was my boss's bike but he never rode it. It was in nearly new condition & I paid a lot for it ($900.00 I think). It was way too much bike for a first timer. That thing ripped! It had loads of power! Luckily it was pretty reliable because I didnt know anything about bikes back then. I look back at pictures of it & the cables are all routed weird & I dont remember changing the gear oil (ever, eek). Luckily the thing held up to my naivety! The left side kick starter was a pain & the bars vibrated a lot. I remember that after a few minutes of riding my hands were tingling. That was my trip down memory lane. Braap!
@joemotocross589- if you were 12 and riding a TM400, you must have had a death wish. If I remember those bikes didn't have the linear powerband like the Euro bikes. It was more like an on/off switch! But I will admit, when those bikes came out, they looked pretty trick for their time.