In the early 70's I was an Instructor with the ACU Training Scheme. We asked for a Honda 125 to replace a Bantam which had lost its whirly bits. What we got was a 250 Jawa. God, what a pile it was. No start, run. I scrambled a 250 CZ, which was fun, went like all diddly do. Nearly bought a 250 MZ. It was beautifully built, comfortable and easy to fix. I hung onto the CD175 A pal bought a Ural outfit. Very cheap (unlike todays horrific prices). He had to rebuild it. The bores were .005 oval, all bearings, including the plain ends, only worked where it touched and the electricery non existent. He made a lovely job and it was actually very reliable. Comfortable too. It came with a bloody great crate 2ft x 2ft, full of spares and tools. As far as I know he still has it and we're in our 70's now Thanks for this review. Fascinating stories with wonderful facts to make a lovely mix.
I love the smell of two stroke oil in the morning! I had 5 MZs and loved them all - bullet proof and amazing paintwork - the only drawback was a hideous front brake that was replaced by a licence built Brembo on the ETZ that actually worked, along with autolube and 12v electrics - they now can fetch well over £2k
When I was a boy, my late father spoke in awe of a German combination he acquired after the calamity of Falaise. Huge quantities of German machinery had been left where it sat and he had picked up a BMW combination to use for scouting for CP locations and so on. He'd had it painted khaki over the original feldgrau. He was hugely impressed by German equipment. He told me that this combination had a differential taking drive to both rear wheels; also that it had narrow-bore pipes from the exhausts up to the handlebar, so you could pull a lever to have warm exhaust played over your hands in cold weather. Apparently in the freezing winter of 1944 (Sint-Odenrode, Den' Bosch and the push towards the Rhine) it was invaluable. He had to abandon it after the Rhine crossing, as a new CO thought it looked bad to be seen using enemy equipment, as it might give the impression it was superior. He ditched his German side arm for the same reason. I always slightly hankered after a Cossack combination after hearing his stories of "his" BMW. He was not a "motorcycle" person, but his eyes lit up when he was talking about that strange mechanical chimera.
JAWA and MZ were totally reliable and economic. Ran one of each for years as commuters through winters. No issues. Sold both on for more than I paid for them to. 😊
I passed my bike test on a Jawa 350 with a sidecar. After the learner rules in the UK were changed to allow only up to 125cc as a solo motorcycle and introduced the CBT, they left the sidecar rules unchanged so we could have any size engine. It was a horrible pig of a thing but - it got me my full licence so no complaints
I recall reading an article in the 70's in a cycle magazine that the Jawa CZ 350 was capable of reaching 100,000 miles,where people used it for their main form of transportation.Nice looking line of bikes,the bike at 3:43 looks like my 68' 125 twin Yamaha scrambler.
I think a video on 1960's 250 cc bikes of the kind I rode as a learner in that era would be interesting, the C15, Enfield Crusader, Matchless, Norton Jubilee and the various Villiers engined bikes would bring back memories for many of us.
JAWAs used to be a regular sight in the 50s and 60s in Norway when I grew up. We all thought they were such cool bikes! Same with the later MZ models. Reliable and cool bikes!
@@bikerdood1100 Sadly, most of those rare old bikes that used to be hidden in garages and basements all over, ended up on the fillings as no one was interested in them at the time! Imagine having all of them now!
Some other obscure Russian bikes that were also sold in small numbers in the UK in the 70's were the IZH 350 Planeta which i remember a road tester in a motorcycle magazine describing it as the worst piece of junk he had ever ridden (or similar words to that effect). There was also the Cossack/Voskhod 175 of which i saw a few in the 80's WSK was a Polish brand that was available in the UK for a few years in the 70's but i never saw one. In the early 80's when me and my mates had Japanese 250's we used to ridicule the MZ250 on how ugly it was,nowadays though i have changed my view on them and could quite happily see myself owning one 😀
The Jawa/CZ, MZ and WSK bikes were available by mail order in the 1970s. Mail in the certified check to some address in NYC and a few weeks later a truck delivered a large crate right to your front door. You put it together. Simple, cheap and fun until Joan Claybrook and the EPA got their hooks into the 2-stroke engines and killed it all off.
I had a 650 senior Neval, with a sidecar, fun machine, spare wheel on back of sidecar, all wheels where interchangable, and it had a reverse gear... which was great as long as you kept the speed low, otherwise you would end up with a reverse tankslapper, which was fun... The quality was not a good as Japanese bikes but it was simple to fix, if it was wet and you kick started often your foot would slip off the lever get trapped by the sidecar frame, only then to get the lever spring back against your shine... Most of the other owners had the same scar and limp. I had 2 mz one a etz and a 251, both where great machines . Cz Jawa 350 cc Twin was my first sidecar outfit ... Fun machine with its own smokescreen...
I had an 1987 ETZ 250 for dispatch work in the early 90's and the only thing I could fault it for was the weak selector forks which would fail at around 45000 miles when you would lose 2nd gear shortly followed by 3rd gear which meant it was no longer useable. The selector forks would wear due to the soft alloy used in their manufacture and it was cheaper to replace the whole engine than get the parts to repair the gearbox! This is what I did, with an engine with 20000 miles on it and true to its nature, the gearbox on this too failed in the same way when it reached 45000 miles!
Me and a mate toured Europe for a month in 1978, he was on an MZ TS250 and I was on a Yamaha RD200. Loads of breakdowns, sometimes due to my points burning out but mainly because my mate had a puncture the week before the trip and instead of replacing the inner tube, he patched it. It blew again and again resulting in having to remove all the luggage and the back wheel every time. Eventually his tyre walls gave up after running on the rims going through a contraflow in Lyon and we never found each other again until we were home.
I always liked the honesty and ruggedness of the bikes. Over the years I have owned all of them except the flat twin 2 stroke. I did not keep the CZ scrambler long, as its rapid acceleration was a handful in traffic in the UK. I still have a 750cc Ural outfit, and an MZ 250 that run well and a Pleneta Sport 350 under construction. These three will see me out
my very first motorbike was a MZ150 i loved that bike..if i fell off and bent a part i could stick a long bar on it and bend it back. in the80s the MZ 150 , 250 and the CZ250 were not an uncommon sight inn the north of England because they were very cheap and reliable and you could work on them yourself with very little mechanical experience
My first real bike was an MZ 150 too. In fact I passed my test on it in 1978. And you're right. They were so basic and fixable. Every time one of the Japanese bikes my mates had went wrong they has to take it apart almost to fix it.
Brilliant, I have a couple myself, I'm an engineer and the engineering in these is awesome for the time, the MZ book is a great read on how Suzuki helped the rider defect, keep up the good videos
Watched all your videos, all brilliant, very informative and entertaining and very professional. I have watched several more than once and find them addictive!
When I was a courier, the firm rented out bikes if our own machines were off the road: BMW R65 @ £60 pw or MZ ETZ250 @ £30 pw. The MZs were awesome. They just did what they did. Nothing else. No nonsense. Very buzzy through the handlebars, but neat, tidy, sufficiently peppy and utterly bulletproof. After a couple of days ragging one in and out of Central London, if you didn't love it you weren't human. Snobbery best left at the door.
My first bike was a brand spanking CZ 175. Cost £378 including a helmet and full tanks in 1978. I trashed it in two years, but boy did I have fun doing it.
@@garymartin557 my first bike incidentally was a GS 125, a good economical bike but pretty average performance Mrs BD had an AR Kawasaki 2 stroke which was far quicker
Thank you for another exelent collection, great bikes and great stories. In the mid ´70es I drove 50cc speedway, and woul like to get a 500cc Jawa, the till then best bike on the market, allthough the JAP still could make a good mark of itselves. But, but but... In came the Westland 4 valve engine, and it raighned supreme. But at a totaly different prize. So I turned to streetbikes, guitars and loose women instead, and had a lot of fun. ;o)
10:52: WHAT? MZ 350? That is very striking, never have seen a picture or heard a remote rumor of this! I would have wanted it! It's amazing! Where is the carburetor? I had that question earlier about one of the CZs I think. This is so amazing and beautiful!
Ah the boxer two stroke Quite a bit of kit, I’ve never seen one in person as it were, extremely rare beast I don’t believe it was ever sold in the Uk and I’d be surprised if many made it to the west Shame
Can do a video of the top BMW bikes? Pre 1960’s. The Bavaria cream puffs. Great channel BTW. Very informative. I’ve never heard of half of these bikes.
I had a MZ 150 as a field bike when i was a teenager,not as refined as japanese bikes but very robust amazing what you could get for 30 pounds back then 👍
I did enjoy that video. Thank you so much for sharing. Very interesting motorcycles. I've heard of the MZ125 but never seen one in real life. I'd be interested in seeing a video on motorcycles produced in India and how that has led to the resurgence of that market with the success of Royal Enfield. What other Indian motorcycles were there?
MZ & CZ are very common where I grew up , poverty. Also used to see a number of the Russian made boxers. We have owned a couple of MZs over the years, pretty good fun to ride
Dood, you put out some great vids, & I hit the subscribe button. Thanks for the wonderful video, and a huge thanks for not ruining it with crappy background music. I don't know why some people are compelled to add annoying background music throughout their videos.
They do crop up from time to time and in the UK you can still get them new I think from F1 motorcycles I’m not advertising for them but I’m sure I’ve seen them Maybe they will lend me one to test ride for the free advertising 😂
@@Backrun could do I did a video of riding a combination some time ago, I’ve ridden 3, an M23, a panther m100 and my own RE Bullet combo Mad things all
In the Czech Republic Jawa are still producing last two stroke models, the 350/640 and 350/640 Retro, which looks like 350/634, but I don't think that they can be bought in the EU. Maybe, since Brexit, they could be bought and used in the UK... Unfortunately there is not enough people buying them, so they'll probably cease production soon. Yezdi motorcycles are still being made in India, but they unfortunately don't export to Australia, so I'll have to miss out on their 350 DOHC single; the Roadster looks rather tasty in a modern-classic way.
Yes the Czech built bikes are available through an importer but are quite expensive The Indian built 300 was briefly available in mainland Europe ( not the Uk ) but is no longer I believe, also quite expensive The parent company in Europe is concentrated it’s European efforts on BSA
@@bikerdood1100 The high pricing is ironic, isn't it? Back in the day, Iron Curtain machinery was successful partly on price. In 1963 I bought my new 250 Jawa (Pride & Clark, London) because of its price, quality and reliability. I've recently looked at the viability of doing a private import into Oz for both the Czech and Indian-built bikes, but both are too expensive for what they are and end up costing about the same as a new RE Interceptor.
Available way before Brexit, more expensive post Brexit , like so many items I’m afraid. I think that they are available in some EU countries. The OHC 300 was available in the EU but was never sold in the UK
The bike in the thumbnail is it a mauds trophy bike??? I remember reading about a bsa A50 mauds trophy bike ridden by Norman vanhouse. . They look very similar.
In the 90s for holiday I would fly out hire a bike and go touring in Turkery on rental bikes. Jawa was apalling but the favorite of the Turks. You could pile it up with wife, two kids a goat and 5 chickens, go to market. It will not stop, will not turn, will not do anything well. However, Then I got an MZ 250 and it blew my mind. Perhaps the most fun bike ever. It was great onroad, offroad, badroad, goodroad, solo, two up. I had so much fun! Why? It was perfectly balanced in everything. You put it on a centre stand and you could lift the front wheel or the back wheel with an index finger. To be honest, not a pretty bike, but... I'm specialist, Norton, Ducati, Honda V4s, have crossed the Himmalayas on Royal Enfield BUT The Bike with the most charme and Fun, MZ 250.
When my younger years ended and I got married. I couldn't afford any longer the shiny japanese sport bikes. I started to ride MZ's. They where great, I had a good time visiting weekends of the Dutch MZ club.
CZ and Skoda as well as Tatra way ahead of the times . CZ had fox style air shocks Tatra had a hemispheric rear air cooled V8 car in 1930s that VW copied . Japan and others used tech off CZ. We don't see many of these in America. Awesome 👍 Cheers
@@bikerdood1100 Jay Leno channel has one on the Tatra car 1938 Hemi rear engine v8 called "the nazi killer" since they drove to fast crashed so much during WW2. VW stole patents from Tatra .
@@bikerdood1100 though I’m a bad chain caretaker I tried to get a closed chain protection for my last bike (Yamaha 600 Diversion). No chance. Since 2008 I ride a BMW R1150R mainly because I don’t have to bother with a chain.. Nice bike anyway.
You missed out IZH (Russia), Cespel (Hungary) & Junak (Poland). These were all imported into the UK, at one time or another. A handful of Cespel motorcycles were imported during the late 1950's, but failed to sell well, obviously due the name being rather close to sounding like Cesspool. Similarly, a few Polish Junak 350 4 stroke single motorcycles were imported during the 1960's. However the name sounds rather like "Eunuch"...... and we Brits have a warped sense of humour.
In 1977 I bought my first 250 to ride on the road, MZ ts250 1 I had lots of problems with the selector forks, but otherwise it was a cheap bike to ride
Great chanel. It is full of interesting facts that I take Great pleasure in boring my mates to death in the pub with. They all say thank you as well. Keep up the good work .
I thought the Cossack was a Ural, not a Dneiper. I have to admit having owned one, combo of course. Great fun when it went…nearly 50% of the time. Also a Mz 250 ES, my dad had the ETZ. Wish I still had the ES, such a unique design. Not only the weird tank, but leading ling forks, they rise up under breaking! Handled great in corners, but curiously felt odd going straight
@@bikerdood1100 …it was a long time ago, so I am not certain. I think you could buy a Ukrainian Dneiper and a Russian Cossack back then. The Dneiper had the square rocker covers, as you show. The Cossack, rounded, like the early BMW. Just looked at other info, mine was the 650, the 750 did have squarish covers.
Back in about 1975 Neval Minsk was selling a 125 with a full racing fairing. They were a complete bodge up and came ready rusted from the factory. They were god awful. My mate had a CZ175, god it was nasty, he only bought it because it was cheap and he was too tight to buy a decent bike.
Great video, had over the years most the makes & models (except the Minsk and the 2 stroke twins) of the eastern bloc bikes, I liked them because they were cheap, simple (MZ's, CZ's and Dniepr's you could even dismantle and refurbish the rear shocks) and tough as old boots (fall off and usually it was busted indicator units and handlebar levers (both dirt cheap) and bent footpegs (straighten them up with piece of tube or pipe wrench)), didn't go half bad either especially if you retard the ignition timing to 1.8 mm btdc.
we had a cossack jupiter 350 twin 2 stroke, we got it mot, d, dad rode it once in the wet, declaring it dangerous and he didnt ride it again, preferring honda cd175, s, it did have some cool features such as a lever by which the whole rear end could be removed as one unit.
That would be the barum tyres, rock hard rubber ok in dry terrible in wet. Changing the tyres makes a huge difference, because the chassis were pretty good, better than a lot of Japanese Machines of the time
@@bikerdood1100 Not sure the russian bikes would have been fitted with Barum tyres. CZ/Jawa motorcycles had Barum tyres. MZ's came fitted with Pneumants which weren't pleasant in the wet and was one of the first things to be replaced when funds allowed! Over the years I've had a few MZ's and one CZ. The MZ's were definately far better.
Spanish, Mexican and South American bikes. That would be fun. Oh I had a Falta Replica Cz. It wasnt locked up, but in good shape. I never got it going. I sold it and regret doing so. Ive always wanted an Mz. Mainly because Im a Suzuki nut. It would be fun. Are the big latemodel Mz still around in Europe? are they hard to find?
There weren’t all two strokes at all But two strokes were cheap to make which is why they were so widely used in both the car and bike industries on both side of the iron curtain
I had a JAWA 350 ( 638 engine ) 1986 12 volts . The most un reliable motorcycle I ever had . It kept blowing regulators ,& boiling its battery ,often one cylinder cutting out. One morning it blew both baffles out it’s exhaust pipes ,& the rear brake lever disappeared on the M53 motorway . The final straw came when the bigs ends went ,the slack primary , ( no tensioner ) chain ripped clutch basket & crank case cover off & dumped it plus gear box oil ,in the gutter of a local high street . The front brake & clutch levers ,were made out of some type of nylon or plastic that flexed ,you had to make an appointment with the brakes in order to come to a halt . I ended up flogging it to some Jawa fanatic for 50 quid ,little did he know ,that I would of gladly have paid him to take the crock of sh💩t out of my sight . The only good things about it where the tyres & frame where surprisingly good. The owner also got a comprehensive owners tool kit supplied ,as the manufactures obviously knew ,the long suffering owner would often be using it at the roadside .
@@bikerdood1100 The MZ was a weird looking beast ,but better engineered & better electrics than the Jawas & C Z ‘s . If you were going down the budget route for a new machine they were a safer bet & could be sorted easier . These days the old Jawas can be made reliable with modern upgrades & electrics & are collectible . I stick to motorcycles with Japanese names no matter where they are produced as I never had one let me down . Every time I chose other brands I have had issues & regretted my purchase . 👍
@@maskedavenger2578 well we currently have 9 bikes between us one of which s Japanese is it more reliable than the others ? Hard to say as few of them give any trouble at all
@@bikerdood1100 The only bikes I have ever found to be reliable day in day out in all weather ,all year round in the U.K. are ones bearing one of the big 4 Japanese badges . I always found the old communist state manufactured bikes & Italian bikes to not be relied upon . Of those 9 bikes you mention ,how many of them get used in all weather frequently all year round . My motorcycles are not warm weather weekend toys they are my main transport & have to be 100 % reliable & earn their keep & justify me owning them .
@@maskedavenger2578 strangely managed to use my Guzzi for the 11 years I owned only my daily commute of 25 miles in all weathers I ride all year round I commute all year round So I’m afraid I’m calling BS on that one Even commuted every day on an MZ 250 for 2years I am not or have I ever been a fair weather biker Later this week I’ll be commuting between hospitals on guess what A non Japanese bike Gee I hope it makes it 😂 I have commuted on Japanese bikes also incidentally 1 x busted cam chain tensioner 1x blown top end And my favourite the seizure at 70 All hale Japan I thought as the wheel locked solid & that was a four stroke Then there was the Suzuki that ate plugs every few weeks 2x busted regulators 2x burnt out alternators Yeh Japan And then the rust When you actually do ride all year round you find out an awful lot about the bikes you ride
When l see bikes like this i'm reminded of one of my stupid mistakes in life. In the early 90's l was at a bike wreckers in Norfolk. I was picking up a HONDA Monkey bike rolling chassis for £25 and the guy running the shop said " You can take that as well, only needs a HT coil ...£25 ! ". It was one of those old JAWA street bikes with the tear drop tank and tear drop crank case/gearbox.....NEW (vintage but not used). I said no as l was worried what my wife would saaaayyyyyyy y y y 😭😭😭🤮🤮
In the early 70's I was an Instructor with the ACU Training Scheme. We asked for a Honda 125 to replace a Bantam which had lost its whirly bits. What we got was a 250 Jawa. God, what a pile it was. No start, run. I scrambled a 250 CZ, which was fun, went like all diddly do.
Nearly bought a 250 MZ. It was beautifully built, comfortable and easy to fix. I hung onto the CD175
A pal bought a Ural outfit. Very cheap (unlike todays horrific prices). He had to rebuild it. The bores were .005 oval, all bearings, including the plain ends, only worked where it touched and the electricery non existent. He made a lovely job and it was actually very reliable. Comfortable too. It came with a bloody great crate 2ft x 2ft, full of spares and tools. As far as I know he still has it and we're in our 70's now
Thanks for this review. Fascinating stories with wonderful facts to make a lovely mix.
Ran an MZ ETz 250 myself. Found it pretty solid I have to say and vey easy to maintain
I love the smell of two stroke oil in the morning! I had 5 MZs and loved them all - bullet proof and amazing paintwork - the only drawback was a hideous front brake that was replaced by a licence built Brembo on the ETZ that actually worked, along with autolube and 12v electrics - they now can fetch well over £2k
I had an ETZ myself so brakes weren’t ok
5:35 That's a stunner. I had an MZ ETZ301 for three years. Great little bike, huge fun. That Dnepr looks great.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video.
Thanks
The British 125mm BSA Bantam was also derived from DKW 125s.
Yep
And a Yamaha
And the Harley Davidson hummer
When I was a boy, my late father spoke in awe of a German combination he acquired after the calamity of Falaise. Huge quantities of German machinery had been left where it sat and he had picked up a BMW combination to use for scouting for CP locations and so on. He'd had it painted khaki over the original feldgrau.
He was hugely impressed by German equipment. He told me that this combination had a differential taking drive to both rear wheels; also that it had narrow-bore pipes from the exhausts up to the handlebar, so you could pull a lever to have warm exhaust played over your hands in cold weather. Apparently in the freezing winter of 1944 (Sint-Odenrode, Den' Bosch and the push towards the Rhine) it was invaluable. He had to abandon it after the Rhine crossing, as a new CO thought it looked bad to be seen using enemy equipment, as it might give the impression it was superior. He ditched his German side arm for the same reason. I always slightly hankered after a Cossack combination after hearing his stories of "his" BMW. He was not a "motorcycle" person, but his eyes lit up when he was talking about that strange mechanical chimera.
Very interesting, thanks for posting
JAWA and MZ were totally reliable and economic. Ran one of each for years as commuters through winters. No issues. Sold both on for more than I paid for them to. 😊
Shame of it is they are becoming collectable so no one commutes on them anymore
I loved my MZ 125, then my 250 ETZ, back in the 80s. When bikes were still affordable. Thanks for the nostalgia.
They can still be affordable
Just need the right bike
I passed my bike test on a Jawa 350 with a sidecar. After the learner rules in the UK were changed to allow only up to 125cc as a solo motorcycle and introduced the CBT, they left the sidecar rules unchanged so we could have any size engine. It was a horrible pig of a thing but - it got me my full licence so no complaints
They could be a bit crude
Was a strange loop hole
Remember seeing bikes fitted with the sidewinder mini side car
I had no idea Dniepr was in production! ❤️❤️❤️
And the CZ two strokes
It’s a strange world
Super video. I had the MZ 150 and also the Simpson back in the mid 80s...
Need to feature Simson
Proper cult following these days
@@bikerdood1100 Yes a cool little moped i had one back in about 1982,,,
Interesting history about these good quality and beautiful motorcycles. Thanks for sharing that with us ! 😎👍🙏✌️💙💙💙
Glad you enjoyed it
I recall reading an article in the 70's in a cycle magazine that the Jawa CZ 350 was capable of reaching 100,000 miles,where people used it for their main form of transportation.Nice looking line of bikes,the bike at 3:43 looks like my 68' 125 twin Yamaha scrambler.
I’ve heard the claim often made by MZ owners
I have a Jawa 250, that my grandpa bought, then my dad rode it and now I'm riding it, it has over 100 000 km and only the cylinder was once honed
I think a video on 1960's 250 cc bikes of the kind I rode as a learner in that era would be interesting, the C15, Enfield Crusader, Matchless, Norton Jubilee and the various Villiers engined bikes would bring back memories for many of us.
Already planning one
Have to include the Ariel stroker of course
Nice Supa 5. The first bike I ever bought. Followed by TS125 , ETZ250 and 251. Good bikes, great fun. Wish I’d kept one of them.
They do have a character of their very own
Had an ETZ
We have an old ts125 now
JAWAs used to be a regular sight in the 50s and 60s in Norway when I grew up. We all thought they were such cool bikes! Same with the later MZ models. Reliable and cool bikes!
They were quite common near me during the 1970s but it’s been a while since I saw one on the road
@@bikerdood1100 Sadly, most of those rare old bikes that used to be hidden in garages and basements all over, ended up on the fillings as no one was interested in them at the time! Imagine having all of them now!
@@harryviking6347 those fabled barn finds have all be found it seems
Or been scrapped
@@bikerdood1100 I know, and it is sad.
Ural is also worth mentioning. It was a legend in its own times.
There is two parts
Some other obscure Russian bikes that were also sold in small numbers in the UK in the 70's were the IZH 350 Planeta which i remember a road tester in a motorcycle magazine describing it as the worst piece of junk he had ever ridden (or similar words to that effect).
There was also the Cossack/Voskhod 175 of which i saw a few in the 80's
WSK was a Polish brand that was available in the UK for a few years in the 70's but i never saw one.
In the early 80's when me and my mates had Japanese 250's we used to ridicule the MZ250 on how ugly it was,nowadays though i have changed my view on them and could quite happily see myself owning one 😀
A lot of the names used in the Uk were thought up b6 the importer. Th3 Cossack was a Minsk for example
The Jawa/CZ, MZ and WSK bikes were available by mail order in the 1970s. Mail in the certified check to some address in NYC and a few weeks later a truck delivered a large crate right to your front door. You put it together. Simple, cheap and fun until Joan Claybrook and the EPA got their hooks into the 2-stroke engines and killed it all off.
All pre Amazon too
Amazing the Jawa two stroke can still be brought in the Uk, but it’s disappointingly expensive
I had a 650 senior Neval, with a sidecar, fun machine, spare wheel on back of sidecar, all wheels where interchangable, and it had a reverse gear... which was great as long as you kept the speed low, otherwise you would end up with a reverse tankslapper, which was fun... The quality was not a good as Japanese bikes but it was simple to fix, if it was wet and you kick started often your foot would slip off the lever get trapped by the sidecar frame, only then to get the lever spring back against your shine... Most of the other owners had the same scar and limp. I had 2 mz one a etz and a 251, both where great machines . Cz Jawa 350 cc Twin was my first sidecar outfit ... Fun machine with its own smokescreen...
Ran a side car for a while when my son was younger
Mad things but a lot of fun
@@bikerdood1100 lots of fun in the snow and ice, you can't beat a bit on the side lol
I had an 1987 ETZ 250 for dispatch work in the early 90's and the only thing I could fault it for was the weak selector forks which would fail at around 45000 miles when you would lose 2nd gear shortly followed by 3rd gear which meant it was no longer useable. The selector forks would wear due to the soft alloy used in their manufacture and it was cheaper to replace the whole engine than get the parts to repair the gearbox! This is what I did, with an engine with 20000 miles on it and true to its nature, the gearbox on this too failed in the same way when it reached 45000 miles!
Selector gear was a known weakness for MZ, they could knock out mains occasionally too, at high mileage of course
I like the simplicity of the old eastern block machine's.
Me too
The were often derided in the 80s but were much better machines than they generally perceived
you mean the poor of the eastern block
Me and a mate toured Europe for a month in 1978, he was on an MZ TS250 and I was on a Yamaha RD200. Loads of breakdowns, sometimes due to my points burning out but mainly because my mate had a puncture the week before the trip and instead of replacing the inner tube, he patched it. It blew again and again resulting in having to remove all the luggage and the back wheel every time. Eventually his tyre walls gave up after running on the rims going through a contraflow in Lyon and we never found each other again until we were home.
Sound like one hell of an adventure
great video and these machines are a part of motorcycle history.
Same for quite a few people it seems
I think even in modern times the Jawa California is still a stylish and classy bike.
I have to agree
Jeff I would love one do you know of any for sale
@@billmcclean6986 not at the moment, they don’t seem to come up too often
Patients will definitely be needed
@@billmcclean6986Your best bet is getting one imported from the czech republic, slovakia or poland.
You can still buy the 350 two stroke Jawas brand new as they are still being manufactured. See F2motorcycles for details.
I always liked the honesty and ruggedness of the bikes. Over the years I have owned all of them except the flat twin 2 stroke. I did not keep the CZ scrambler long, as its rapid acceleration was a handful in traffic in the UK. I still have a 750cc Ural outfit, and an MZ 250 that run well and a Pleneta Sport 350 under construction. These three will see me out
There is much to be said for simplicity
my very first motorbike was a MZ150 i loved that bike..if i fell off and bent a part i could stick a long bar on it and bend it back.
in the80s the MZ 150 , 250 and the CZ250 were not an uncommon sight inn the north of England because they were very cheap and reliable and you could work on them yourself with very little mechanical experience
I grew up in Stoke on Trent and they seem here really. I used an ETZ 250 for a couple of years and really liked it
My first real bike was an MZ 150 too. In fact I passed my test on it in 1978. And you're right. They were so basic and fixable. Every time one of the Japanese bikes my mates had went wrong they has to take it apart almost to fix it.
My kind of machine,old school.
Brilliant, I have a couple myself, I'm an engineer and the engineering in these is awesome for the time, the MZ book is a great read on how Suzuki helped the rider defect, keep up the good videos
Ernst Degnar was his name
He sadly would later commit suicide
What a great video. At the moment I've got a Jawa 350 sport and a IZH 350 planeta sport. Both great bikes. Pity this wasn't on dvd . Its brilliant.
Lucky you haven’t seen a Jawa myself for a while.
Never actually owned one I had an ETZ 250 as my ride to work
This was interesting and a great watch.
Thanks
Watched all your videos, all brilliant, very informative and entertaining and very professional. I have watched several more than once and find them addictive!
Well thanks
Try to improve each time, sound was rather poor early on
When I was a courier, the firm rented out bikes if our own machines were off the road: BMW R65 @ £60 pw or MZ ETZ250 @ £30 pw.
The MZs were awesome. They just did what they did. Nothing else. No nonsense. Very buzzy through the handlebars, but neat, tidy, sufficiently peppy and utterly bulletproof. After a couple of days ragging one in and out of Central London, if you didn't love it you weren't human. Snobbery best left at the door.
I found the ETZ 250 an excellent commuter bike, only down side was that fuel consumption was only average
mz was made so cz could look good
Very interesting.
Thank you 😎
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video always look forward to them top quality thanks
Thanks
My first bike was a brand spanking CZ 175. Cost £378 including a helmet and full tanks in 1978. I trashed it in two years, but boy did I have fun doing it.
If only you could get a bike for that money now
@@bikerdood1100 You can. It's called a pushbike. 🚲
@@sarkybugger5009 bugger that
Hard work and a shite seat and still more than £378
Jawas are great machines and early ones quite collectable. They make them in India now under Classic Legends brand.
True as I do mention in the video
i had one of the later MZ based on the ETZ 251 . it was a 251 Saxon Tour. loved that bike.
Remember those had a slight adventure vibe
@@bikerdood1100 reminded me of the Suzuki GS 125 with the headlight fairing.
@@garymartin557 my first bike incidentally was a GS 125, a good economical bike but pretty average performance
Mrs BD had an AR Kawasaki 2 stroke which was far quicker
Fascinating, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it
...remembering the cz dirtbikes all the way back growing up in Peru...the mz rings a bell...nifty levers on the second dnepr shown!
CZ made very good trail bikes , didn’t notice the levers
I as I'm sure do many,appreciate your research and time,thank you
Well some do
Thanks 🙏
Thank you for another exelent collection, great bikes and great stories. In the mid ´70es I drove 50cc speedway, and woul like to get a 500cc Jawa, the till then best bike on the market, allthough the JAP still could make a good mark of itselves. But, but but... In came the Westland 4 valve engine, and it raighned supreme. But at a totaly different prize. So I turned to streetbikes, guitars and loose women instead, and had a lot of fun. ;o)
Well didn’t we all
10:52: WHAT? MZ 350? That is very striking, never have seen a picture or heard a remote rumor of this! I would have wanted it! It's amazing! Where is the carburetor? I had that question earlier about one of the CZs I think. This is so amazing and beautiful!
Ah the boxer two stroke
Quite a bit of kit, I’ve never seen one in person as it were, extremely rare beast I don’t believe it was ever sold in the Uk and I’d be surprised if many made it to the west
Shame
IFA BK 350 (1952-58)
Can do a video of the top BMW bikes? Pre 1960’s. The Bavaria cream puffs. Great channel BTW. Very informative. I’ve never heard of half of these bikes.
Interesting idea
I had a MZ 150 as a field bike when i was a teenager,not as refined as japanese bikes but very robust amazing what you could get for 30 pounds back then 👍
Good luck now
I bought a 1972 Dt2 i
back then for $800 brand new,in 74'they went up to 1400.$ thanks to the rise in the sport.
I did enjoy that video. Thank you so much for sharing.
Very interesting motorcycles.
I've heard of the MZ125 but never seen one in real life.
I'd be interested in seeing a video on motorcycles produced in India and how that has led to the resurgence of that market with the success of Royal Enfield.
What other Indian motorcycles were there?
MZ & CZ are very common where I grew up , poverty.
Also used to see a number of the Russian made boxers.
We have owned a couple of MZs over the years, pretty good fun to ride
I briefly had an MZ with a full fairing. Bit of a beast to start but it was comfy and really economical.
Starting is all about the technique
Easy when you know how
Like many things I suppose
Spanish off road, trails, enduro machines,bultaco,etc
In my previous video as a matter of fact
Dood, you put out some great vids, & I hit the subscribe button. Thanks for the wonderful video, and a huge thanks for not ruining it with crappy background music.
I don't know why some people are compelled to add annoying background music throughout their videos.
Glad you enjoyed them
Jawa used to make a 350 sidecar combo wish I could lay my hands on one now
They do crop up from time to time and in the UK you can still get them new I think from F1 motorcycles
I’m not advertising for them but I’m sure I’ve seen them
Maybe they will lend me one to test ride for the free advertising 😂
Here's an idea for a video**** sidecar combos????? I remember some attached to scooters
@@Backrun could do
I did a video of riding a combination some time ago,
I’ve ridden 3, an M23, a panther m100 and my own RE Bullet combo
Mad things all
10:28 the Jawa 350 Retro is on my wishlist of bikes to own. 😍
Pretty ain’t it
Did I see the gear shifter being used as a kickstarter ?
You most certainly did.
Clever eh
yes
Bad Assery
And it's also a clutch lever, Jawas had hand and foot clutch levers.
In the Czech Republic Jawa are still producing last two stroke models, the 350/640 and 350/640 Retro, which looks like 350/634, but I don't think that they can be bought in the EU. Maybe, since Brexit, they could be bought and used in the UK... Unfortunately there is not enough people buying them, so they'll probably cease production soon. Yezdi motorcycles are still being made in India, but they unfortunately don't export to Australia, so I'll have to miss out on their 350 DOHC single; the Roadster looks rather tasty in a modern-classic way.
Yes the Czech built bikes are available through an importer but are quite expensive
The Indian built 300 was briefly available in mainland Europe ( not the Uk ) but is no longer I believe, also quite expensive
The parent company in Europe is concentrated it’s European efforts on BSA
@@bikerdood1100 The high pricing is ironic, isn't it? Back in the day, Iron Curtain machinery was successful partly on price. In 1963 I bought my new 250 Jawa (Pride & Clark, London) because of its price, quality and reliability. I've recently looked at the viability of doing a private import into Oz for both the Czech and Indian-built bikes, but both are too expensive for what they are and end up costing about the same as a new RE Interceptor.
Available way before Brexit, more expensive post Brexit , like so many items I’m afraid. I think that they are available in some EU countries. The OHC 300 was available in the EU but was never sold in the UK
The bike in the thumbnail is it a mauds trophy bike??? I remember reading about a bsa A50 mauds trophy bike ridden by Norman
vanhouse. . They look very similar.
I don’t believe so, but it’s possible
In the 90s for holiday I would fly out hire a bike and go touring in Turkery on rental bikes. Jawa was apalling but the favorite of the Turks. You could pile it up with wife, two kids a goat and 5 chickens, go to market. It will not stop, will not turn, will not do anything well. However, Then I got an MZ 250 and it blew my mind. Perhaps the most fun bike ever. It was great onroad, offroad, badroad, goodroad, solo, two up. I had so much fun! Why? It was perfectly balanced in everything. You put it on a centre stand and you could lift the front wheel or the back wheel with an index finger. To be honest, not a pretty bike, but...
I'm specialist, Norton, Ducati, Honda V4s, have crossed the Himmalayas on Royal Enfield BUT The Bike with the most charme and Fun, MZ 250.
I do have a soft spot for MZ I must confess
You forgot about Junak 350, a beautiful Polish four-stroke motorcycle. It looks like English motorcycles.
New one on me, but trust me it was only ever going to be 5 companies
It was a nightmare to put together and edit as it was
Maybe next time though
Proud owner of a ifa bk 350 and a mzrt 125
Nice 👍🏻
When my younger years ended and I got married. I couldn't afford any longer the shiny japanese sport bikes. I started to ride MZ's. They where great, I had a good time visiting weekends of the Dutch MZ club.
They are surprisingly capable I found
That 1 cylinder MZ @ 11.06 sure is a handsome beast.
Have to admire MZ a cut above the rest really
CZ and Skoda as well as Tatra way ahead of the times .
CZ had fox style air shocks
Tatra had a hemispheric rear air cooled V8 car in 1930s that VW copied .
Japan and others used tech off CZ.
We don't see many of these in America.
Awesome 👍
Cheers
Well like a lot of people I do have a soft spot for the rear engine Skoda cars
And the Tatra truck were a highlight of the Paris Dakar
@@bikerdood1100 Jay Leno channel has one on the Tatra car 1938 Hemi rear engine v8 called "the nazi killer" since they drove to fast crashed so much during WW2.
VW stole patents from Tatra .
Frantisek Statzney made the west aware of Jawa.
You mean at the Czech motocross Gp
@@bikerdood1100 No he was a GP road racer
I really appreciate the closed chain protection. I don’t get why this isn’t standard on chain driven bikes.
It’s a complete mystery to me also
@@bikerdood1100 though I’m a bad chain caretaker I tried to get a closed chain protection for my last bike (Yamaha 600 Diversion). No chance. Since 2008 I ride a BMW R1150R mainly because I don’t have to bother with a chain.. Nice bike anyway.
@@theatheobhv ditto my Moto Guzzi
Had ETZ 250 later a ETZ301 and later a MZ Rotax 500 then a BMW Funduro 650 with a Rotax inspired engine..
Well I think the F650 engine was built and designed by Rotax
Ran an Etz for a few years, found it very good
Possible Future presentation = 70's 125's Please ( hoping for the Suzuki T125 to be included ) :)
Well oddly enough I’m planning one on twin cylinder 125s
I had a CZ 175 for a short while in the U.K.
Never had a CZ but had a an MZ ETz 250 for a couple of years
Tough as old boots
You missed out IZH (Russia), Cespel (Hungary) & Junak (Poland). These were all imported into the UK, at one time or another.
A handful of Cespel motorcycles were imported during the late 1950's, but failed to sell well, obviously due the name being rather close to sounding like Cesspool.
Similarly, a few Polish Junak 350 4 stroke single motorcycles were imported during the 1960's. However the name sounds rather like "Eunuch"...... and we Brits have a warped sense of humour.
Well can only fit so many in one video, if it proves popular then I’ll include them next time
I would definitely love to see a 1952 Bernardet scooter (French), or, a 1950s CZ Manetta.
Well got one of them in
@@bikerdood1100 Message recieved, but not understood.
@@rushelm8101 oh apologies
Covered the CZ Manet scooter in our classic scooter vid
@@bikerdood1100 XLNT! Thanks.
In 1977 I bought my first 250 to ride on the road, MZ ts250 1 I had lots of problems with the selector forks, but otherwise it was a cheap bike to ride
Gear selection was a problem on some bikes, speaking from experience
Great chanel. It is full of interesting facts that I take Great pleasure in boring my mates to death in the pub with. They all say thank you as well. Keep up the good work .
I’ll bet 😂
I thought the Cossack was a Ural, not a Dneiper.
I have to admit having owned one, combo of course. Great fun when it went…nearly 50% of the time.
Also a Mz 250 ES, my dad had the ETZ. Wish I still had the ES, such a unique design. Not only the weird tank, but leading ling forks, they rise up under breaking! Handled great in corners, but curiously felt odd going straight
Well not according to my research although the UK names were dreamed up by the importer so were very likely interchangeable
@@bikerdood1100 …it was a long time ago, so I am not certain. I think you could buy a Ukrainian Dneiper and a Russian Cossack back then. The Dneiper had the square rocker covers, as you show. The Cossack, rounded, like the early BMW. Just looked at other info, mine was the 650, the 750 did have squarish covers.
…all getting very nerdy!
Back in about 1975 Neval Minsk was selling a 125 with a full racing fairing. They were a complete bodge up and came ready rusted from the factory. They were god awful.
My mate had a CZ175, god it was nasty, he only bought it because it was cheap and he was too tight to buy a decent bike.
Should have tried MZ then
To be fair Jawa made great speedway engines.
How very true
Great video, had over the years most the makes & models (except the Minsk and the 2 stroke twins) of the eastern bloc bikes, I liked them because they were cheap, simple (MZ's, CZ's and Dniepr's you could even dismantle and refurbish the rear shocks) and tough as old boots (fall off and usually it was busted indicator units and handlebar levers (both dirt cheap) and bent footpegs (straighten them up with piece of tube or pipe wrench)), didn't go half bad either especially if you retard the ignition timing to 1.8 mm btdc.
I do think some of them are very much underrated
My MZ was very good although some where pretty ropy to be fair (Minsk)
I had a CZ 175 for a short while, and a 250 MZ both two strokes. Two strokes were not for me. Still have a workshop manual for the CZ.
I’m more of a four stroke man , but I do appreciate a good stroker, would love a Scott
we had a cossack jupiter 350 twin 2 stroke, we got it mot, d, dad rode it once in the wet, declaring it dangerous and he didnt ride it again, preferring honda cd175, s, it did have some cool features such as a lever by which the whole rear end could be removed as one unit.
That would be the barum tyres, rock hard rubber ok in dry terrible in wet. Changing the tyres makes a huge difference, because the chassis were pretty good, better than a lot of Japanese Machines of the time
@@bikerdood1100 Not sure the russian bikes would have been fitted with Barum tyres. CZ/Jawa motorcycles had Barum tyres. MZ's came fitted with Pneumants which weren't pleasant in the wet and was one of the first things to be replaced when funds allowed! Over the years I've had a few MZ's and one CZ. The MZ's were definately far better.
@@AliasMrHackenbacker the ones I saw most certainly did, bloody terrible blocks of wood
Izh also made a twin two stroke
A lot companies seem to have. Produced 350 two stroke twins
Spanish, Mexican and South American bikes. That would be fun.
Oh I had a Falta Replica Cz. It wasnt locked up, but in good shape. I never got it going. I sold it and regret doing so.
Ive always wanted an Mz. Mainly because Im a Suzuki nut. It would be fun. Are the big latemodel Mz still around in Europe? are they hard to find?
Nice idea 💡for some videos
Unfortunately MZ are no more
Still a lot of bikes around but now getting expensive
Why were the Eastern bloc bikes all 2 stroke is it because they were cheaper to make
There weren’t all two strokes at all
But two strokes were cheap to make which is why they were so widely used in both the car and bike industries on both side of the iron curtain
Excellent! I promise to stop nagging you now. My MZ 150 and 250 were a lot of fun and took a fair amount of abuse.
Verbal or from the wrist 😂😂
I did hammer my ETZ 250,
Absolutely no pun intended and it just refused to die, great little bike
Brilliant, love MZ, they have an ugly charm.
I really did like mine I have to say
Think my wife was jealous
Sort of
Junak M-10
Working on it
In the 1990s I was the proud owner of an East German, Simson Scwalb. Ugly as sin, but I loved it until it was stolen and wrecked by thieves.
Dam them !! 😂
Covered Simson in my video on eastern bloc bikes fascinating machines
Vea pues
👍
Did you just delete my comment where I linked to an MZ review it has disappeared
Nope
@@bikerdood1100 strange it disappeared sorry should have got your ok before I did apologies
I had a JAWA 350 ( 638 engine ) 1986 12 volts . The most un reliable motorcycle I ever had . It kept blowing regulators ,& boiling its battery ,often one cylinder cutting out. One morning it blew both baffles out it’s exhaust pipes ,& the rear brake lever disappeared on the M53 motorway . The final straw came when the bigs ends went ,the slack primary , ( no tensioner ) chain ripped clutch basket & crank case cover off & dumped it plus gear box oil ,in the gutter of a local high street . The front brake & clutch levers ,were made out of some type of nylon or plastic that flexed ,you had to make an appointment with the brakes in order to come to a halt . I ended up flogging it to some Jawa fanatic for 50 quid ,little did he know ,that I would of gladly have paid him to take the crock of sh💩t out of my sight . The only good things about it where the tyres & frame where surprisingly good. The owner also got a comprehensive owners tool kit supplied ,as the manufactures obviously knew ,the long suffering owner would often be using it at the roadside .
Blimey glad I brought the MZ
@@bikerdood1100 The MZ was a weird looking beast ,but better engineered & better electrics than the Jawas & C Z ‘s . If you were going down the budget route for a new machine they were a safer bet & could be sorted easier . These days the old Jawas can be made reliable with modern upgrades & electrics & are collectible . I stick to motorcycles with Japanese names no matter where they are produced as I never had one let me down . Every time I chose other brands I have had issues & regretted my purchase . 👍
@@maskedavenger2578 well we currently have 9 bikes between us one of which s Japanese is it more reliable than the others ?
Hard to say as few of them give any trouble at all
@@bikerdood1100 The only bikes I have ever found to be reliable day in day out in all weather ,all year round in the U.K. are ones bearing one of the big 4 Japanese badges . I always found the old communist state manufactured bikes & Italian bikes to not be relied upon . Of those 9 bikes you mention ,how many of them get used in all weather frequently all year round . My motorcycles are not warm weather weekend toys they are my main transport & have to be 100 % reliable & earn their keep & justify me owning them .
@@maskedavenger2578 strangely managed to use my Guzzi for the 11 years I owned only my daily commute of 25 miles in all weathers
I ride all year round
I commute all year round
So I’m afraid I’m calling BS on that one
Even commuted every day on an MZ 250 for 2years
I am not or have I ever been a fair weather biker
Later this week I’ll be commuting between hospitals on guess what
A non Japanese bike
Gee I hope it makes it 😂
I have commuted on Japanese bikes also incidentally
1 x busted cam chain tensioner
1x blown top end
And my favourite the seizure at 70
All hale Japan I thought as the wheel locked solid & that was a four stroke
Then there was the Suzuki that ate plugs every few weeks
2x busted regulators
2x burnt out alternators
Yeh Japan
And then the rust
When you actually do ride all year round you find out an awful lot about the bikes you ride
The Jawa came to Australia and so does the Ural back in the 1970s there slogan was $1 per cc because the Ural 650 was aud $650 very cheap
Not a bad tag line
an interesting subject, well researched but spoilt by dreadful video editing - shame
Oh really
Mr Spielberg 😂
Type in "MZ motorcycles in Cuba", they love MZs!
Well of course 👍🏻
When l see bikes like this i'm reminded of one of my stupid mistakes in life. In the early 90's l was at a bike wreckers in Norfolk. I was picking up a HONDA Monkey bike rolling chassis for £25 and the guy running the shop said " You can take that as well, only needs a HT coil ...£25 ! ". It was one of those old JAWA street bikes with the tear drop tank and tear drop crank case/gearbox.....NEW (vintage but not used). I said no as l was worried what my wife would saaaayyyyyyy y y y 😭😭😭🤮🤮
We’ve all had those moments
no cossak urinal?
Yes
There’s two videos
It’s linked with that one 🙄
Twice