1975 CZ Enduro 250cc
Type 988.1
Mfg. By Ceska Zbrojowka
(Czechoslovakian Weapon Factory)
Click the brochure for a better look
I am the first and third owner of this bike. I bought the CZ new from Peter Sosna’s shop in Oceanside, CA, still in a wooden crate, in November of 1976. What fun it was to bring the crate home and start prying the boards off out in the garage! At first it seemed like an odd looking machine with the orange and yellow paint. In no time I loved the way it looked because it didn’t look like everything else on the trails.
This was also my only weekday transportation. After owning it only 6 months I was involved in an accident heading to work one morning. The bike was hurt and I was laid up for over a year.
The CZ did run again but the original gas tank, exhaust, lights, bars and speedometer were destroyed. Peter set it up with lay down rear shocks, ported the cylinder and supplied a Mikuni carb. I added a universal plastic desert tank and had an expansion chamber built. I managed to ride it a few times with a lower leg still in a cast. A friend accidentally rode it off a 10-foot drop and broke half the spokes on the rear rim. I went down to Peter’s shop for some new spokes and found the shop had closed. Unable to find CZ spokes it ended up being sold to my brother. He had a shop set it up with spokes from a different bike and road it when camping down in Baja off and on for about 5 years.
One day my brother called to see if I wanted the CZ back. It had not been used for about 15 years at that time. I couldn’t wait to get it. I was pleased to discover most parts are now easy to find on the Internet.
Click the picture
for the build page
For a 2-stroke it reminded me of a tractor. Though much of the basic machine was based of the lighting fast CZ motocrossers the power band much wider (and lower). It seemed like it would climb anything I pointed it at. One odd trait is the bike didn’t like to lift the front wheel with just the throttle but if given gas just as the front wheel bumped something it would stand on the back wheel and roll over the obstacle. It was so good it crossing logs and such it made me look like I knew what I was doing.
I scanned my copy of the CZ owner’s manual. Some pages are light or crooked but that is actually the way it is printed.
Click the picture of the manual for the link
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HISTORY/INFORMATION |
PARTS |