Obligatory "In The Day" Carlsbad Photo circa 197?, 72 CZ 250, 8" rear wheel Travel, WP shocks, fiberglass tank, too much fun This photo was pulled from one of those little picture viewers the local photographer used to sell for a buck or so. To get the picture out of the viewer, I pointed the viewer to the light and put my digital camera up to the eye piece and snapped the picture. Not too bad considering.

As a teenager, I always coveted the CZ's of others, even though I was really happy with my 1969 Penton 6 days 125 Sachs powered rocket. Years later (honestly it's all a blur at my age), I finally got my own CZ. It was a used 1972 CZ 250 MX 4sp. It was awsome. I had that bike for many years. Eventually it seemed we were the only CZ riders left at Carlsbad or even at the local practice spots on any given afternoon. We took a lot of ribbing, sneers, and snickers from the gallery. We did OK though because we kept evolving our bikes to compete with the long travel Japanese bikes and the rest of the European bikes. Eventually I think we hit the wall due to budget constraints. It was cheaper and easier to move on. So I bought a used 1977 KTM 250 MC5. What an awsome bike that was too. At least it wasn't Japanese (the drive chain was on the correct side). Actually I have had some nice japanese bikes, Yamaha 125 AT1 (first bike, bought new, 1969), 1972 Yamaha 360 RT1 (also bought new), 1976 RM 250, 1985 YZ 250, & currenty I have a Suzuki DR350SE. But my passion and desires always went back to the CZ, which brings us here. I just bought a 71 CZ 250 MX off ebay. My goal is to clean it up and make it a nice everyday rider, but I really want to do it right. I will stay faithful to the spirit of things in the era. In other words, I wont butcher the frame but might go with newer plastics and other accessories. But then there is that old budget thing again, so this might take a while. So I'll do some things, post them, and ride it. This will be a great project for my son (12 years old, rides a KX65) and I.

Click the picture to see the Finished project, but please explore the progress links.

I am open to suggestions.

Craig Walker
cwalker1@cox.net