Description
NO THRILLS A DEPENDABLE PLODDER
JOHN NUTTING test rides the Sports model that is not sporty-it’s a ride to work machine
To put it nicely, we weren’t very impressed with the little CZ 125 when we first tried it. Struggling along, with Dave Calderwood on the pillion, at a pace that would have pleased only a moped rider, I battled with the machine while lorries belched exhaust fumes at us as they passed. I cursed the gutless engine, the awful gearbox, everything. I’d started out with an open mind, as always, about the bike, and initially it responded well. After tickling the float of the Jikov carburettor and prodding the gear lever-cum-kick starter, the 125 SS single jangled into life, in spite of the fact that, it had been standing in the open for a couple of days. A good start. Crunching into gear, we set off. But it was so slow I had serious doubts about making our destination by nightfall. We did make it and after unlocking and lifting off the seat we found the culprit. The cleaning rag that comes with the tool kit had blocked the air intakes connecting with the air filter. Repacking the gear produced some of the easiest roadside tuning I’ve ever achieved.
All the same, by no stretching of the imagination is the £207 CZ 125 Mk IV Sports a sporty machine as its name would suggest. In every aspect it’s a solid dependable and basic means of two-wheel transport that should be able to withstand anything an in experienced rider can throw at it.
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