Australian Motorcyclist – June 2017

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TYPE

506

TECHNICAL

Electrifying!

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PHOTOSFACTORY

WITH HELP FROM NEW ATLAS

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s.r.o. http://www.cezeta.com

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F YOU WANT to sell me a

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that looks unusual, especially in a

somewhat intriguing way. All that the

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505 really needed to do was show me

the scoot and I was sold. It took a

while during the restoration process

to discover that there were a few bits

that were going to cost serious money,

but I soldiered on and my efforts

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expected them to be, though.

The ÿezeta was a motor scooter

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1964 in what was then Czechoslovakia,

(now Czechia), by the ÿeská Zbrojovka

Strakonice (ÿZ) company, which is

better known for the highly competitive

off-road motorcycles it built from 1935

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N-Zetas in New Zealand, but with a

200cc rather than a 125 engine

When the restoration was complete,

I wrote about the ÿezeta in BIKE

Australia, the motorcycle magazine

I was then editing. Apart from a few

notes asking questions like “what did

you think you were you doing??” there

was one from a bloke in Mount Isa who

recognised the scoot. He and his wife

had used it on their honeymoon many

years before, and he was really keen

to buy it. Would I possibly consider

selling it to him?

I added up the original cost (low), the

restoration cost (not too bad) and the

parts cost (staggering) and sent him the

result plus 10 per cent. He replied with

a cheque and the ÿezeta headed north

and west. I was sorry to see it go, but

who could resist a story like that? I hope

they’re still married and take the scoot for

a buzz every now and then. Keep an eye

out if you’re in the Isa.

Scooters are sometimes created in

much more adventurous designs than

motorcycles. We’re all familiar with the

monocoque design of the Vespa, but

imagine how strange they would have

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ÿezeta is unusual even among scooters.

A reference I found on Wikipedia

describes the scooter far better than I

could: “It is unusually long for a two-

wheeled vehicle at 2 metres and has a

distinctive torpedo-shaped body with a

long seat that lifts to reveal a substantial

luggage compartment, using space that

in most scooters is occupied by the fuel

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body and fully streamlined into the leg

shields. The fuel tank is positioned above

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into a recess and a luggage rack on the

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amongst ÿezeta riders that the exposed

front tank with built-in headlight formed

an explosive warhead and detonator

for the torpedo, though in practice the

ÿezetas proved no more likely to catch

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in serious collisions.”

The scooter was driven by the

FFÿZ two-stroke single-cylinder

motorcycle engine, giving a top speed

of nearly 90km/h and fuel use of 3.2

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for the enclosed scooter by having a drive

pulley on the crankshaft driving a fan by

means of a Vee belt. There were four

foot-operated gears.

Look at the photos and you will agree

that that describes this fascinating

vehicle beautifully. Of course ÿezetas

and N-Zetas are rare now; a recent

search in Australia yielded none for

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days, everything old is new again. And

so it is with the ÿezeta. There is now a

hand-built electric version Type 506, still

manufactured in Czechia at Prostďjov,

near the Czech capital city, Prague and

available in a limited edition of 600.

This new ÿezeta is built around a

conventional tubular frame, unlike the

monocoque of the original.

The motor is equipped with an

advanced electronic management system

that was developed in house with the

assistance of the Electrical Engineering

faculty at Prague’s Charles University.

This includes a four-map Dynamic

Selector that allows the rider to set the

motor’s torque output to full, city, or

rain mode, and includes a reverse gear

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The new Cezeta Type 506 lends

itself beautifully to a two-tone paint

scheme, just like the original.