| August 6, 2023
Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
The Comparison Test of the Ages
By Kent Taylor
“The test you’ve been waiting for” was the subtitle for the February 13, 1973, Cycle News’ story on the brand new, shiny-tanked motorcycle from the world’s largest motorcycle company. After being teased with gossipy bits and sneaky photos for several years, the Honda CR250M Elsinore had arrived and it would pierce the motorcycling world in a way that hadn’t been seen since Gottleib Daimler whiskey-throttled his wooden-wheeled Reitwagen in 1885!
Our comparison test 50 years ago of the all-new Honda CR250M and the once dominant CZ 250 was almost a comparison test of motocross eras—the ending of one era and the beginning of a new one.
A couple of pages later, there was another test, this one featuring the new 1973 CZ 250. Its subtitle was somewhat less sensational: “Sill the racer’s choice?” It almost seemed to be warning the reader that any old-world sentiments about European motocross machinery were about to be swept away. These two tests bled into a one-on-one comparison between the “new-school” Elsinore and the “old-school” CZ, two of some of the most historic motorcycles ever built.
In the motocross world of 2023, it has become nearly impossible to distinguish one motorcycle from another. Even an experienced eye must rely on the corporate colors, especially from the grandstands. Such familiarity was not the case 50 years ago. Side by side, the CZ and the Honda look as different as night from day, and CN readers needed little time to recognize any similarity between these two models was purely coincidental. The Elsinore’s 57-inch wheelbase gave it the appearance of a long-legged thoroughbred racehorse, while the CZ’s stodgy, squatted look seemed more reminiscent of a draft horse pulling the milk wagon through the streets of Prague before the great war. Honda’s rounded aluminum alloy fuel tank was unpainted on each side; if it wasn’t there to make you go faster. The CZ, meanwhile, still sported protective rubber knee pads on each side of its squarish “coffin” tank, almost encouraging the owner to care for their machine and to lovingly avoid scratching the bright red paint on their new motorcycle.
Once, when asked about a certain Beatles’ song, Paul McCartney, said, “It was good, because we did it!” Was the Elsinore good, simply because it came from Honda? Perhaps, but the CN staffers (which included the highly respected journalist John Huetter) backed up their admiration for the Honda with the facts. Quality abounded on the 250M. “It was hard to find goodies or a normal replacement item that Honda hasn’t paid attention to,” CN wrote. “Nothing has been short cut in construction.”
Up until the Elsinore showed up, the CZ was the racer’s bike of choice in the U.S. It performed well, was affordable and parts were easy to find.
The CZ, meanwhile, inspired the testers to write out a detailed list of attributes that really sound more like they were trying to convince themselves of the motorcycle’s worthiness. The bike featured chain adjusters that are “normal CZ funky.” The “rims are plain old steel and nothing to brag about.” Even the fiberglass fenders “look nice and work until they break.”
It seems as if both motorcycles were meeting all expectations!
But hyperbole won’t get you holeshots; could the CZ uphold its proud legacy when the test moved from the race shop to the racetrack? Honda had yet to win a major motocross race; the Czech factory had more World motocross championships cups than could ever fit on one fireplace mantel. The truth would be determined at the old Arroyo Cycle Park, now called Glen Helen Raceway.
Alas, the duel was barely underway before the Honda began to display its superiority. In a drag race, the Elsinore immediately put a bike’s length between itself and the CZ, a lead that would double at the end of the 110-yard stretch. The Honda’s six-port engine, fed by a 34mm Keihin, simply rocketed away. The CZ could count only one blessing; a new Filtron filter element would help keep the Honda’s eat-my-dust roost out of its venerable Jikov carburetor!
The CZ earned a modicum of respect, though perhaps grudgingly, from its testers. “Throttle response is the usual CZ: predictable.” While the Honda demanded “smart” shifting to stay on the powerband, the CZ’s new five-speed gearbox snicked all the way to fifth, the rider still fully on the gas and bearing down. “Those who have ridden older CZs frequently find corners approaching much more rapidly than they remember when they’re on the new five-speeder.”
Indeed, the CZ was fast, displaying enough moxie that the testers labeled it the “second-fastest” 250 that could be found in 1973 dealer showrooms. Unfortunately, the first-fastest one was also sharing the track that same day.
Honda’s new Elsinore was equally adept at the handling aspect of mx. It handled the bumps well and its powerful brakes allowed the rider to get in and out of the corners quickly. The forks were described as “twitch free” and the rear suspenders got the job done, while also showing off their beautifully finned fluid reservoirs.
Seemingly overnight, the Elsinore had replaced the CZ in everyone’s garages.
The CZ, meanwhile, received yet another back-handed compliment. Handling was described as “nice” but also “confusing.” While the Honda’s cornering ability was going to enable “the rider with the skill and the will to go very fast,” the CZ’s handling was described in polite terms, staffers once again resorting to the adjective of the day—“predictable.”
In the end, the Honda CR250M was “worth the wait…a superb, first motocrosser. For a price of $1150, it’s going to be hard to beat.” Indeed, later that year, Gary Jones and his modified Honda CR250 would give the company the 1973 AMA 250cc National Championship.
In the closing paragraphs of the write-up on the CZ, CN offered a kind, albeit slightly condescending conclusion. The Czechoslovakian machine was labeled a motorcycle which “excels to the ultimate limit of their available materials.” It was a gentle way of acknowledging that those who operated the means of production behind the Iron Curtain were handcuffed by the politics of the day, and there would be no much-needed outsourcing for the parts that would make this racer competitive again. The CZ was still good, but it was as good as it was going to get. Lined up against the new Honda Elsinore, that simply wasn’t going to be good enough. CN
