You guys will LOVE this.. Tatran 125 baby!

[Chicane]

Well, I was walking along the other day, to my apartment. You may remember I was looking for a motorcycle or something off from ebay. I was going past a beat up house, like I always do, when I noticed a glimmer of metal. What?! A headlight and trim ring...attached... to... a scooter! But it's covered in vines! WOW! Cool! It looks like a vespa! It isn't a vespa. What the hell is it!? Tatnan 125...hrm... weird name.... well... off to party, off to see the matrix, off to bed. But today... hrm.... I gotta go see it again.... wow... good shape... must be old.... search the thing. Find NOTHING on the net. Hrm. Rang a doorbell. Talked to the tenants. It's been there for at least 2 years, she suggested I just take it... nobody knows who it belonged to. Well, just to make sure I don't end up in jail, I called the po po and had em come check it out. Turns out it was made in 1968, and I had them check the ID # on it. NO RECORDS. AT ALL. So this thing has been sitting for a long long time. There were some vines in the engine compartment, but man, it's in SURPRISINGLY good shape. Little to no surface rust, and I already pumped both tires up to 40PSI to make it easier to move around. I'm going to devote a lot of effort into getting this thing roadworthy, running, and registered hopefully within a month.

Here are the before pics, and all I've done thus far is pull the vines out of it :






First plan of attack: Cleaning. Then reading more info about it. Then figuring out if it has compression. I know the engine turns over, I could hear it. After that it's time to do the brakes, then get it painted and redo the seat cover, instruments, and maybe some new tires. THIS THING ROCKS!

1968 Tatran 125 baby! How many people do you know that have one of these beasts?!?! Haha!

What a great price too!

- Rob

[Chicane]

Oh yeah, its made in the CSSR, or Czeko Slavakian Something Republic, back in the day. SWEEEEET!

- Rob

[wasions]

When I saw the pic, I thought, "That's no Benelli. It's obviously not Japanese. Spanish? Nah. It looks . . . Russian, or something." I guess I wasn't far wrong. Might it be a CZ or a Zundapp variant? 125cc's would actually be a larger than ordinary engine for that year. Most of the smaller bikes/scooters were 50's or 80's. Vespa might have displaced more cc's, but would likely have about the same hp. There were a few 150cc's but I don't recall seeing a 125 scooter of that vintage. Nice find Rob. You may have to make your own spare parts though.

[Chicane]

Well, I don't know about Vespas, but this is supposed to have a raw, unbridled SEVEN horsepower. RAH! Burnouts here I come baby!

I'm hoping since it's russian it's just basically a copied design, and I can use some other parts for it. The front brake still works!

I'm going to wash it tomorrow and see how she looks!

- Rob

[wasions]

Where have you found the info about it? Did it have an owners manual under the seat or something? I did a Google search and it just came up like, Russian, or something.

[Landshark]

all the single ladies won't be able to help themselves when you cruise by on that scooter. hey-now!

good luck restoring it.

[Mr. Pockets]

That's pretty cool, Rob! Make sure that you post some video of the first time you actually ride it.

Man, it's neat because it's so rare - but I wonder what kinds of problems you're going to run into finding parts.

[Chicane]

Oh man. I posted a similar topic at a mac board I go to, with those 4 pics. Look at this response:

http://homepage.mac.com/owlboy/cash_...aded_by_ob.jpg

Bahahahahhahaha!!!!!

- Rob

[benebob]

Pretty cool although it isn't a Fugi Rabit! 7hp should be good for about 35mph. I had a Batavus Moped. 50cc, 4.5 hp motor that did 30 where it was flat on a good day. In comparison I have some friends who have mopeds that'll do 40-45mph. Bad thing about a slow scooter is at least in PA you need a helmet, motorcycle lic., plates and insurance where a moped you just need a plate.

[Chicane]

Actually, I've been reading that this thing tops out at 82 km/h, which is about 50mph.

- Rob

PS: Here's the paint job I think I might do:

http://www.jawa.dk/vet/foto/tatran.jpg

[Chicane]

Well, I washed it up. Doesn't look too much different. I also pulled vines out of the engine compartment, the wheels, etc etc. Some of them were pretty strong so I had to use some pliers. heh. Anyway, I read some more about them on the net (there isn't much.. in English anyway... and I read an 'ad' for one that said you could take off the the semi monoque body with only 4 bolts for access to the engine. Hrm. Alright. So I took off the luggage rack, two bolts in front, and one under the seat. BAM. Took off the body. Here's a pic:



Notice in front of the SVX: the 4 qt size Mobil 1 baby. Aw Jyeah. Only 13.99 each. What a steal. Anyway, here's another pic:



ANND, some good news. Apart from the engine being quite clean and presentable, it turns over smoothly, and I can tell it has compression. VERY good sign. With a whopping 7 horses, this thing is supposed to have a top speed of 51mph. >whistle< Maybe I could do a valve job on it to get an extra horse.


Here's a pic of the monstrous powerplant.



More later!

- Rob

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by Chicane
Well, I washed it up. Doesn't look too much different. I also pulled vines out of the engine compartment, the wheels, etc etc. Some of them were pretty strong so I had to use some pliers. heh. Anyway, I read some more about them on the net (there isn't much.. in English anyway... and I read an 'ad' for one that said you could take off the the semi monoque body with only 4 bolts for access to the engine. Hrm. Alright. So I took off the luggage rack, two bolts in front, and one under the seat. BAM. Took off the body. Here's a pic:



Notice in front of the SVX: the 4 qt size Mobil 1 baby. Aw Jyeah. Only 13.99 each. What a steal. Anyway, here's another pic:



ANND, some good news. Apart from the engine being quite clean and presentable, it turns over smoothly, and I can tell it has compression. VERY good sign. With a whopping 7 horses, this thing is supposed to have a top speed of 51mph. >whistle< Maybe I could do a valve job on it to get an extra horse.


Here's a pic of the monstrous powerplant.



More later!

- Rob

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH! Someone beheaded Bobba Fett!


KLATU, BARADA, NIKTO!

[RSVX]

Shop Smart, shop "S" Mart...

[wasions]

You've gotta hand it to those Iron Curtain engineers. It would be difficult to design even a utilitarian vehicle without somehow incorporating beauty. But those guys do it over and over again.

[Chicane]

Well, the good news is I found a manual for it. The bad news is that it's all spanish.

http://epll.no-ip.com/tatran/tatran.htm

Anyone translate?

- Rob