In this fourth part of “The memories of” Rolf Wassens follows his journey with his friend Rutger towards Athens on a Jawa and a CZ. The journey takes them through Austria, Yugoslavia and to special encounters in the Balkans. This journey is a test for both their engines and their nerves.
Another friend, Rutger, who had also been on the aforementioned moped expedition, rode a CZ 175. We had actually agreed to both buy a CZ 175, but my locally famous bike mechanic talked me out of it. Rutger didn't like that, but he and I made the trip to Athens together, and we conquered the Grossglockner on the way - you had to watch out going down, you couldn't brake with the engine. They were two-stroke engines where the lubrication was controlled by the throttle. Closed throttle and revving = seizing. Leaving the engine on cooled the engine down too much, we thought. So we whizzed down in the cold mist with the engine switched off. Also without lights. Brake briefly before the bend and don't approach it further. That went quite fast and faster and faster.
We went via Slovenia, then the CZ started to act up. The death road to Belgrade was dangerous, a lot of car wrecks on the way. We hung behind a fast-moving truck - if it could overtake, we could too; it would absorb the impact.
Of course we didn't trust the mixed lubrication in faraway countries. I had a jerry can with me and Marly graphite oil. I would stand in line between the cars in my long leather jacket to fill up with petrol. Add oil, shake it well, and then put it in the petrol tank. First take off the tank bag and the sleeping bag. According to Motim, that Marly oil was the most sublime oil, and we believed that. All in all, the Jawa was quite top-heavy. When a few donkeys suddenly walked onto the road on a mountain top in the Balkans, we had to pull into the verge, but there wasn't one. It was quite a feat to get the bike upright again. The roads in the Balkans were bad, and in the bends they had cobblestones or loose gravel. Otherwise the asphalt would be pushed away by trucks, much too inconvenient.
Bullets around the ears
The CZ had already suffered from near-seizures in Slovenia, we got as far as Skopje, but we didn't dare go any further. We rested for a while in Dubrovnik, then (not yet shot to pieces) a very beautiful city. A rowing trip on Lake Ohrid ended in a scary adventure: we apparently got too close to Albania and we were shot at by a customs boat. That was not a hospitable country then (1974).
Heat and night rides
It was very hot in Tito-Yugoslavia. So hot that the motorbikes sank into the bad asphalt. We decided to stay under our tent near the Adriatic Sea during the day – but the water was warm too. We drove at night, and that was still hot. The asphalt was soft in the bends. In Slovenia we turned around day and night; it was cooler there than in the south.
During the day we bought watermelons along the road for next to nothing – they were very tasty, you could taste the sun. And some bread, water and honey. Very tasty black honey, but I should have left that alone in the evening. The next morning the engine was covered in big black ants.
Rain and the journey back
We sought cooling in Austria, and succeeded quite well. It was raining cats and dogs, so we decided to go home early. We drove through the night and agreed that we would honk if the other one threatened to fall asleep. The critical moment for both of us was between 2 and 3. First Rutger swerved towards the crash barrier. I had to honk three times to wake him up, then he was through. Then I drove in front and the same applied to me. After three times I was awake. So we arrived in Apeldoorn at 7 o'clock, where our paths parted. At the last minute I got a flat tire, but with a motorcycle like that you could just patch it yourself at the side of the road. My leather jacket had survived 20 hours of pouring rain with flying colors! That is the result of greasing it with leather grease every year and a leather quality that is no longer there.
Mary 2
Stupidly enough I wanted something different, while I could get a virtually new engine block for next to nothing. I bought the Jawa 364, the 350 where you had to lubricate the center bearing separately with a grease gun. The carburetors were not resistant to freezing weather, the throttle slides got stuck. The 250 had a carburetor cover, which did not suffer from freezing and the carburetor stayed clean. The 350 did have rubber tunnels around the chain, that kind of cleverness. The engine block ran very quietly, although we thought that was also due to the fantastic Marly oil. The motorcycle shop in Assen (TTN, has not existed for a long time) where I had bought the bike new, advised against it: that is just used oil, rubbish, according to them. But we trusted completely the nice stories of Motim and Marly themselves. Then I have to think of the roaring laughter of the father of friend Luut, every time we said the word Marly. The Jawa 364 was a very nice bike, a lot faster and better steering than the 250. Seating position excellent. I went on holiday to Denmark with it with my friend Luut, but shortly afterwards it gave up the ghost, already after 15.000 km. Everything was stuck because of the black oil. There was no goodwill or guarantee.
Read more in part 5, where Rolf's adventures with the MZ and other motorcycles continue.
Part 1, part 2 en part 3 are standing here.
(The article continues below with the photos)
The Jawa you describe was probably a 634 and not a 364.
There has never been a Type 364.
In 1967 with 2 fellow students (HTS The Hague) to Trogir / Split in what was then Yugoslavia with 2 Vespas and 1 Jawa (250).
Stunningly beautiful coastal road in Yugoslavia had just been opened and there was virtually no traffic.
Also a beautifully situated campsite in Trogir had just opened and we were among the first guests at a virtually empty campsite.
Nice story…greetings to Rolf
In 1974 made the same trip, there along the coast of Yugoslavia and near Albania to Skopje and then to Athens. Back via Belgrade to Zagreb, indeed called the road of the dead at the time. In Belgrade visited a disco with super modern rock music but it was only affordable for the elite, since the beer easily cost 75 cents!! We were with 4 people with the car, borrowed VW Beetle because we had just written off our recently refurbished Opel Kadett A just before the trip.