跑车的追随者可能熟悉的场景with Praga and their Bohema hypercar, and military enthusiasts might know Praga for the V3s cargo truck. The Czech Republic-based manufacturer has also produced aircraft, buses, and the very technologically-advanced-for-its-time BD 500 motorcycle in the late 1920s. Praga has just launched a modernized version of the BD 500, called the ZS 800, to be produced in very limited quantities.

If you are not familiar with the 1928 Praga BD 500, you will be forgiven, as it does have a bit of a convoluted history. Originally designed by a Czech designer named Jaroslav František Koch for Breitfeld-Danek (the BD in the name of the bike), which was part of ČKD, the BD 500 became the Prada BD 500 when Prada bought Breitfeld-Danek from ČKD in 1929.

The BD 500 had dual overhead cams in an era when overhead cams were still new technology. The 1913 Peugeot 500 M race bike was the first motorcycle to utilize DOHC, while 1925 Sunbeam 3-litre was the very first production automobile with DOHC, so the BD 500 was in rare company when it was introduced with its twin bumpsticks above the combustion chamber.

Production of the BD 500 ended in 1933, and Praga soldiered on through WWII and the post-war period producing trucks, busses, military vehicles, tractors, cars, and their associated parts, before returning to motorcycles in the 1990s.

Praga’s second era of motorcycles was short, ending in 2003, but their third coming has begun with the release of the ZS 800, what Praga describes as “a modern reimagining of the iconic 1928 Praga BD 500”. Reportedly designed by the same engineering team that created the Bohema, the ZS 800 has a distinct old-school vibe coupled with modern materials and production techniques.

Case in point, the wheels are forged carbon fiber, hand-woven, with a spoked design that emulates the wheels of the BD 500, complete with drum brakes. Girder forks, long out of style for production performance motorcycles, mimic the BD 500s, but are executed with cro-moly steel legs, a fully adjustable Öhlins shock, and a titanium spring.

The frame is also cro-moly steel, and nestled within is an air-cooled parallel-twin, twice as many cylinders as the BD, but, interestingly, with half as many camshafts. Keen eyes may notice the engine looks much like the one found in the Kawasaki W800, because, well, it is one and the same. Outsourcing the engine allowed the designers to concentrate on the rest of the bike, while achieving Euro 5 compliance.

The “rest of the bike” being things like the forged carbon tank cover, titanium fasteners throughout, certain 3D printed parts, and over 300 hours of CNC machining. The exhaust system is fully titanium, with a claimed weight of 4.8kg (10.5 lbs), and the overall weight of the bike is said to be a svelte 142kg dry, 158kg wet (313 and 348 lbs, respectively).

Praga将产生800年代只有28 z,点头到1928 BD 500, with deliveries projected in “mid-2023”. Priced at £75,550 ($91,000 USD), it might be considered a bargain compared to the £1.1m ($1.3 m USD) Bohema, both borne of the same engineering minds.

For more information, visithttps://pragaglobal.com/motorbikes/zs800