http://hem.passagen.se/jawaklubben/

JAWA Rally. Swedish style!

© Mario Mager

 As many of you are probably aware, I have always been interested in contacting fellow JAWA-CZ owners and clubs around the globe. It appeared that many JAWA-CZ machines were exported to Scandinavia over the years, and especially in the 60’s. I was soon able to contact such clubs in Denmark, Norway and Finland. There seemed to be a black hole in this area while trying to find a JAWA-CZ club in Sweden! Then 1999 by the wonders of the Internet, I was contacted by Cay Bernhardsson who was not only the proud owner of a military Jawa 579, Picture CB-579 80k but also was interested in the possibilities of establishing a club in Sweden. I told him all I could about our own club here in the UK, how it is run, and a little about it’s history. I invited Cay to come over to our 2000 National Rally. Despite the cost and distance involved, Cay attended the National Rally, and was I believe to be found a very encouraging event, to spur him on even further to form a JAWA club in Sweden.

I imagine that Cay must have gone home, and proceeded to work as busy as a Bee, as by December that year, Cay had formed a club (JAWAKLUBBEN) of about 40 members, and produced their very first newsletter! By early 2001 Cay had arranged Jawaklubben’s very first National Rally!  By then the membership had reached about 130 and still climbing! As I followed this remarkable progress, I was delighted to make a note of the date of the event (August 24-26^th) and publicise it in this web-site If that was not enough, Cay kindly invited me to come along! This would be an exiting and unusual adventure! I of course have been to overseas Jawa rallies before, but to be at the very first National Rally for a brand new club would be a most interesting experience. I felt that would have to do my best to attend this event! The following part is an account of this remarkable experience.

The last time I attended an overseas even was in 1999 when we went to the 70 years of Jawa rally hosted by the Danish Jawa club (Jawa-Dansk). It was really rough crossing, and many including my wife Sadie were very sick. I decided to spoil ourselves and fly over. According to the Manchester airport website there are regular flights to Gothenburg from Manchester. When we booked the flight, we were told that we had to change aircraft at Copenhagen. We were told that our baggage would be transferred and all we needed to do was follow the signs and find the new gate number. We left Manchester in pouring rain. When we finally arrived in Gothenburg at about 23:00hrs we went to the luggage carousel to collect our baggage. Two bags came through quite quickly. I waited and waited for our third and final bag. Then the conveyor belt stopped and the doors closed! Then we had to go through of all the hassle of reporting that we had some luggage missing. Apparently my motorcycle tank bag thought that it was nicer in Denmark than Sweden! We eventually emerged from the arrivals department to find Cay and his wife Lone (pronounced ‘Luna’) anxiously waiting for us. They were wondering what happened to us!

We loaded our luggage into Cay’s car. I was half expecting Cay to have a Volvo. It was a great surprise to see he had a Skoda Octavia! Cay lived about 30 minutes drive from the airport. We were soon in his house Picture: SW21 170k having a drink and a chat. Cay and I of course stayed up quite late talking, while the women retired much earlier than us.

As we arrived a couple of days early, Cay & Lone kindly took us around to see the local sights. When people give a tour of their local area (As Efty & Silvia did for us when we visited Cyprus) you end up seeing many more interesting sights, and get to see things an ordinary tourist would never find in normal circumstances. On Wednesday, Cay said that there is a vintage vehicle meeting down at the harbour every Wednesday evening, and asked if I would like to go. This is when I was introduced to Cay’s Jawas. He still had the military 579 which he rode to our 2000 National Rally. Since then he had acquired a 1956 Jawa 350 (354) and an even earlier Jawa 350 model 18, which shared the model 11s frame. Luckily my motorcycle gear was not in the missing bag, so that evening we set of to Gothenburg harbour.

Cay didn’t hang about on his military 579. He did not seem to appreciate that I not only was riding a bike that I was not familiar with, but also was having to drive on the opposite side of the road to which I am used to! The speed restriction signs were all in kilometres, which nicely matched the Speedo. Cay though appeared to be travelling at least 20 kph than the signs! Perhaps he was eager to get there?

On approaching the harbour entrance we had to stop, and were given a ticket. I was expecting to have to pay to go in, but no money was asked for. Just as well, as I did not have any Swedish currency with me at that time. We parked our machines up between a host of other vintage bikes such as Husqvarna, Triumph, Nimbus & BMWs just to mention a few. We saw a model 11 and a Jawa red style in the line up, Picture: SW04 132k and managed to squeeze our bikes in beside them. There were also a host of vintage cars there as well. Many very old Volvos and Saabs. There was even a Mini with a small caravan! One just wandered around and mixed in with the exhibitors and visitors. It was very casual and very informal, but highly enjoyable venue.

My ears soon pricked up when I heard a familiar sound approaching. It was a couple of CZs! One was a 1971 CZ 125 (476) while the other was a CZ 250 single (485). I was surprised to see that the 485 sported a maroon livery! I have never seen this colour in the UK. I got talking to the 476 rider only to discover that we knew each other via the Internet. Some time ago I sent him (Ilya Meyer) a wiring diagram for his machine. Cay came over and told me to find my ticket. I was very surprised to hear that this ticket entitled you to a free drink on the tall masted ship called the Viking on the harbour front. Picture: Viking 75k I couldn’t believe my ears. Not only is it free to attend this vintage show, but you are also given a free drink for bringing along an old car or bike! Not only that, this informal vintage vehicle meeting occurs every Wednesday night for the duration of the entire summer season! We certainly do not have anything like this back home in the UK. We said our farewells and set of back home. Sadie and Lone were patiently waiting for us as they were getting very hungry, and wanted to dish the supper out.

So after just a few days in Sweden, I was well impressed. The meeting at the harbour was worth coming over for, let alone the sight seeing and the oncoming rally. If this was not enough, we were blessed with very hot weather. We often sat outside for breakfast and coffee in the evening.

We spent some time Thursday afternoon preparing the bikes for our trip to the rally site. No offence to Cay, but if I were to be expected to go on a long trip on a machine that was strange to me, albeit a Jawa, I wanted to make a few checks and adjustments to it.

FRIDAY MORNING

On Friday morning at about 8:30 Mats Carlsson turned up on his 485. We set off at 9:0 o’clock sharp. After about 45 minutes of riding we turned off the highway to pick up another club member. It was Curt Björlid who had a lovely 1975 CZ 250 (471) sporting the two-tone Jubilee livery. Curt had recently rebuilt this machine, so for the next 50 kilometres (31 miles) or so, we took things at a pretty pace.

I was riding in third place, with Curt and Cay in front. I was doing my best to keep an eye on the riders ahead, and trying to concentrate on riding on the right. Then looking over my shoulder I suddenly could see no sign of Mats!

We pulled over and waited a while, and then Mats appeared. It was decided that Mats should ride in front of me. Soon after Mats’ bike conked out. He wheeled his bike into a nearby lay-by, which had a lovely view, as it was beside one of the many large lakes that you see in Sweden. Cay and Curt soon turned back to see what happened to us. We had a look at all the basic connections on his bike (CZ-485) and could find nothing wrong! I dismantled the fuse holder, cleaned the connections up a bit and power appeared to be restored.

After about 2 hours travelling we pulled over at a roadside café. Picture: SW06 94k This roadside stop also had a lovely lakeside view. We got quite a few stares from people who were driving past, as they did not recognise our bikes, as we left them parked in the car park. As I was in a foreign country, on an unfamiliar machine, looking at unfamiliar signs, I had no I idea of position or distance. I asked “Are we about half way yet, as we have been travelling well over two hours?” Curt said “No! Maybe between one quarter or a third of the way maybe!” Cay said, “I think my estimate of the journey might be a bit incorrect.” I wasn’t bothered, as I was enjoying the scenery and the journey. The roads were very quiet, and meandered through forests and beside many lakes. There did not appear to be any serious hills. The 354 kept pace with the others quite easily. It was decided that as Mats’ bike could still prove to be a problem, that he should continue the ride in third position.

The 354 was performing quite well. It was always a bit of a fiddle to start. I found it quite an experience to ride a bike that had the old type induction filter and choke. It seemed incredibly loud compared to my own 1964-354. Engine wise it was a very quiet engine. It was after about 50 miles or so before I realised that there was something wrong with the 354. It ran OK, but every time I went over a pothole or a dip in the road, I was subjected to a severe jolt. My helmet would fly up, and then come down on my head with a crack! I thought that I would have to check the suspension when we had time at the rally site.

The remainder of our journey was quite uneventful, apart from a stop for petrol. Then after about 7½ hours, and 260 kilometres (161 miles) of travelling, we finally arrived at Källebacken.

Källebacken Picture: Kallebacken 158k is a holiday village in a small village called Undenäs. It is deep in the countryside, and is in the winter a popular ski resort. Being a ski resort, the site was at the top of a long steep hill. At the top was the reception area. Lone and Sadie had arrived over two hours before us! They left much later than us, so they were a bit worried when they arrived at the site to find no sign of us. Being women they used this spare time to visit the local shops for a bit of retail therapy. The only snag was that it was a fair walk back to the site up the long steep driveway. After a quick exchange of experiences, we unloaded our things from the boot of the car.

This is where this rally proved to be very unique. No messing around setting up tents here! We all had lovely wooded cabins to sleep in! Picture: SW17 82k All we needed was bedding. The cabins were lovely. They were all fully fitted with a kitchen, shower room, and had electricity and hot and cold running water. Even the windows were double-glazed! This was going to be the comfiest rally we have ever attended!

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

After settling into our cabin, and after having a shower, we ventured out to see how many other people had turned up. As the cabins were well spaced out, and had their individual driveways for parking, you could not clearly see ‘who was where’ without having a good walk around. It was apparent that quite a few people had already arrived. Outside the reception area there were four flagpoles. I noticed that on one of the flagpoles the Union flag was flying! Later that day the proprietor (Mr. Kvick) of Källebacken came up to me and asked, “You are from England yes?” I confirmed this, and he replied, “I have the correct flag yes?” It was indeed an honour to have the Union flag hoisted for Sadie and I, especially as we were the only English people on site!

I noticed a Jawa 350 combo outside one of the cabins. It appeared to be a model 360 and Velorex sidecar. Picture: W13 117k I was curious to determine it’s age and model number. When I looked at the headstock, not only was the VIN-plate missing, there were not even any holes in the frame where the rivets should be! I then turned my attention to the engine. The engine also had no number stamped on it! Very strange I thought. No doubt I would get to meet the owner later.

By the evening there appeared to be about a dozen people already on site. This to me seemed a good turn out for a Friday. We ended up congregated in an open area where there was a brick built barbecue and a large wooded table and bench. The plan was that we going to have a barbecue. The only snag being that the person who was brining the sausages had not turned up yet! As the local shop was due to close at 18:30 I think Lone & Cay went out to buy some ‘back-up bangers’! (Sausages)

We were soon enjoying ourselves around the barbecue. It was a warm evening, and the view of the setting sun was quite spectacular. Picture: SW08 40k By then quite a few more people turned up, including Tomas with the beer and the sausages! I reckoned that there were now well over two-dozen (Jawaklubben) people on site. This I thought was good turn out for the first day. What I did find amazing is that there was no language problem at all. Virtually everybody could speak English!

I got talking to a father and son who were sat next to me. Their names were Kjell and Michael Eriksson. They turned out to be the owners of the mystery combo. The story is, that Michael bought the combo for his father. It was imported from Estonia. They were quite lucky with the Swedish authorities, as the machine had no paperwork that proved it’s age. Similar to the UK, vehicles in Sweden that are 30 years or over are road tax exempt. Kjell and Michael were very pleased when they were allocated a year of manufacture of 1968. Michael asked me what year and model did I think it was. I said that as there were no stamped numbers on the bike anywhere, it was very difficult to determine. The bike ‘looked’ like a model 360, so I would guess it was 1964-1970. Michael said that there was a stamp under the engine, simple the number ‘354’. Apart from the different barrels of a 354 and 360, one cannot tell the difference between and 354 and a 360 engine without taking the engine apart. I jokingly said that I thought his machine was a Gypsy Jawa!

Michael did say, that he was told that Jawas that were exported to Russian states did not have serial numbers. As this machine came from Estonia, this could be true. Despite being a mystery machine, they still had a nice combo, and a machine that would keep father and son busy for many winter evenings.

The atmosphere and association was so nice, that many of us carried on talking well into the early hours of the morning. Reluctantly, we eventually retired to our snug cabins. What machines would I see tomorrow I wondered?

SATURDAY

Despite retiring late Friday night, I still woke up at about 8:30. We were expected for breakfast at Cay & Lone’s cabin Picture: SW12 123k at 9:00. The sun was shining, and we ate breakfast outside. It looked like that we were going to have some very nice weather!

The sun did in fact show it’s glorious face. Many bikes were assembling in the car park outside the reception area. In all there were more 20 machines parked up. I saw quite a few models that are not to be found in the UK such as the 579 & 554 Jawa military models. Picture: JK19 88k There was also one ‘Monarch’ military Jawa in attendance, which was quite muddy and oily. The owner told me he LIKES is looking like that! There were also a model 11 and 18s Picture: JK14 98k that sported high level exhausts. Most of these machines were in immaculate condition. Some I think were not even restored; they have been kept in good condition for many years. Yet another two-tone green CZ-471 turned up. Parked besides Curt Björlid’s almost identical 471, they looked like a pair of bookends! (The two-tone green & two-tone brown ‘Jubilee’ liveries were created to celebrate ’25 years of the Isle of Man ISDT in the 70’s)

One person I met had a ‘JAWA-CZ Owners Club’ sticker on his helmet. This turned out to be Klas Persson. Klas has been a member of our club for 16 years! Klas turned up on his 1964 BMW. I forget why he did not come along on the Jawa. You can just about make out the sticker on this picture Picture: JK16 97k He like many of the people at the rally, were very pleased that at last, that they now have their own JAWA club in Sweden. Klas still intends to keep his JAWA-CZ Owners Club membership up to date, and still has every issues of Torque carefully stored away since he joined! This is an admirable achievement, as it is quite difficult and costly for overseas members to subscribe and be a member of the JAWA-CZ O.C. I have been in touch with Klas over the years, so it was nice to meet him at last.

One machine I found interesting was a CZ model 470. Picture: SW10 144k The 470 are basically a later version of the model 450 (175cc), which has 18’ wheels. As far as I know, the model 470 was never imported into the UK. The owner (Tomas Krantz) had an interesting dilemma with this machine. The barrel & head were missing for this bike, so he has fitted a later 487 top end! I did not know that this could be done! Yet again, the sensible logic of the Czechs proves to be down to earth, whereby basic dimensions have stayed the same during a transition of model. This is why many parts on many models of Jawa and CZ can be interchanged. My own 1964 Jawa 354 bears evidence of this, as I have the later 634 crank and pistons fitted!

Eventually we all got ourselves ready for a ride out together. Picture: JK00 88k I think that there must have been 20 or more bikes all getting ready to set out. It certainly felt like more! I was about the eighth in the line. It was an incredible sensation being in such a long convoy of Czech bikes. The roads in this part of Sweden were ideal for motorcycle touring. The roads had long slow sweeping bends weaving their way through the wooded countryside. It was a bit like a giant version of the forest of dean. I could see Jawas as far as the eye could see in front and in the rear. The further north you travel in Sweden, the more chance you have of coming across Elks and wolves. I didn’t see any though. I think if such a beast did venture near the roadside, the sight of a convoy of Jawas and CZs rumbling through the countryside would soon have them legging it back into the woods!

Our first stop was at a museum at Forsvik. We parked up our machines in an impressive line outside the museum, Picture: JK18 78k which had some cannons outside which made an interesting backdrop. Again people passing by gave us strange looks, and perhaps wondered if the museum was having a ‘display day’! We then moved on to another nice spot. This was at Karlsborg. This was a most interesting and beautiful spot. It was situated on a point where two large lakes are connected by a short canal. As we sat outside eating our lunch, the lock gates were opened, and many boats busied themselves moving from one lake to the other. It appeared that the road bridge is lifted open every, and on the hour for such boat traffic, as there were many boats to see passing by. The weather was also doing its best to give us a nice time. We enjoyed glorious sunshine as we sat outside eating our lunch.

Eventually, we all made our way back to Källebacken. When we arrived back there appeared to be one or two people who had turned up while we were away, and were wondering if they had the right time and place. This is because virtually everyone was out on the run! Hans Holström had turned up with his 640 Picture: JK24 82k white style. Hans was JAWA main dealer in Sweden. He still has quite a few spares in stock; so hopefully, he will be of some use to the rapidly growing JAWAKLUBBEN.

What I did find of particular interest, is that as there has not been a JAWA or CZ club of any kind in Sweden until now, many of the people who turned up or brought along immaculate machines, must have indeed been spending many hours in their sheds restoring machines to which there was no club or source of spares. Despite thinking they were on their own, doing up an oddball machine, they carried on regardless in their efforts to get their machines back on the road. They must have found it a strange yet enjoyable feeling that on arriving at the rally, to find that they were not alone in their quests, and to discover and meet people who have been working on very similar machines! I noticed that there were (picture) several models 11’s (Peraks), three CZ-485s and as mentioned earlier, two almost identical CZ-471s in two-tone Jubilee livery Picture: JK06 103k  I just wish I could be a (Swedish) fly on the wall when these folk got together. When two women turn up at a party with the same dress, panic sets in. When two people turn up at a JAWA-CZ rally with similar machines, joy and much talking usually sets in! I bet many of the Jawaklubben guys who turned up went away with a great feeling of achievement and encouragement as seeing so many highly restored machines, and being able to exchange notes with other owners.

Later in the day we all set out to Skagagården for the Jawaklubben’s very first AGM. The chosen location was a nice quiet place in the heart of the forest. It was a sort of countryside conference centre owned and maintained by the Swedish church.

About 30 or so of assembled and sat in a large room for Jawaklubben’s very first AGM. Although this was a new experience for Cay and for all those in attendance, Cay seemed to have everything in control. (I believe Cay has some experience in union meetings, and applied his methods and protocol quite successfully to this meeting). Cay started off by getting everyone to introduce themselves, and state what machines they owned, and to make any other additional comments. This took quite a while, due to the number of people there. Everyone seemed to listen very intently to what each Jawaklubben member had to say. No doubt many mental notes were taken, as much interesting information was exchanged. When it came to my turn, Cay said “We will come to Mario later!”

Even though I did not understand what was discussed, as I do not speak any Swedish, it was obvious that Cay was democratically electing a committee. He then threw the discussion open to everybody for ideas of what sort of activities the club should organise or promote. It was apparent that many wanted to have additional rallies and meetings in addition to the National Rally. No doubt they all found the experience of getting together with other like-minded people so enjoyable that they wanted to enjoy doing it more often.

I was eventually asked to give a speech. I introduced myself, told them how happy we were to be invited to such an important occasion. I gave them a brief account of my (JAWA-CZ related) background and of our own JAWA-CZ Owners Club, and pointed out, that although our club is 47 year old, we have only had 25 National Rallies, and ever since regular National and regional rallies became the norm, that it has encouraged and enabled our club to grow greatly since those very early days, and encouraged them to keep regular meetings high on their list of priorities. I wished them well, and conveyed our greetings in behalf of the JAWA-CZ Owners Club, and hoped that we would increase our already close ties between our two clubs.

A similar problem faces Jawaklubben which our club in the UK suffers from, and that is geography! More so for Jawaklubben, as Sweden is more than twice the size of the UK. Not only that, the northern half of Sweden is quite barren and remote, and sparsely populated compared to the south. This is why Undenäs-Källebacken was chosen for this venue. While to me, it felt like we travelled a long way to the north, we in fact were only in the centre of the southern part of Sweden. This while not being physically central to Sweden was quite central for most of the Jawaklubben members that were in attendance. It appears that most were happy with this location, and it looks like the National Rally will be held in the same place at least for the next few years.

After the AGM meeting, we all retired to the dining area, and all sat down to enjoy a lovely home cooked meal. When everyone had finished their meal, Cay & Mats occupied themselves setting up a TV & VCR. A video I brought along was put in the VCR, and soon we had an audience firmly glued to the screen. To many, this was the very first time that they had ever seen anything on a TV screen that had footage of JAWAs & CZs in action! You could have heard a pin drop! The concentration and enjoyment was so intense! I had seen this video footage many times, and not wanting to bore Sadie with this film, we sat outside enjoying the warm sunny evening.

Klas had given me a can of lager earlier that he specially brought along to give to me. He was adamant that he wanted to see me enjoy and drink this can of lager. I was amazed when he pulled this can out from his pannier to give to me to find it was a 1-litre can! So I sat outside with Sadie enjoying my mega-sized can of lager thinking, ”What a hard life it is being the International liaison officer for the JAWA-CZ owners Club!”

After the film show ‘Cay opened up shop’ with a variety of club regalia, such as T-shirts and caps. This again must have been the first opportunity for many to have any sort of regalia with ‘JAWA’ printed on it! Many came away with broad smiling faces as a result of the success of the National Rally, the AGM.

We all reluctantly made our way to the campsite at Källebacken. Once back there many ended up assembling in the barbeque area and having another good chat with each other. This was my first chance to find out from others, as to what was exactly said and discussed at the AGM. The feedback looked very promising. Most were already talking about getting together in the same place in 2002. Not only that, many expressed a desire to arrange more meetings in addition to the National event! As for many, the weekend was a very enjoyable yet tiring experience. A few people started to make tracks back to their cabins. I was invited by Tomas Krantz to have a drink at his cabin. I say ‘at’ as opposed to ‘in’ as it was still so incredibly mild that we sat outside for the remainder of the evening. Before I realised it, and many drinks later my watch told me it was past 3:00am! Reluctantly, Tomas and I retired to our beds, still with many good memories of the weekend, and countless conversations.

SUNDAY

We awoke to a bright yet wet morning. It must have been raining in the night, as there were quite a few large puddles here and there. I certainly did not hear it! We went over to Cay & Lone’s cabin for breakfast. Cay wanted to know what time I went to bed. Was this fatherly interest, or just curiosity I wondered? For some reason, Tomas was nowhere to be seen! Perhaps the whisky bottle that we finished off had something to do with it!

This to me is always the saddest day of any rally, as it is the day when we all say our farewells. This time though, I found more emotional, as I would not know when I would see this remarkable collection of Jawaklubben members again. I didn’t get chance to say farewell to everybody including Tomas who was still out for the count when we left. Curt Björlid had made his way back on his own in the early hours of the morning; I think he didn’t want his Sunday dinner to end up in the dog! This meant that it was just Cay, Mats and myself who were going to ride in convoy all the way back to Gothenburg. By the time we were ready to depart, the sun was high in the sky, and it was already starting to get very warm. So of we set on our long journey home.

After an hour or so of travelling, it was apparent that Mats was having trouble with his 485. We pulled over. He said, “I think I now have mechanical problems!” From the symptoms he described, it sounded like that his 485 was tightening up. I was wondering why he did not get this trouble on the journey up to Undenäs. Then I noticed two things. 1) The weather was now much hotter than the previous days, and 2) Mats had a sleeping bag tied in a bundle below his mudguard. Picture: SW06a 92k I reckoned that this was preventing a good airflow to his engine. Cay offered to strap this bundle to his 579. After a sufficient cool down period we got ready to set off again. Cay’s 579 refused to start without a push! This is always a sign that the weather is too hot when a Jawa refuses to start!

After about half an hour of travelling, I noticed in my rear view mirror, that we had lost Mats again! We turned around, and scoured the roadside for a broken down bike. I couldn’t see him anywhere! Then when I looked behind again, I had then lost Cay! Turning around again, I eventually found Mats and Cay in a petrol station. Apparently Mats went onto reserve and turned into the nearest petrol station. The weather was still very hot, but Mats bike appeared to behaving itself, and showing no sign of seizing up. Cay shed another layer of clothing, as it was getting far too hot to be wrapped up so well. Again Cay’s 579 insisted on being push started. I am glad that even though the 354 while being a bit tricky to start, I did manage to get it going without resorting to a push start every time. I was glad about this; as if I were to attempt to push start a motorcycle there is a very good chance that it would agitate my back problem. The last place on earth to put one’s back out would be while one is abroad in a strange place, and more importantly, retiring to a strange bed, where recovery would be inhibited.

After about 130 kilometres (80 miles) we stopped for fuel and a drink in a café by a weir. The building the café was in used to be an old mill house. It was a most pleasant spot. People fishing, enjoying refreshments etc. while sitting outside beside the flowing water. Mats mentioned that he still thought that something was still wrong with his 485. Whenever he closed the throttle, the bike would cut out. As we prepared to leave he said, “I think I will give my fuse another wiggle”. I couldn’t imagine that it was still the fuse holder causing him this problem, as I was sure that it had a good connection inside the holder when I checked it on the way up. As I watched him carrying out this check, to my horror the main battery lead came away from the battery! So at last we then knew why he was experiencing intermittent electrical problems. The big problem was that it was not the correct battery for the 485, and did not have external terminals, and we were miles from anywhere! Mats said that it was a new battery, and was annoyed that he had bought a duff.

He pointed out to me that there seemed to be some sort of blanking cap on the battery top. With the aid of Cay’s multi purpose-penknife I managed to get this cap out which then exposed the lead battery terminal. It was then obvious, that the main battery lead must have been very poorly attached to it. How was I going to fix it? I fed the wire through the small hole, stripped back the insulation, made a lasso, and pushed the lasso over the inset terminal. This wasn’t a particularly good connection, so I dove into my pocket and came out with a packet of Polo mints. Mats couldn’t understand why I was going to eat sweets at this critical point. What I was after was some silver paper. I made a small silver paper ball and pressed it firmly into the terminal void. With the blanking cap also pushed back in, this made a good enough temporary connection to get Mats home. Mats remarked, “That will last me 10 years!”

We then set off on the final leg of our journey to Gothenburg. This last leg went without a hitch. The weather was getting a bit weird. It was still very warm, but ahead I could see grey clouds. The look and feel led me to believe that we were heading into a thunderstorm. Incredibly though, we did not catch up or meet any storm. We did find many roads were wet from a downpour, but we did not encounter any serious bad weather to merit stopping and putting on our waterproofs. Arriving in the outskirts of Gothenburg it was obvious that there was quite a heavy downpour of rain in the area very recently. We safely arrived at Cay’s house to find that Lone and Sadie sat outside having coffee. “Did you get caught in the rain?” they asked. Lone said that the rain was so heavy at one point, which that they had to stop the car! We were very lucky, that we did not see any such serious weather. We all sat in the garden enjoying a few refreshments while exchanging accounts of our journeys back home. After Mats had rested from our journey, he set off home, on his final leg of his journey home.

MONDAY

In Cay’s local paper there was a picture and report of a car and caravan that was turned upside down by a ‘freak’ storm, which occurred on Sunday! It looks like we were very lucky in avoiding this freak weather, as the reported area was not too far from our chosen route home. Regarding our trip home, I think Cay must have led us home via a different route, as we shaved two hours of our journey time, and clocked up 245 kilometres (152miles) instead of 260.

We slowly got our stuff together, and got it all packed away, ready for our trip to the airport. Cay drove us to the airport and escorted us to the check in desk, and said our final farewells. It was truly a very memorable time, of that will be in our memories for many years to come. As I checked in our luggage, I mentioned to the girl that they lost one of my bags when we came to Sweden. Looking at the bag in question she said, “Well, it is a small bag!” Little did I know, that when we were to arrive in Manchester, that my largest item of luggage, my suitcase, got misplaced in Denmark! So apart from writing an account of this epic adventure, I was sure to write a very sharp letter to Scandinavian Airlines!

EPILOGUE

To be able to attain such a colossal feat of starting a club, organising a National Rally, an AGM and have club regalia and food and drink all organised in less than a year to me was an incredible achievement by Cay Bernhardsson, which he did almost single-handedly. Without his many hours of hard work, such a club, and event would not have been possible. I am sure that everyone who attended this remarkable event owes their thanks to Cay for all his hard work, as this will undoubtedly increase and secure their enjoyment of their Czech machines. Now though I think, Cay will have a few helping hands to share all this hard work. It goes without saying, “Behind every successful man, there is a great woman. I assure you this is correct. I have met her! Sadie and I would like to say once again, many thanks to CAY and the woman behind the scenes, LONE! For inviting us along, putting us up and looking after us so well, in order for us to enjoy this unique event.

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