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Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

‘One-of-a-Kind’ Praga ZS 800 Motorcycle Debuts With Unbelievable Price Tag


You may already know Czech company Praga for its $1.28 million hypercar, the Bohema, but before the dust has even settled on that announcement, the brand has moved on. Praga is branching out, releasing its $90,000 Praga ZS 800 motorcycle, which is an evolution of the 1928 Praga BD 500 and it describes as a “one-of-a-kind machine bringing an iconic heritage into the modern world”.

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Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

This isn’t the first time that Praga has worked in the world of motorcycles. In 1926, Jaroslav Frantisek koch, an aviation designer, created the BD 500 for the brand. Now Praga is pulling from that long-ago experience to create a new version of the bike. The Praga ZS 800 started out as a passion project, with engineer and artisanal welder Jan Zuzi, who was responsible for the titanium exhausts used on the Bohema, working on the bike after hours.

The bike hearkens back to Praga’s BD 500, a bike made in 1928. You can pick up on the retro inspiration thanks to the bike’s high-mounted headlamp as well as the sweeping handlebars. The look is crowned with the pre-war saddle design, though it has been granted an Ohlins TTX air under-seat suspension to help compensate for the roughness of a hardtail frame.

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Powering the ZS 800 is a 773 cc, air-cooled parallel-twin engine sourced from the Kawasaki W800. It’s capable of 65 horsepower and 37 lb-ft of torque, which feeds into a bevel-gear cam drive system. The cry-moly frame is a hardtail version and is hand welded. Pulling on his exhaust experience with the Bohema, Zuzi also hand-welded the bike’s exhaust from titanium. The 18-inch wheels look retro until you realize that they are made of the modern material carbon fibre. To create those wheels, each strand had to be hand-woven. The use of carbon fibre and other lightweight materials, like titanium, means that this bike is feather-light as well, weighing in at just 313 pounds dry.

“Strong and extremely lightweight materials – such as carbon, titanium, chrome-molybdenum steel and aviation duralumin – enabled us to reimagine the rigid rear wheel suspension, the front swingarm fork, and the hydraulic drum brakes,” chief designer, Jan Žuži, said. “These futuristic materials and Praga sports division’s latest production facilities have enabled us to transfer those elegant historical design elements to the present day, and to build a motorcycle with contemporary driving characteristics and a unique feel.”

With a price tag approaching six figures, you might assume that it’s not just premium materials that go into building this bike, and you would be right. Praga invests more than 300 hours of five-axis machining into the building of each bike. That kind of investment of both capital and man hours results in the bike being a rare item. Only 28 examples will be made, each priced at around USD$90,000.

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Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga

Praga ZS 800 motorcycle | Image: Praga