Manufactured in Ceské-Budéjovic c1944-1949
Designed by Jaroslav Vlk, the Hurikan had an OHC 250cc engine and was considered an advanced sports machine, the last of which was produced in 1949.
A 250cc road-racer was campaigned by the factory rider František Irmis of Lišov until 1952. The machine had alloy fuel and oil tanks, Borrani rims and a 21in front wheel. It also had a 350cc engine available for use in that class.
The four-speed gearbox was built by Vlk, but was an almost exact copy of the Burman. Similarly the 30mm carburettor was produced in-house, a copy of a racing Amal. Magneto was Lucas, ignition controls by Bowden.
A single example of a 350cc machine was built, designed for endurance racing. It is unit-construction, OHC, with 4-speed gearbox and swinging-arm rear suspension. Serial number 003 has a 348cc engine, Bosch 6v/45w dynamo, and IHC magneto. It has been restored and is displayed in a museum.
Jaroslav Vlk (Vlk = Wolf) had a long history in the motorcycle trade, dating back to 1932 when he opened his first motorcycle workshop. In the mid-1930s he raced with the Ogar team ('35, 36, 37), winning the 1937 Zlaté kolo (Golden Wheel) event, with several other podium finishes that year and the honour of "second most successful rider of the year" ~ Motor Revue, Jan 1938. For 1938 he joined the JAWA team. Born in Russia, his family had fled the Bolsheviks in 1919 and this would go some way to explaining why development of the very advanced Hurikan was summarily curtailed by the puppet Soviet government.
Notes:
1. An image exists captioned "Vedle něj známý motoristický publicista Ervín Tragač"
2. A rather different story is given by motos-de-l-est.jlbweb.fr, which references moto-histo.com. These sites say that the Hurikan factory, located not far from the CZ and JAWA factories, built some 1500 motorcycles over the two or three decades preceding its closure by the Soviet interlopers. The detailed history of Vladislav Vlk presented at the South-Bohemian MC Museum makes no reference to such a factory nor issues a whisper of mass production.
Sources: GTU Oldtimerservice, South-Bohemian MC Museum, Tragatsch p169.
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