So I recently spent a few weeks working in Havana, Cuba. While I was there I tried to capture the current motorcycle scene  with photos. The majority of bikes are small displacement(less than 350cc) and about  50/50 2-stroke and 4-stroke. German-made MZ 250’s are the most common, followed by Suzuki GN125’s and their clones. Most of the bikes are being kept running by any means possible since spare parts are very scarce, mostly due to the US trade embargo.

This is a standard MZ 250ETZ, which is the most commonly seen bike in Havana, Cuba. The motor is an air-cooled piston-port 250cc 2-stroke.

 

 

A few electric bikes were running around, mostly scooters.

 

This Russian-built IZH Jupiter 350 is looking pretty clean!IZH was a weapons manufacturer, producing the well known AK47 Kalashnikov machine guns. They produced over 11 million motorcycles from 1927 up until the end of the Soviet Union.

 

This Russian Ural with a sidecar looked like it had seen better days. Due to the difficulty of getting replacement parts, its all about keeping bikes running in Cuba.

 

This is a Russian IZH 350 with a sidecar.

 

Most of the police bikes are mid-eighties Yamaha 250 Viragos. Some of the motorcycle cops are on Moto Guzzi Nevada 750’s.

Suzuki GN125’s are very commonplace, along with some copies.

 

 

Yamaha 100cc 2-stroke.

Suzuki 100cc 2-stroke.

 

 

CZ Jawa 350