The Blata pocket is a pocket-bike model of Blata, the Czech motorcycle company based on the outskirts of Blansko. Pocket bikes, or minimotos, are small machines for circuits and private ground, and Blata has built them since 1991.
Blata pocket at a glance
| Maker | Blata, Blansko, Czech Republic |
|---|---|
| Class | minimoto (pocket bike) |
| Typical length | about 1 m (class figure) |
| Typical height | about 60 cm (class figure) |
| Seat height | a little over 40 cm (class figure) |
| Typical weight | just over 20 kg (class figure) |
| Engines used in the class | 39 or 50 cc two-stroke, 90 cc four-stroke |
| Cooling | air in Junior classes, liquid elsewhere |
| Typical power | 2–3 hp and 6–7 hp air-cooled, 11 and 14–15 hp liquid-cooled |
| Road use | not road-legal |
| Model specifications | not published |
No published technical data for the Blata pocket was found. The figures in the table describe the minimoto class in general, as given by the Italian Wikipedia article on minimoto; they are not claimed as the specifications of this model.
History of the Blata pocket
Blata is a Czech motorcycle manufacturer with its factory on the first outskirts of Blansko. It is named after its founder, Pavel Blata, who worked from 1974 as a test rider for the engineering firm Povázské and built his first minimoto in his garage in 1991. The company still describes its business as minibikes, folding motorcycles and quads.
A minimoto, or pocket bike, is a very small motorcycle made for circuits and private ground rather than the road. The class is normally about one metre long, around sixty centimetres high and a little over twenty kilos, with a seat a little over forty centimetres from the ground. Most machines use 39 or 50 cc two-stroke engines, and four-stroke units of 90 cc are also accepted.
Power depends on the engine and on the rules of the class. Air-cooled engines in the Junior categories make 2–3 hp in Chinese-built units and 6–7 hp in Italian ones, while liquid-cooled engines reach 11 hp and 14–15 hp respectively, and up to 18 hp in machines raced in major championships. Blata grew up in exactly this world: in 1994, when exports to the USA and the EU began, it founded the BLATA CUP minibike racing series, and it had twenty employees and 2,200 minimotos and scooters behind it. In November 2005 the company took action at the EICMA show in Milan against Far Eastern copies of its models, which led to seizures and criminal proceedings in several European countries.
Design and features
- Pocket-bike class: a minimoto built for circuits and private ground, not for road use.
- Small two-stroke engines: the class is dominated by 39 and 50 cc two-strokes.
- Air or liquid cooling: Junior machines are air-cooled and limited in power; other classes are almost all liquid-cooled.
- Blata background: the model comes from a maker that has built minibikes since 1991 and runs its own racing cup.
Blata pocket versions
- Blata pocket: the model described on this page.
- Blata 2.5: a small minibike of the same range.
- Blata Elite: another minimoto from Blata.
- Blata Minimotard: the minimoto-style model of the range.
- Blata Origami: a further Blata model.
Other pocket bikes from the same maker are the Blata 2.5, the Blata Elite and the Blata Minimotard. More in the Blata collection.
Sources
- Blata, Italian Wikipedia: company history, minimoto production, EICMA 2005
- Minimoto, Italian Wikipedia: dimensions, engines, cooling and power
