by Abhinand Venugopal from https://www.rushlane.com
Jawa Motorcycles’ European exports will start with Jawa 300 aka Jawa Classic
Classic Legends, owned by Mahindra & Mahindra group, brought down Jawa Motorcycles to the Indian market back in November 2018. As a first, two motorcycles were launched as direct rivals to Royal Enfield’s ‘350’ range: Jawa 42 and ‘Jawa’ (a.k.a. ‘Jawa Classic’ or ‘300’). Prices for the initial BS4 single-channel ABS models stood at Rs 1.55 lakh and Rs 1.64 lakh, respectively.
Either motorcycle was recently updated to BS6 specifications and prices increased to Rs 1.74 lakh and 1.83 lakh, respectively, for their dual-channel ABS variants. Meanwhile, Jawa Perak bobber was launched towards 2019 end as the Czech-origin brand’s first BS6 product, at a price tag of Rs 1.95 lakh. All prices mentioned here are ex-showroom.
Jawa Motorcycles India plans to commence its European export operations soon with Jawa Classic as a start. The motorcycle has been already homologated for European roads. Compared to its original Indian specifications, Euro-spec Jawa 300 has received some minor updates to comply with local motor vehicle norms. Visually, there are no changes and Jawa Motorcycles is expected to introduce the same colour choices available in India.
There is a good demand for classic motorcycles in Europe and the market has already proved to be a success for modern classics. For the same reason, major names in industry have introduced a range of interesting products in this genre. Honda Motorcycle could even bring back iconic CB series in the not-too-distant future.
Coming back to Jawa Motorcycles, both its entry-level products are powered by a 293cc liquid-cooled DOHC single-cylinder motor derived from Mahindra Mojo’s power plant. The engine, in its latest BS6 format, makes 27bhp and 28Nm of torque while mated to a 6-speed transmission. Jawa Perak gets a re-bored 334cc version of the same unit, mated to 6-speed gearbox. Power figures are significantly high at 30bhp and 31Nm.
In European markets as well, Jawa 300 will lock horns with Royal Enfield Bullet Classic 350. At present, Jawa motorcycle is easily a better choice compared to the current-gen UCE ‘350’ Royal Enfield models. However, the story might be different once Royal Enfield launches its next-gen ‘350’ line-up starting with Royal Enfield Meteor 350.
One of the major challenges faced by Jawa Motorcycles India was delivery times. At various occasions, buyers had even cancelled their bookings due to unreasonably long waiting periods. Jawa plans to address this issue by ramping up its production capacity. The industry is currently facing a new challenge in the form of COVID-19.
