Good old Jawa memories

Guest Post
Author: Richard Route

My first memories of a Jawa was when I was around 12, I used to hang around a friend's garage who used to specialize in repairing Jawas mainly. I was fortunate to own my first Jawa bike when I was 15. It was a restoration job, picked it in a junk condition for a few hundred rupees and brought it back to life.

 

Back in the day, there were only Indian bikes. Jawa, Yezdi, Bullet and Rajdoot where the prominent ones and getting the maximum power out of them was a preoccupation of all bikers. From fine tuning, changing the front chain sprocket to increasing compression, modifications to the mufflers to get the best beats, modifications to make it look different, we have tried it all.

Richard Route with his modified Yezdi

We also used to do a lot of cross country riding and never had any problem with the bikes. The Jawa is built strong and never gives up. We did stunts, jumps, wheelies and skidding. The Jawa was an all rounder. I remember extended the swing arm and fitting an 18 inch wheel on the rear and lifted the rear end just to give the bike a racy look.

I now live in Perth, Australia and own a Kawasaki ZZR 1200 which is awesome but the excitement of riding my Jawa / Yezdi is more memorable to me.

Richard's Kawasaki ZZR 1200 in Australia

I keenly follow the BJYMC Facebook page and feel nostalgic. Can imagine the sound and feel of the bikes when you all gather for the Jawa Day celebrations. What an awesome feeling that must be. I look forward to being a part of this year's International Jawa Day celebrations (9th of July 2017) thru all your photos and videos.

All the best guys, keep riding and stay safe.

A Jawa Fan,

Richard Route

richardroute@gmail.com

Ideal Jawa - Forever Bike Forever Value

Guest Post
Author: Vivek Roadking

Jawa...... The name brings forward a lot of emotions. The love which is attached with a sentiment... The respect attached with its heritage... The passion with the sheer joy of riding one....The jealousy of seeing a better bike than yours.. A little ganchali with having a few parked in the house, seldom used covered with an inch of dust above and an inch of oil below.

Forever bike - forever value they say...a slogan cried loud by the die hards..a statement never understood by the posers.

Few still trying to figure out the kick-gear mechanism, few determined to push the machine further with whatever technology has to offer. Some bikes inherited.. Some bought.. Some built.. Some destroyed..some still under litigation and cravingly in the sight of many.

Some make a living by fixing them..some make money by buying new selling old..some use names for fraud.. Media publicity a requirement for some people.. 'Ignorance is bliss' for some others.

Exhaust note fans are many... Yajadee gaadi...2 stroke bullet.. Mileage 15ah?? Top speed 75alva??... address a few alien folk.

That incomparable smile when someone is jaw dropped watching u ride despite a broken clutch cable..that attention in the traffic signal with people covering their ears n noses...that embarrassing moment when the bike goes rich when ur showing it off to the non-technical folks of ur college!! That sense of achievement when you manage to fix the carb all by urself in front of ur girlfriend....

This brand has made the lives of many people worth more than they dreamt of... Made friends... Enemies who went to the extent of posing life threat.. But we still continue what we do...what we love.. what we want..what we don't want/regret...still living with ego..hatred..jealousy.. but the passion lives on!!

Vivek with his Jawa 350 Twin