New Jawa Classic Legends revealed

A new generation of Jawa Classic Legends motorcycles with a 300cc engine have been revealed in spy photos from “automotive enthusiast” Kiran P Menon.

But don’t get too excited about seeing the bikes here.

The Czech motorcycle company has licensed the name Jawa to Mahindra auto company for production and sale in India.

Meanwhile, Jawa still makes retro bikes in the Czech Republic.

It’s an unusual arrangement and we most likely will not get to see them here. Not unless the licensing agreement is changed.

Mahindra has also bought BSA with the intention of releasing retro models for the global market. They would compete directly with Royal Enfield.

There is no word on the size of the BSA models. However, we expect they will compete with Royal Enfield’s new 650 twins, the Interceptor and Continental GT.

Jawa Classic Legends

The three new Mahindra Jawa Classic Legends motorcycles will be unveiled on 15 November 2018. Coincidentally, that’s one day after Royal Enfield debuts their twins in India.

We expect this naked classic to be joined by a cafe racer, single-seat bobber or a scrambler.

Check out these crude sketches from a Jawa promotional video featuring the new engine crudely pasted in place.

They will all be powered by a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder 293cc engine. It has 20kW of power and 28Nm of torque.

The Jawa Classic Legends will compete against the Royal Enfield Classic 350. It is the company’s top seller with about 45,000 bikes a month.

Kiran’s photos of the heavy camouflaged bike show it is shod with Indian MRF tyres on spoked wheels.

Other traditional features are a large round headlight, brown bench seat, twin shocks, gaitered telescopic forks, dual shotgun exhausts and wide, flat bars.

The instruments are covered, but look big enough to be traditional dual pods.

There appears to be ABS on the front brake disc. However, the rear is a drum brake, so it is unlikely to be exported unless they update to ABS all round.