JAWA

About JAWA

A brief history.

Started in Czechoslovakia, 1929.
It derives it's name from the founder JAnacek-WAnderer. Janacek an arms industrialist got into the motorcycle market and bought rights to a German company Wanderer ( 498CC O.H.V ) with a single shaft-drive steel frame) It didn't see commercial success due to various problems.
In 1932, an English designer George Patchett helped create a successful racer and also designed a 346cc SV & OHV road bikes for JAWA.
During the War production was completely stopped and the factory was used to manufacture arms.
After the 1st world war JAWA was nationalized and was called CZ.
250cc two stoke singles and 350cc stroke twins were introduced, which have formed the back bone of their sales, those came without any rear shock absorbers initially, the post war JAWA had them and was called perak' springer and the next breed the kyvacka' or springers flaunting a proper rear suspension.
There were some sophisticated dohc racers ( few supercharged ) & O.H.C 500cc in the mid 50's.It had a lot of success in motocross. intially they used their 4 stroke engines but their 2 stroke engines out performed the 4 strokes and were replaced by them.
This mainstay bikes were the 250cc/350cc two strokes.
Though the company was into R&D only before the war, it has dozens of patents to its name, for example
-the automatic clutch(1959) (honda owes much to JAWA on that front)
-Valve Design-brand new induction valve design for two-stroke engines
few other notable things
-Narrow engine construction
-two stroke rotary valve Jawa racing machine
- Jawa reset their 2 stroke twins crank so that the pistons actually moved up and down together in a sense it was a "false" twin.
Few details( few,but not all ) Courtesty-The encyclopedia of the motorcycle-Peter Henshaw


Will update as and when i find out more.