It was two years ago that Mahindra bought 60 per cent stake in a company called Classic Legends Private Limited, which owns BSA and has an exclusive brand license agreement with Jawa in particular countries. At the time, Mahindra said it is looking to revive Jawa and sell Jawa motorcycles in India by 2019. And now, the Czech manufacturer took the wraps off the Jawa 350 Special in Europe. The 350 Special is the third Jawa motorcycle in Europe after the Jawa 350 OHC and the 660 Vintage. It is homage of sorts to the company's racing heritage.
(Jawa 350 Special is based on the Jawa 350 OHC)With a beautiful fairing, retro colour scheme, old-school up-swept exhaust pipes and the round headlamp and dollops of chrome, the Jawa 350 Special looks drop dead gorgeous. Even the rear is shaped like that of a café racer, complete with a flat seat and a bum-stop. Coming to the engine, the 350 Special gets a 397 cc parallel-twin engine that makes 27.6 bhp at 6,500 rpm and peak torque of 30.6 Nm at 5,000 rpm. This is the same engine as on the Jawa 350 OHC. The engine has been manufactured by Chinese firm Shinray, and uses a fuel injection system from Delphi.
The bike weighs in at 171 kg, which is 11 kg more than the 350 OHC and has a 17-litre fuel tank. The 350 Special already has European type approval for the bike which means that it conforms to the Euro IV emission norms and has ABS (anti-lock brakes) as well. Mahindra could bring the 660 Vintage and the 350 OHC in India along with the 350 Special as well. Also, we might see a motorcycle with a Jawa badge and the platform of the Mojo.
With the Jawa brand, Mahindra is looking to go straight to the market and segments in which Royal Enfield operates. But, in order to that, the prices of the Jawa bikes have to be kept competitive. Lets see how works out for Jawa.
