[ashwin1224]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Low on power compared to RE, tube tires, drum brakes, unenthusiastic launch... but all I see is style! Maybe I am blinded by nostalgia.

But one thing I am glad about, they have kept the bigger front wheel than the rear wheel. I think it was unique to Jawa in the past, even now I am not sure if any other bikes have that other than dual-sport / adventure bikes. It gives a unique stance to the bike.

Personally, I am all over the Jawa. With much more hp and a twin engine the Interceptor makes a lot more sense, but.. that shape!

Its got 27Bhp, 7Bhp MORE than the RE 350, and as much as an RE 500. It also weighs a lot less than the 350.
A base RE 350 has the same braking setup minus the ABS. While the Classic 350 WITH ABS costs marginally lower than the Jawa, while still being under powered and less efficient.

Also, Jawas and Yezdis of yore were famous for being the only vehicles who had 16inch wheels front and back. Front was 3.25 16 while the rear was 3.50 16. This made them the only motorcycle which would allow you to carry just one spare which would fit both at the front and the rear.

[SMWLN]

I am more of a car guy, but the launch of Jawa specially Jawa 42 and Perak got me all excited and I've been suggesting my friends to book it right away! Really happy to see that RE has some competition now. Looking forward to the reviews!

[payeng]

Originally Posted by narayan

The more I look at the Jawa the more I'm liking it. The more I'm looking at the Interceptor the less I'm liking it. Anyone else facing this syndrome ?

Am facing exactly the same syndrome.. also 300 cc, 27 bhp 28 Nm sounds good enough for me..l

Originally Posted by narayan

2. Given the shorter and narrower rear portion how practical is it to have some panniers for touring

The rear with the grab handles is perfect for the ViaTerra Claw for touring luggage solution

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

I have, and I still prefer tubes unless I know I'm not hitting the dirt even a little bit. I'm almost always dressed for the occasion as if crashing was on the agenda. But, they're definitely a pain. On the Impulse, for example, there's no center stand. Taking off and slotting the rear wheel is a pain even for professionals...while the bike is on a jack...and I'm holding a few parts to help align everything.

What differentiates a blow-out from a puncture? Does the tire come off the wheel?

As for the Impulse you could lay the motorcycle on its side and get the tube replaced.

On the Navi, it's too easy. There's the benefit of "single-sided swingarm" if you can call it that.

Going by the principle of calling it as it is, a Single sided swing-arm it is!

In the same light I consider my CT100B to be a purist's Scrambler than the likes of ones from Triumph and Ducati considering that originally a Scrambler was something displacing anywhere from 100~500cc's that was built to tackle any kind of terrain possibly imaginable.

I haven't tried my hand at replacing the tube, let along fixing a puncture. But I intend to learn how to do that before I take the Navi on a road trip.

Worst case scenario you can use a screw driver, but I'd strictly say you don't.

Motorcycle spoons are cheap at Rs.300 a pair bought locally and they're way more compact than car spoons. Can be tethered to sit under the seat if that's an option or you could tether it to the saree-guard with the help of a soft tool-sack.

First time around it would take roughly an hour per tire but as you get used to it, would take considerably less, the only issue with the rear tire is that you'd have to get the drum stopper and brake link off which is actually the easy way of doing it as last time I was too lazy and managed without the same but in the process almost dropped the motorcycle twice due to muscling the rear tire off, not to mention bending both links, though not an issue as they can just as easily be bent back into form.

Though I've replaced tubes quite often I've never really fixed a puncture due to being concerned about reliability considering how hot a tire gets on extended rides.

[giri1.8]

Unlike the car scene, which has saturated more or less, motorcyles are getting hotter day by day! Jawa looks sweet and almost has everyone talking, even my friends abroad were asking about this new "Bullet competitor".

Jawa would be a great addition to my garage, not sure if I am ready for relaxed and peaceful cruising My Duke 200 seems to serve me right.

[amit_snk]

I think Mahindra has done a bit of cheating on riders with these bikes. Are these bikes better then Classic 350? ofcourse yes, are they revolutionary? No way, they are not even evolutionary.

Revolutionary is what bajaj did with Dominar (great features at a competetive price) and RE did with first Himalayan (leave aside the issues, core theme of the bike was not lost in the development) and now with twins. Mahindra took an already good engine, put some fins in it, took design inspiration from old models and we were presented with JAWA (nothing evolutionary here).

They had to beat RE in terms of price (which were already high on price and low on VFM), and they couldn't do it. One thing they easily could have done is put some more effort into their R&D, for e.g- replace that liquid cooler with an oil cooler and put those faux fins into some work, that could have reduced some cost and with one less thing to worry, would have increased the reliability of the bike and in doing so if they had to sacrifice a few bhps, who cares; they already had a big bhp advantage over RE. Why they didn't do it? Dont know, probably they lacked the guts to do it and played safe and thats probably the difference between RE of today (steered by Sid Lal) and Jawa of Mahindra.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

What differentiates a blow-out from a puncture? Does the tire come off the wheel?

I feel we are going significantly out of topic. There are surely other dedicated threads to discuss this as it is not specific to Java.

Alloys and Tubeless tyres have always been considered improvements when a bike manufactured bikes with this specification as also has been the case with ABS and Dual Disk Brakes.

And yes in case of a blow out one generally crashes / has a fall. In case of a puntcher one generally stays on the Bike and slowly notices either front or rear sliding about enough to stop riding and attend to it. A BIG safety difference.

Shouldn't the Java 42 be compared with the RE 500 Thunderbird? Similar power. More modern engine on Java.

[strike909]

Expect fit and finish to be below par. If you see the promotional video closely, there is a scene where the bike is being ridden down steps. , I still don't know what point they want to make with that shot, but the right exhaust was flexing dreadfully and I felt that it would snap.

The image of the forty two again has misaligned exhausts with right lower than left

[Ironhide]

Originally Posted by amit_snk

I think Mahindra has done a bit of cheating on riders with these bikes. Are these bikes better then Classic 350? ofcourse yes, are they revolutionary? No way, they are not even evolutionary.

Revolutionary is what bajaj did with Dominar (great features at a competetive price) and RE did with first Himalayan (leave aside the issues, core theme of the bike was not lost in the development) and now with twins. Mahindra took an already good engine, put some fins in it, took design inspiration from old models and we were presented with JAWA (nothing evolutionary here).

They had to beat RE in terms of price (which were already high on price and low on VFM), and they couldn't do it. One thing they easily could have done is put some more effort into their R&D, for e.g- replace that liquid cooler with an oil cooler and put those faux fins into some work, that could have reduced some cost and with one less thing to worry, would have increased the reliability of the bike and in doing so if they had to sacrifice a few bhps, who cares; they already had a big bhp advantage over RE. Why they didn't do it? Dont know, probably they lacked the guts to do it and played safe and thats probably the difference between RE of today (steered by Sid Lal) and Jawa of Mahindra.

Maybe it was not their intent in the first place to do something revolutionary with the bike. Maybe all they were aiming to do was to recreate the legacy of erstwhile Jawa, which IMO they have replicated to a large degree.

The engine in the bike after all is a derivative of Mojo's engine which is a liquid cooled unit. Experts could pitch in here, but IMO it's an extremely complex job to design an engine from scratch. Even redesigning an engine from a liquid cooled unit to air cooled unit would be much more difficult than what you and I can envisage. After designing the engine they have to be tested under various conditions, put through a range of stresses & load conditions at varying rpms, overloaded with simulated usage scenarios, and only after the engine passes having been tested for millions of kilometres will it be deemed capable enough (& safe enough) to be installed in a bike.

Also, I don't think so that an engine with an added oil cooler is thermally more efficient than liquid cooled unit. had this been the case then Honda, the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world would have been doing the same with their mid to large capacity engines. (People knowledgeable on the subject may please contribute and clarify)

All the same from the pictures and videos that have surfaced so far, the quality looks top notch. The strengths of the bike can broadly be listed as under:

• Relatively light weight (170 kgs)
• Low saddle height - will be a boon for shorter riders.
• A proven liquid cooled, fuel injected engine.
• The (relatively) lighter weight, coupled with decent BHP and torque figures, which are par for the course for engine of this size, should result in excellent power to weight and torque to weight ratios.
• The styling is spot on - a true replica of Jawa of yesteryears.
• The fit and finish looks excellent, though only time will tell if it will hold up on bad roads of Spiti or Ladakh. All said and done you have to give it to Mahindra for a job well done, at least in the quality & styling department

Though not all's perfect with the bike. There are certain areas in which Mahindra could've done better, namely;

• Disc brake on the rear wheel.
• Dual channel ABS.
• Tubeless tyres. Maybe tubeless tyres with spokes,( would it be too much to ask?)

Cheers !

[Asish_VK]

Those who think the Jawa lost the plot to RE twins due to the laters pricing , should account the fact that for people like me , who want a retro modern bike which is not an RE 350 , Jawa is a perfect alternative (given it's made to good quality )

See, spending 3+ lakh on a bike is not that easy for most of the middle class guys especially if they have a family to look after (even if he have the financial stability to afford one, with or without a loan) .

My point is, Jawa is a very good alternative to RE 350. I would dare to say it's a better bike at least on paper.

My heart says me to buy the GT650 but my head is now forcing me to look at the jawa more seriously.

[indivic]

Originally Posted by amit_snk

Mahindra took an already good engine, put some fins in it, took design inspiration from old models and we were presented with JAWA (nothing evolutionary here).

At launch Mr.Joshi mentioned that they went liquid cooled way for 2 reasons - emission norms and to recreate the sound. I think this was in response to a question as to why not air-cooled like the old Jawa

[Grease_Monkey]

Rushlane posted this exhaust note video of the Jawa. In my opinion, it sounds very refined quite like the Mojo with DB killers on.

https://youtu.be/wfvcxGmJZqc

[Ironhide]

Decent sounding exhaust note - muted yet rich. However, this is not at all the note the erstwhile Jawas/Yezdis of yore belted out.

The fact that they were powerful, polluting and not so refined 2-strokes may have had something to do with their unique sound.

All the same, this muted note will help in keeping the decibel levels in check during those long hauls.

Cheers !

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

One thing that doesn't add up (to me) is the timelines.

Mahindra purchased the rights to these brands in October 2016. Just two years later -
October 2018 - Engine unveiled
October 2018 - First spy picture.

November 2018 - Unveil and bookings.

That's a pretty fast concept to production in the automotive world, if my knowledge is right.

In comparison, the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 has been rumoured, caught and tested for more than 3.5 years now before launch, and Mahindra seems to have pulled it off in much lesser time and without catching any public attention.

Hopefully that doesn't mean testing has been skipped.

[benu9714]

About the sound of the Jawa/Yezdi

I bought a new Yezdi in 1977 and rode it for a year. It sounded quite muted, almost like a Rajdoot (the only comparison those days).

A friend used the bike when I went on leave. When I came back he confessed that he had changed the sound to the famous "vroom-vroom-whine". He showed me two 8 inch long perforated pipes which had been fitted inside the silencers and fixed with two small screws placed at the tips of the silencers. By simply removing these pipes one freed the exhaust and the sound resulted.

He told me I could fit the tubes back to restore the original sound, but I didn't. I enjoyed the sound, though it created problems when I dropped my girl-friend (now my wife) home late in the evening because the whole neighbourhood came to know exactly when she was coming home and with whom.