Jawa Forty Two – A good daily bike?

The old Jawa motorcycles were the classic legends. The new modern Jawa do resemble the original Jawa’s for which we have to appreciate the manufacturer. Jawa Forty-two is the entry-level Jawa and comes with lots of features that will be useful for your daily ride as well as the tour. We have been testing this beast for a couple of days and we have say that it can be your daily commuter. Why do we say that? well continue reading the blog and you’ll get the answer.

Seating

The Jawa Forty-two comes with considerably low seat height, to be specific it is at 765 mm. The height is quite low when compared to the most of bikes seat height in India. Along with the low seating, the footpegs are also front set which also relaxes the rider. The footpegs are not too far as a proper cruiser but are further than a normal bike. Due to these reasons, the bike is easily rideable for a wide range of people in India.

The seats are also well-cushioned not too hard and not too soft so its perfect for short travel and medium travel.

Heating

There are lots of suggestions that many cruiser bikes do overheat and the heat of the engine is felt while standing in the traffic. Well, the heating is not an issue with the Jawa Forty-two.

The bike comes with the liquid cooler which is quite efficient and also the paint coating on the head of the engine reduces the heat flow. We’ll not say that the heating issue is completely gone but its better than other cruiser motorcycles.

The above were the pros of the bike for the city rideability and daily use. However, there are some cons that we will like to point it out.

Also read: 5 things that you didn‘t know about JAWA!

Ground Clearance

The ground clearance of the Jawa Forty-two is similar to most of the bikes which at 165 mm. However, due to its straight long exhaust pipe which is positioned very low, may rise the problem. When the bike goes through the pothole, or series of speed breakers, the silencer may get touched to the road surface.

Weight

The Jawa Forty-two is a quite heavy motorcycle, to be specific, it weights around 170 kgs. So that may be the problem for the people who are not used to the heavy bikes. But on the other side, the bike has a marginally low weight compared to the rivals. Also, the low seat height manages the weight well.

Overall, the bike is a fun motorcycle and has a great amount of punch right from the word go. The bike produces around 27 bhp and 28 Nm from its 293 cc single-cylinder, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled engine. It is priced at Rs 1.58 – 1.67 lakhs (ex-showroom). The major rivals of the bike include Royal Enfield Classic 350, Benelli Imperiale 400.