Jawa 300 – Is it good for long trips?

Jawa 300 or the Jawa Standard is currently a sensational retro bike in India. Due to retro details on the bike, it is quite appreciated by the retro bike enthusiasts. However, is the Jawa 300 only a show bike or is it more than that? Well, let’s find it out if the bike is any good for long trips.

Ergonomics

While travelling a long distance, ergonomics of the bike are the most important factor that counts the comfort for the rider. And a good thing about the Jawa 300 is that it comes with a comfortable riding posture. The footpegs are slightly forward set and handlebar is also quite high. So, you sit quite upright which is comfortable for most of the people in India.

The seat height of the bike is at 765 mm which is less than a normal bike.

So even for shorter riders, it will be a comfortable bike. Nevertheless, we would always recommend you to take a test ride as it will give you a clear idea of the riding posture, many tall riders found it a little uncomfortable.

Also read: 5 things that you didn’t know about JAWA!

Engine

For a relaxed ride, the engine of the bike should be less stressed at the cruising speed. The Jawa 300 comes with a 293 cc single-cylinder, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled engine. It produces about 27 bhp max power and 28 Nm of peak torque. The engine is paired with a 6-speed gearbox unit. Due to a good amount of power and availability of a sixth gear, the Jawa 300 can easily cruise at a speed between 80-100 km/hr. In India, the cruising is limited at 120 km/hr even on the express highways so Jawa 300 proves to be a good cruiser.

Suspension

However, in a long tour, you would not always be riding on the highways and sometimes you might need to travel through bad roads. The front suspension on the Jawa 300 is quite soft so it absorbs the bumps easily. The rear suspension, however, is on the stiffer side, so that limits its ride quality on the bad surfaces. Nevertheless, you can adjust the suspension up to five steps which will be slightly helpful.

Wheels and Brakes

The Jawa 300 comes with an 18-inch wheel at the front and 17-inch wheel at the rear, both spoke type. Due to this setup, the bike is very nimble to ride even with 170 kg of bike weight. Also, the spoke wheels on the bike help it get a retro look as well as also sustains bigger impacts than the alloy wheels. Braking is also an important aspect while touring. Jawa 300 is offered with a single disc single-channel ABS as well as dual disc dual-channel ABS. The single-channel ABS option will be quite helpful on the rough roads. However, if most of your travel is on highways then we would always prefer you to go with dual-channel ABS model.

Verdict

Considering all the above factors, Jawa 300 can be turned into a good touring bike. It also comes with a fuel level indicator as most of the retro bikes miss it. However, the bike is quite new for the Indian market, the reliability factor is still unspecific. We will get to know about reliability in the coming years. Other cruising bikes in the market include Royal Enfield Thunderbird, Hero Xpulse 200T, Benelli Imperiale 400.