It seems Jawa is going to be sticking to retro-themed motorcycles, at least for now, with the release of the boldly-styled 350 Special.
Back when Mahindra bought Jawa, the question was: What will the Indian manufacturing giant do to the classic motorcycle marque? Would the brand take a turn towards modern styling, or focus on retro models?
The 350 OHC model released last May seemed to hint at a future of throwback styling mixed with modern touches like EFI and ABS, and the just-announced 350 Special will continue that trend.
Unlike most modern retros, the 350 Special isn’t a naked bike. To pay homage to Jawa’s classic racing models, it’s clad in groovy bodywork, like a track machine from the 1960s or 1970s, but with street-legal lighting.
Unfortunately, the rest of the bike is fairly unthrilling; the 350 Special is powered by a made-in-China air-cooled single cylinder. Basically, it’s the same as the 350 OHC, but with a cool fairing. And most unfortunately of all, we can’t expect it to make it to Canada, as it seems no Indian manufacturer has any intention of trying to capture a corner of our market.
That’s Shinray, aka a MASH TT40 in Europe. The question is why 350 and not 400 as available in Europe? I like it.
Wow. I REEEEEAAAAAALY like that. All the sporty looks and probably wouldn’t top 160 kph. That’s pretty much my speed right there. The tank and seat look practically lifted from the RE Continental GT, which is another bike I really like.
I take it all back. While I like the looks, there’s just no way I could ride a 4-speed tranny. ?
That’s it then, I’m not letting you ride my BSA.
LOL! I can happily see a vintage bike with a 4-speed, but a 2018 is a bit too retro for my taste. Who knows, though? If the engine is a torquey low-revved, it might just have all the magic. I gotta say that the more I look at the photo of this bike, the more smitten I become. It really pushes all my buttons. ❤️
What bike has a 4 speed?
Unfortunately, according to the specs, this one: http://jawa.eu/jawa-350-style–2
That 120 kph top speed is The Bidness.
2 stroke, 2 cylinder? Was that the original bike? I’m sure that’s single cylinder 4 stroke and most likely a 5 speed. I think someone screwed up.
Hah! Good catch. I didn’t even notice that. When I changed the language to Czech, it shows a more reasonable 5-speed transmission, 20.4 kW (~27.4 HP) @ 6500 rpm and 30.5 Nm of torque @ 5000 rpm. Apparently, it actually displaces 397.2 cc, making it the biggest 350 Jawa has produced.
I’m back in the wanting category.
That’s actually a Chinese made Shinray XY400b classic. It’s available in the USA as a Genuine G400c and in Europe as a MASH roadster 400. Other companies have re-branded it also. Don’t let that scare you away from the bike, it has a very good reputation. I’d buy one.