The new Jawa 350 OHC: Affordable in Europe, unavailable in Canada

Jawa is best-known for its 350 cc two-strokes, but changing emissions laws are pushing the Czech manufacturer further into the world of four-strokes, with the introduction of a new 350 cc four-stroke.

The new Jawa 350 OHC offers a mix of old and new. The bike is powered by an air-cooled single-cylinder motor from Chinese manufacturer Shineray, itself a derivation of an older Honda design. The new thumper (27 HP, 22.6 ft-lb of torque, 3L/100 km fuel consumption) meets current Euro4 emissions regs. That means Jawa can produce this machine for the time being as its two-strokes die out, until those regulations get changed again.

The bike is a mix of old and new; there’s up-to-date technology like EFI and ABS (the first Jawa with ABS, which is also a nod to new Euro regs). The styling is a throwback to the 1970s, recalling classic Jawas of the past. Pricing is supposedly around $5500 CAD in the Czech Republic; were the bike available around that price in Canada, it would undoubtedly sell well.

Alas, the chances of this sensible, cheap, stylish runabout like coming to Canada are pretty low. We haven’t heard even the faintest rumbling of a Jawa revival in the True North, so for now, if you want to ride one of these, plan on traveling to Europe or some other corner of the globe.

You can find more details on the 350 OHC here at Jawa’s web site (there’s a button in the top right corner that changes the text from Czech to English). There are details on other machines from Jawa as well, if you’re curious about the rest of the lineup. It seems Jawa is hoping to capitalize on the current interest in retro styled motorcycles, as it’s also building a retro machine around its 660 single-cylinder powerplant (sourced from Italy, where the manufacturer probably has an excess, due to cancellation of the Yamaha XT660Z, which shared the same engine).

 

14 COMMENTS

  1. Perhaps, it is time for Jawa to,get back into the Canadian market. The old California model sells for a LOT of money these day. I would buy one if they were available, especially the 350 2 stroke which is still available in other parts of the World.

  2. That’s somewhat reminiscent of my first bike, a Yamaha XS360C. As such, I find myself rather liking this. Besides, I have very fond memories of riding around Toronto with my dad; me on my RD400F and him on a 2-stroke Jawa 350 replete with sidecar. The blue haze behind us was a sight to see and greatly contributed to global warming.

    • It has dual headers. It’s a copy of a 30-year-old Honda motor; if you look at Big Red’s old sales brochures, you see a lot of stuff like this from the 80s: Singles with dual carbs, dual headers, etc.

Join the conversation!