Jawa Perak

The Perak looks drop dead gorgeous, there’s no doubt about it. And Classic Legends have gone to great lengths to ensure it has its own unique identity. So, it isn't just a nip-and-tuck job of the standard Jawa, injected with a bobber attitude. 

The double cradle frame is the same as the other Jawas, but the swingarm and the seat have been redesigned to suit the bike’s demeanor -- similar to the Triumph Bonneville Bobber’s ‘swing cage’ swingarm. This gives the bike its quintessential hardtail look. The side panels have been designed to sit flush with the sloped lines that flow from the fuel tank to the rear axle. 

Add a pair of chopped fenders, slash-cut exhaust, spoked wheels, a sinister colour scheme, and you have the perfect recipe for a bobber.

Having said that, we can't really move on without addressing the elephant in the room, and that's the overall build quality. It’s a known fact that Jawas in the past have suffered due to inferior build quality. That, to some extent, has been addressed with the Perak. It’s not that nicely put together though, and still feels a bit rough around the edges. Exposed wire harnesses stick out near the rear turn indicators, and the use of thin sheet metal for the fenders, materials used on the switchgear and just the overall touch and feel of the bike feels sub-par. 

Then there’s the fork sleeves which tend to scrape against the tyre with every suspension compression. The side stand is also positioned a little too inward and out of sight. While it fits flush and looks good in terms of aesthetics, it’s a bit inconvenient to get to. You're forced to look for the kick lever and inadvertently end up brushing your boot against the exhaust, thus leaving scuff marks. To add to this, the rubber insert on the gear shifter came off during testing. 

So we’d say Jawa still has a long way to go when it comes to build quality.

The engine which nestles in between the dual-cradle frame is an absolute work of art but felt a little out of place on the classic Jawa in terms of engine characteristics. A high strung engine with short gear ratios meant you had to shift a lot quicker to keep the engine in its power band, which ate into the motorcycle’s charm. 

Thankfully, there are indeed some noteworthy improvements with the Perak. It’s slightly taller geared compared to its 293cc sibling, with better performance on tap. In essence, it’s a lot more usable. The motor uses a larger bore to extract 2.26PS and 4.74Nm over the BS4 Jawa. And that’s pretty evident in the real world. It’s not only quicker to get to 100kmph, but can maintain those speeds all day long with reserves of power still tucked away just in case you need it. This is despite weighing 5kg heavier than the BS4 classic Jawa and having a 25kg heavier test rider conducting the acceleration test this time round.

However, it is a tad slower in in-gear roll on accelerations compared to its younger sibling, so you may have to shift down a gear and plan your overtakes beforehand. The motor's Achilles heel is its low speed tractability. So you won’t be able to putter around in city traffic like most roadsters with loads of bottom end torque do. Even 50kmph seems almost impossible in sixth without some serious engine knocking. 

Don’t get me wrong, the motor is really likeable, and can outperform almost every other bike in its segment. But, it simply lacks personality. 

What’s also painful is the absence of the assist function on the slipper clutch, which leads to a rather heavy lever and an overworked forearm. Not something you’d want in everyday city traffic.  

Constant cold start issues may also eat into the bike’s overall riding experience. You run the risk of running the battery dry, which did almost happen with us once..

The taller gearing on the Perak enables it to sit comfortably between 100-110kmph all day long. The engine feels smooth and almost vibe free at this point. Vibes do manage to creep through the handlebar and footpegs at around 80kmph, but settle down once you get past 90kmph. And they once again make their presence felt above 110kmph.

A larger bore extracting better performance does burn more fuel. Dial in the weight of the test rider (76kg) and the fact that Perak weighs 5kg more than the BS4 Jawa and the fuel efficiency figures we achieved makes more sense. The test rider on the older BS4 Jawa weighed in at just 51kg. 

Nonetheless, you can expect the Perak to deliver over 400km on a full tank of fuel out on the highway, a perfectly acceptable number.

The biggest difference between the Perak and the classic Jawa is its wheelbase -- the former is 116mm longer with chunkier tyres and a low centre of gravity, which translates to better stability on straights as well as corners. Despite the extra heft, the Perak feels extremely chuckable and composed over long, sweeping bends. Credit also goes to the Ceat Zoom tyres which provides a decent amount of feedback and eggs you push the bike harder. However, we wouldn’t go too crazy as the bike runs out of ground clearance at high lean angles. 

Contributing to its handling capabilities is its suspension setup. It’s on the firmer side but at no point felt jarring and uncomfortable. It feels pliant and filters undulations well. However, the short travel and quick rebound action on the springs tend to toss you off the seat on very poor roads.

The huge braking distances between the two models is glaringly evident but that’s mostly down to the setup. You see, the BS4 Jawa we tested featured single channel ABS in comparison to the Perak which uses twin discs and dual channel ABS. Thanks to this, the latter grinds to a halt sooner from 80-0kmph. The Perak could have posted even better numbers if it wasn’t for the ABS intervention, which is a little too sensitive and hence kicks in rather early. 

Nevertheless, the brakes offer good bite and progression through the levers, though they could have done with a bit more lever feedback.

The Perak screams simplicity, so it isn't your contemporary features-packed, tech-laden motorcycle. The bike makes do with an analogue speedometer and fuel gauge. This is accompanied by a small digital inset for the odometer and other tell-tale lights which qualifies as the bare minimum. 

In our opinion, it could do with a larger display for better legibility. This could also help cram in more features like a tripmeter, gear position indicator, real-time fuel efficiency, average fuel efficiency, service indicator, distance-to-empty gauge and possibly a digital clock. Not to mention, Jawa could angle the console a bit towards the rider, making it a lot easier to read. With the current console, you’re literally forced to slouch over the handlebars to read any sort of information.