The Jawa 350 is a motorcycle, produced by Jawa Moto in Czechoslovakia since the 1930s until 1992 and in the Czech Republic until present. In the 1950s, with its two-stroke, air-cooled 343 cc engine it could reach speeds of 132km/h and was exported into over 120 countries of the world.[1]
The Jawa 350 remains popular thanks to its dominance of the Communist Bloc countries of Eastern Europe from the 1960s to the 1990s. Competitors of that time included the German MZ (250 cc) and Simson (250 cc Sport & Awo), the Hungarian Pannonia (250 cc), the Polish Junak (350 cc) and the Soviet IZh (350 cc). This was a period before the penetration of Eastern Europe by Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. In the early nineties was made additional model line Jawa 350 type 640.[2]
The Jawa 350 two stroke twin cylinder motorcycle is still in production, although its styling and design has changed over the years, it is almost mechanically unchanged since the 1970s. It is imported and sold in the UK where the two 350cc two stroke models are named the "Classic" and the "Sport". 2012 UK models are equipped with electronic ignition, electric starters and automatic pumped oil injection. They are also imported and sold in Ireland and are distributed throughout Europe.
Jawa 350 was the first foreign motorcycle, available for sale in post-WWII USSR. The other only manufactures (until 1991) were ČZ (Chezet) and Hungarian Pannónia.
The 350/640 two-stroke twin is almost mechanically unchanged since the 1970s, it is still sold mainly to the countries of Latin America (Cuba and Argentina).
Because the Jawa 350 OHC (Shineray engine) meets the EURO V standards,[3] it can be (unlike aged Jawa 350/640) sold in the European Union (Czech republik, Finland and Russia.
The Jawa 350 OHC has been manufactured since 2017 and its design resembles Jawa 350/634 motorcycle from the 1970s. Unlike all previous Jawa 350 motorcycles, which were two-stroke twin-cylinder, this is a four-stroke single-cylinder from China. For the first time in Jawa history, this model is also equipped with ABS brake assist.[5]
The design from the Jawa 350 OHC Special variant is inspired by the racing motorcycle Jawa 350/673 (a special, built in three pieces in 1967). It adopts a Café racer design.[6] The third version Jawa 350 OHC Scrambler improves the off-road capabilities of the motorcycle, fuel tank is remainding the JAWA 250/353 (Kývačka).
All versions of the Jawa 350 OHC line-up are based on the Chinese-Made Shineray XY400.[7]