The newly-launched Jawa bikes in India come with a drum brake at the rear but the company’s CEO has explained why.

Jawa Forty Two Side
The company claims that front disc+rear drum gives enough braking performance

Mahindra owned Classic Legends yesterday launched three motorcycles namely the Jawa, Jawa Forty Two and Jawa Perak in India. The bookings of the bikes have already commenced except the latter most. These bikes look very much similar to the retro Jawa motorcycles.

The motorcycles are available in classic colours. The bikes are built on a double cradle frame. These bikes sit on 18-inch front and 17-inch rear spoke wheels. The suspension duties are handled by telescopic forks at the front and twin shock absorbers at the rear. The 280 mm front disc and 153 mm rear drum brake along with single channel ABS bring the 170 kgs bike to a halt.

One of the main reasons why the rear gets a drum brake instead of a disc brake is because of the aesthetics of the bike. Ashish Joshi, CEO of Classic Legends stated that a drum brake is not necessarily lower down in terms of performance. The combination of a disc in front and a drum at the rear works well without sacrificing much braking force. He also added that the most important part of the rear wheel is the drum brake. It looks beautiful and has been carefully crafted to look authentic. Going for disc brake was a much easier option for the company but they wanted to give the machine a period charm.

Powering the bikes is a 293cc, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, DOHC engine that delivers 27 HP and 28 Nm. The engine comes mated to a 6-speed transmission and it is also BS6 ready. It is likely that in the future the company might introduce more variants with a rear disc. The Jawa bikes are set to give some really tough competition to Royal Enfield.

No Rear Disc On Jawa

– The company has stated that the drum brake also has good performance
– They chose drum brakes to give an old school charm
– A rear disc variant might be launched in the future

Jawa Forty Two Price
The rear drum brake has been crafted to look authentic