Adil jal darukhanawala biography of george

The Definitive History of Ideal Jawa and Yezdi

by Adil Jal Darukhanawala

“The one aspect which had always befuddled me no end was that there has never been a single book of consequence written in English on the history of Jawa motorcycles.

As such getting to know more about the brand, in detail, was a big challenge. Also just like Ideal Jawa had gone off the face of the earth, Jawa in the Czech Republic had also gone through trying times so the official archives were scattered and not possible to access even in its homeland.”

The very name JAWA hints at the firm’s origins—JA for a Czech fellow, František Janeček (1878–1941), and WA for the German company Wanderer whose motorcycle division he acquired in 1929.

In its heyday JAWA was one of the top motorcycle/moped manufacturers and exported its models into over 120 countries. The name may have faded, even gone entirely extinct in many of those markets but in India it is still strong. More