Jawa Forty-Two Gets A Cafe Racer Treatment

The bike gets a redesigned front and rear end along with a sinister shade of black paint

Brands like Jawa and Royal Enfield have always been associated with customisation. And from the looks of it, a lucky few Jawa owners who’ve received deliveries of their prized possessions have already signed them up for a makeover. One such customer from Bangalore, who wasn't entirely satisfied with the looks of the Jawa Forty Two, handed it over to Bombay Custom Works, a custom shop based in Mumbai, to work their magic. Sure enough, they didn’t disappoint.

Though the bike isn’t all that different from the standard model, the tweaks surely help it stand out from the crowd. To begin with, the bike features a shortened front fender with a repositioned headlight that sits closer to the fork for a sportier stance. Next up is the handlebar, which gives way for lower set clip-ons. While we would have expected the footpegs to be repositioned more rearward in order to offer a sporty riding posture, it hasn’t been tinkered with. 

Pan more towards the rear and you’d notice that the single long seat which could easily accommodate two riders has been replaced with a chopped single seat and a tail cowl. Aside from this, the rear fender has been removed and the indicators have been repositioned along with a short number plate holder. A neat little LED strip has been integrated into the cowl which replaces the original fender-mounted tail light. To wrap up the retro look, the headlight gets the trademark ‘X’ taping. 

To go with the dark theme of the bike, a sinister shade of matte black is sprayed on its mechanicals. Aside from this, the bike remains unchanged. Powering the custom Jawa Forty Two is the same 293cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that puts out 27PS and 28Nm of peak torque. The motor works in conjunction with a 6-speed transmission. It's the same story with the bike’s suspension and braking setup, however, the wheels appear to be Pirelli Sport Demon tyres. While the changes are minimal, the inputs from Bombay Custom Works have really amped up the Jawa Forty Two’s style quotient.