looking forward to it!
Did I miss something? Oh just an advert for an up-coming event.
My intention is to build a replica, if you will, of a bike that my Dad built back in the early 60's. I've got a bit of a head start with mine because the Street Jawas back then came with 16" wheels and he had to modify the swing arm and forks to allow the 19" wheels he wanted. Mine already had the 19" wheels. His engine was the 1950 Jawa Perak model and had a seperate kick starter & gearshift levers, while mine is actually a mid 60's model with the "combination" gearshift/kickstarter lever in one (it sits in the gearshift position and when you need to start it, you push in on the shaft that the lever is on and raise the lever up and slightly to the rear and now use it to kick start the engine. Then, you let it go forward and it locks back in the "gearshift position")
This may be a bit boring until I can get another printer and get setup so I can post pictures. I apologize for that and will rectify that ASAP.
I really didn't know if I'd ever be able to get the engine going or not AND when I saw that other engine on ebay
and they said it was a great running engine, I was hopeful to get it, just gotta arrange to get it home. Dad's Jawa had an early 50's BSA Bantam gas tank (which I don't have) but mine will use a standard tank, unless I run across one more suitable. His exhaust was straight pipes (tuned by him, using the length that worked the best and with a washer welded on the end. Took a lot of running it, cutting off a 1/2", weld the washer back on and running it again. He did this until performance dropped off and he went back and added a 1/4" back on. Keep in mind that he had TWO pipes to do this to. At this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to use for the exhaust. I have stock pipes and ONE muffler. The factory "Hop-Up" instructions have the plans for
Building tuned exhaust pipes (like expansion chambers), but I don't have the skill, time, materials or the equipment to do that. I'll just have to cross that bridge, when I get to it.
Once again, here is the bike I have:
And here is the engine that I managed to pick up on.
Here is a stock 250 Jawa:
And here is a Jawa 250 Motocross of that period. Dad's was kind of in between and painted
Metallic Purple! 
BTW, for anyone who thinks that I should do a Complete Restoration, there are 2 reasons that I'm not. Number one, I agree that the original bike is pretty sharp, but there are a lot of parts missing that would be extremely hard to find AND be pretty costly, if you COULD find them. Having built a 125 version of this (they look virtually the same, just that the overall dimensions of the 125, are smaller), I know exactly what parts are there and whats not, without much effort. Besides that, the Jawa that my Dad built, was quite a masterpiece. It was a bike that meant alot to him (and me) and he was really proud of what he'd accomplished with that one. That being said, I'll get on with it as I can.
The forks were stuck and in bad shape when I got this one, but I was able to pickup some decent ones on ebay some time back. During this process, my plans are to:
1. Strip the bike down, looking for any surprises as I go and
paying close attention to the swingarm fit.
2. Most painted surfaces will be painted Gloss Black (can't
afford powdercoat, so I'm open to suggestions on a durable
type of paint.
3. Reassemble the frame (considering how much trouble it
would be to try to find a bearing kit to replace those
separate bearings in the steering head and decide if it
would be worth it or not).
4. Check on some tires with a trials (or knobby) type thread
(have to see just what size will fit the rim AND fit the forks
and in the rear) I'm thinking that about a 3.25 x 19 in the
front (or maybe a 3.50) and a 3.50 in the rear (or maybe a
4.00). I haven;'t bought tires in quite awhile, so I'll just
have to see what is available in the 19" tires (not looking
for an expensive tire, just a decent compromise of low price
but good tire, you know?
5. Now, this thing has a generator w/a regulator and it is a
6volt and I don't even know if you can still get a 6 volt
battery or not. One thing I need to do, is to go over to a
place called Jawa Chat and see what I can find out there.
I've been there several times and have been a member for a
spell but, can't beat the old SOHC4.
(I'll be adding onto this later on, I'm dealing with a
"stopped up drain" in my house right now and typing in
between dealing with it and waiting for the stuff I put in
the drain to work.)
