Jawa Bikes in India (5)

Since you've said that your commute has bad roads, replacing your Jawa 42 with a scooter wouldn't be our recommendation. While they are innately more practical than motorcycles, scooters have their smaller wheels and shorter, thinner suspension units. It won't really enhance your comfort, at least not to a great extent. 

Instead, we would advise you to get a practical 160cc commuter like the Honda Unicorn / SP160, TVS Apache RTR 160 4V or Bajaj Pulsar N160. These are comfortable, fuel-efficient and peppy machines perfectly suited to city use. To make an informed decision before you go ahead with your purchase, ensure to take a test ride of all three to see which one you gel with the best.

If, however, you want to go with a scooter as your next purchase, consider the following options. In the family scooter space, the TVS Jupiter 110 / 125 and Suzuki Access would be our top picks. If you want something sportier feeling and looking yet comfortable enough for daily usage, then the TVS Ntorq 125 & 150 are what you should be looking at. 

Again, a test ride of all of these is imperative before you make your decision. Make sure you intentionally go over bad patches of road and make tight, lock-to-lock U-turns to see if the handlebars foul with your knees, since you are a taller rider.

The Jawa 42 FJ is a good option to consider in the neo-retro space. While the earlier Jawa bikes had some issues, the latest models have ironed them out to a large extent. The 42 FJ also comes with a 4-year / 50,000km warranty, which should give you added peace of mind. 

Do bear in mind that while the bikes have come a long way, Classic Legends (the parent company of Jawa, Yezdi and BSA) still has a fairly hit/miss reputation when it comes to service. So we'd recommend getting in touch with your nearest authorised dealership and finding out more for yourself. 

If you reconsider your decision to go with the Jawa, then the Triumph Speed T4 is a great alternative. It has a smooth and torquey engine, good build quality and similiar overall performance as the 42 FJ. 

It would also be wise to take a test ride of both before you make a decision. 

Both the Jawa 42 FJ and Yezdi Roadster are mechanically very similiar with the only difference being some visual elements and how you sit on the bike. A test ride of both over various road conditions should help you decide which one is the right fit for you. 

Coming to when to clean your bike, that's a very subjective thing based on where you live and how you store your vehicle. If you have covered parking that protects your bike from dust, then a soap wash once every 10 days to a fortnight should be more than sufficient. If you don't, then you may have to clean it more often. 

To prevent rusting, try to regularly coat exposed metal parts with some sort of grease and try to keep them under a good-quality bike cover. 

The latest Classic Legends bikes have come quite a way from their predecessors in terms of build quality and finish levels. The Jawa 42 FJ, in particular, is a machine we quite liked when we rode it. 

As a machine, it is a capable option, but we haven't had the chance to test its long-term reliability yet. You should also know that the company has a less-than-stellar reputation for after-sales and servicing, so do find out what the exact situation of Yezdi/Jawa service in your area is before you go ahead with the purchase. 

While you don't want the Classic, the Royal Enfield Hunter 350 is a good option if you want something similar in feel but different (read: modern) in its design. It is also one of the more manageable Royal Enfield bikes, which should be approachable for you. We would also recommend you test ride a Royal Enfield Scram 440 because it blends old-school charm and quite a lot of modern capability. 

You can also take a look at the Honda CB350 models because they look and feel more modern than their Royal Enfield counterparts and should be easy to manage in the city.