| I always tell people it was the AHRMA motocross rules committee that
helped me find my Jawa 402cc ISDT (banana frame). When the folding footpeg rule came in
1993, I needed to adapt folding pegs to my '63 Jawa 250 motocrosser. Bob Strode did the
work on these pegs for me, and it was Bob who told me about a banana frame Jawa that might
be available. I picked up that bike a few months later. The bike was not complete. Gone were the original fenders, number plates, tail light, air bottle with mounting bracket, air boot, side toolbox, speedometer with cable and the brackets for the low front fender. The motorcycle looked like it had never been washed, it had a 22-year- old, tar-like mixture of dried dirt, gas and oil over much of its surface. Mechanically it appeared to be in good condition, but it was hard to tell with all the crud on the bike. I started looking for the missing parts I would need to return the Jawa to its stock condition. Ads were placed, letters written and phone calls made searching for the parts I needed. I knew it might take a while to find everything that was missing on this 24-year-old motorcycle. But before returning the bike to original, I decided my restoration would take a detour. I decided I would first rebuild the bike into a motocrosser. In 1980 I had come across a photograph of Czech Vlastimil Valek on his 1966 Jawa factory banana frame motocrosser. This bike fascinated me because at the time I did not know about Jawa's participation in motocross; the word Jawa conjured up thoughts of an ugly utilitarian street bike made in a communist country. I had seen photos of Jawa banana frame ISDT bikes and I wondered how similar Valek's motocrosser was to these limited production machines. I thought that an ISDT Jawa could easily be made into a replica of Valek's factory racer. My project would try to replicate the 402cc Jawa that Valek raced in 1966. The modifications planned for my Valek replica would not make any permanent changes to the machine. I wanted to be able to return the bike to its stock condition once I rounded up all the missing bits. In a way the Valek replica was a big experiment to see how effective the Jawa ISDT could be as a motocrosser. My Valek replica featured a home made 2-gallon fiberglass fuel tank and side panels. A low-mounted expansion chamber replaced the original ISDT high pipe. The fenders are a CZ side pipe replica front and a '78 Husky rear. The carburetor is a 34mm Mikuni. With these parts and the removal of most of the ISDT equipment, the bike weighed in at 265 pounds; 295 is stock. What I ended up with did make a pretty good motocross bike for the Classic 500 class. I raced the bike for two seasons ('94 & '95) with good results. The only thing that could have really helped would have been a close-ratio transmission. With the wide gearing of this ISDT bike, only the first three gears were usable on a motocross track. After '95 the bike was retired from motocross and returned to its proper ISDT configuration. The bike will now be used for trail riding, and some day I would like to ride it at the ISDT Reunion. I'd like to thank the following people who provided parts, services and/or advice during the two part restoration of my Jawa 402 ISDT: Bob Strode, John Sawazhki, Mick Berrill Motorcycles, Bertus Jawa-CZ, Charlie Cravens, Bob's Vintage Products, Sudco, Vintage Brake, Nisonger Instrument Sales, Tacoma Fiberglass and Dave Harris. |
