There’s a lot in a name
The name goes back to an urban legend originated in the Czechoslovakian city of Prague during the German occupied Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War 2. Perak or ‘The Spring Man’ was a name given to a man who was said to be a leap out from the shadows. Perak later was believed to have fought with the Nazi army by the military vehicles and defending the residents of Prague. The legend soon came to be associated with hope against the on going oppression. In the decades following the war, Perak has also been portrayed as a Czech superhero.
‘Ja’ of Janecek and ‘Wa’ of Wanderer Werke AG created the brand as we know it today – Jawa – in 1929 with the first motorcycle to roll out being the Jawa 500 OHV. Fast forward to 1939-45, the outbreak of World War II put a pause on the production of Jawa motorcycles.
Although the Jawa factory was forced to make armaments under the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Janeček kept working on a new project in secret. This was the motorcycle line-up that would go on to be called the Jawa ‘Perak’. Janeček mounted SS stickers on his bikes and coated them in the same shade of green as the Nazi German vehicles to continue with the testing.
Janeček breathed his last after fighting a long-term illness in 1941. His son Karel took over the business and continued to work on his father’s designs, bringing the Perak to the public eye at the 1946 Paris Motor Show.
With plunger suspension in the rear, telescopic forks upfront, a square-section steel tube frame, and a multi-disc wet clutch integrated into the gearbox, the original Jawa Perak allowed clutch-less gear shifts. Designed by J Josif and J Krivka, the Perak was powered by a new 249cc two-stroke single-cylinder engine.
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