- Comes from the original Czech manufacturer
- Radical, café racer design cues
- No word about global launch yet
For many riders today, the name Jawa Moto barely registers. If it does, you’re likely a classic bike enthusiast, a little older, or both. That’s exactly why this new middleweight naked bike matters. The 730 Twin is a reminder that Jawa was once a serious European manufacturer, and a signal that it may be trying to reclaim that position.
Before getting carried away, though, there’s an important distinction to make. The Jawa seen here is not the same Jawa currently selling motorcycles in India. Those bikes are produced by Classic Legends, which licenses the Jawa and Yezdi names as well as the BSA that is sold in New Zealand, and develops its own products locally under Mahindra’s ownership. While there is shared heritage, there is no shared engineering, platforms, or manufacturing.
The 730 Twin comes from the original Czech company, operating independently and charting its own path. That context matters because this bike doesn’t present itself as a nostalgia exercise. Instead, it looks like a genuine attempt at a modern comeback.
Styling plays a big role in that impression. The 730 Twin is surprisingly hard to categorise. There are café racer cues, but it’s far too muscular to feel delicate. It has naked-bike proportions, yet there’s a subtle cruiser-like weight to its stance. The closest comparison might be old-school performance roadsters that blurred segment lines entirely. It looks aggressive, upright, and slightly rebellious, more interested in being ridden hard than displayed under showroom lights.
Modern technology is present, but used with restraint. A TFT display with navigation and connectivity, full LED lighting, and keyless ignition bring the bike up to date without overwhelming its mechanical character.
What makes the 730 Twin particularly interesting, though, is the bigger picture. Jawa never completely disappeared, but it hasn’t been a major player in the modern road-bike market for decades. Since the early 1990s, the brand has survived through competition machines, limited production, and industrial work. Large-scale, contemporary street motorcycles were largely absent.
Spotted last month, the new model is almost production-ready and is said to come with a parallel-twin engine offering 74bhp at 8,200rpm. The brand is also said to be working on a restricted 47bhp version. Reportedly, the 730 Twin weighs 213kg and can hold 16 litres of fuel.
This bike could mark a turning point. A clear statement that the Czech brand wants back into the global conversation. That said, the brand hasn’t revealed plans for a global launch timeline yet and so, plans for New Zealand haven’t been announced either. But as a concept, the 730 Twin already achieves something important; it makes you stop and pay attention to a name you probably haven’t thought about in years.
