Jawa 42 Bobber Review | Jawa Perak in a better and modern avatar

Bobbers are a type of motorcycle that find their roots in yesteryear when racing was only catching on. Young lads would want to race their motorcycles and one of the simplest ways of making a bike go faster was to make it lose weight, and hence a 'bob job' was carried out, removing anything that was unnecessary from the bike, including of course the pillion seat.Today, the Bobber has come to be a new category of motorcycle, one that's pretty much a style statement. Jawa Perak kickstarted the trend in the mass market motorcycle segment, and now there's also the Jawa 42 Bobber, adding to the options for a buyer.
Jawa 42 Bobber Design
So, if Bobbers are now meant to be a style statement, the 42 Bobber's got to be big in this department and no doubt, it is. The long and low appeal lends it a character that's unique to it within the segment that it plays in. This is further accentuated by the spoked wheels and the floating seat.

Unlike the Jawa Perak, which gets a black finish all around, the 42 Bobber comes in brighter colour options and a chrome finish on the engine. Plus, there's no retro analogue speedo and instead it gets a digital single-pod instrument cluster from the Yezdi Roadster. The ergonomics differ as well with forward-set footpegs.
Pushing the footpegs forward has improved the ergonomics in comparison to the Perak which has neutral set footpegs and so makes for a cramped riding position since the seat height on Bobbers is super low. The 42 Bobber offers a relaxed position with stretched-out arms and legs, but it would've helped if the handlebar was a little closer to the rider.

Jawa 42 Bobber Performance
While the bike carries the '42' in its name, it does not share the same engine. It is powered by the Perak's engine which is a 334cc single-cylinder unit that makes 30.2 hp and 32.74 Nm, paired with a six-speed transmission. This engine likes to play at mid and higher rpms. The engine feels the strongest from 4,000-8,000 rpm but vibrations do kick in at as little as 4,000-4,500 rpm and the engine feels stressed.

The torque's biased towards the higher end of the scale and the bike does ask for downshifts a lot when you'd slow down, say for a speed bump, and even second gear does not suffice at times.
The ride on the 42 Bobber is not a plush one. The rear shock has been softened in comparison to the Perak but is still rather stiff and no pothole or small bump will go unnoticed. One other odd thing about the 42 Bobber is that it won't start if the side stand is down, which is great if the bike's in gear but it should be able to start in neutral with the stand down so, for example, you can leave the engine running idle for a bit on a cold morning.

Jawa 42 Bobber: Is it better than the Perak then?
In terms of visuals, it's entirely up to the buyer whether they prefer a blacked-out and retro look or if they prefer some colour, chrome, LED lights, and a digital instrument console. The 42 Bobber is better than the Perak in two ways though. One - the riding position, no matter how imperfect, is better than the Perak. And two - the seat's better and offers two-way adjustability.

The fit and finish of the bike are only satisfactory and there have been some reports of some 42 Bobbers losing bolts. The 42 Bobber is surely an improvement over the Perak but in a subtle way and leaves a fair bit to expect from a bike that's priced at Rs 2.10 lakh (ex-showroom).
For now, if it's only daily commuting that one's looking for on a bike that turns heads, the 42 Bobber sure is a good looker. If Jawa can iron out some very obvious creases and some more in the next generation perhaps, the Jawa 42 Bobber stands to gain popularity as an affordable Bobber.