Offered from The Forshaw Speedway Collection, c.1968 Jawa Model 890 Speedway Racing Motorcycle

Frame no. 2112 Engine no. 3739/1968

• The 'photo opportunity' machine at the start of The Forshaw Collection display in the Haynes Motor Museum
• A very early example with the banana seat and the separate oil tank

In 1950 Jaroslav Simandl decided to produce an entirely new engine for speedway. This became the ESO (Czech for Ace) the most significant factor of the new two valve engine was the over square bore stroke dimensions of 88mm x 82.8mm totally different from the all-conquering long stroke JAP of 80 x 99. The company was soon nationalised and in 1964 became part of the Jawa Corporation, the ESO name now replaced with Jawa. Jawa motorcycles had been founded in 1929 when Frantisek Janeceic bought the motorcycle division of Wanderer, a part of the Auto Union car company.

The Jawa logo derived from the Janeceic and Wanderer names. Jawa became by far the most active Eastern European manufacturer in motor cycle sport. The first speedway machine, the Model 890 launched in 1966 with its distinctive feature of a banana shaped seat and a separate oil tank on the rear frame soon to be superseded by oil in frame models. Ivan Mauger won the first of three consecutive world titles on the 890/1, continuing to ride Jawas until 1981 when he transferred his allegiance to Weslake. It took some time for Jawa to overtake the market from JAP which was still a very much favoured engine into the 1970s especially in the lower leagues.

The Czech engine remained competitive in the forefront enjoying world titles in both speedway and long track. Initially Jawa was the preferred engine in the 1990s when the 'laydown' concept entered the sport undeniably through their effective 'laydown' experimental work on the fast continental long tracks. Jawa frames have always been very popular right up to the present day.

This Jawa Model 890 is famously the 'photo opportunity' machine at the start of The Forshaw Collection display in the Haynes Motor Museum – and one that many thousands of people will have sat on with great excitement. A very early example with the banana seat and the separate oil tank, there is no documentation and it is not known when it entered the Forshaw collection. The mechanical condition is not known and therefore we recommend re-commissioning and/or restoration to a great or lesser extent.
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