Ever since Jawa made a comeback last year, both of its bikes have been pitted directly against the Royal Enfield motorcycles. That’s quite natural though since the Jawa bikes also sport a retro design, have a good history connect and moreover they come as an option in a segment that only had Royal Enfield Classic and Bullet series as contenders. The Jawa Forty-Two, which has more modern elements in its design that the Jawa Classic, is a great option for anyone looking for a retro-styled bike for city and highway usage. But does it pack enough punch to outperform the Royal Enfield Classic 500 in a drag race? The video below by Ayush Verma answers just the same.
Now the Royal Enfield Classic 500 may have a definitive advantage over the Jawa Forty-Two in terms of engine displacement, the power output is nearly the same. The major difference lies in the torque output where the Classic 500 shines above all. Another major difference is the bodyweight of both these bikes and we guess it’s pretty obvious which of them is the heavier bike here.
Talking about the drag race, the video shows two rounds of drags being conducted between both the bikes. The Jawa Forty-Two comes out as the winner in both of them as was being expected. In the first round, both the bikes go on side by side initially with the Classic 500 gaining from its massive torque output. However, the Jawa Forty-Two gets ahead once the bikes touch the 80 km/h mark. The Forty-Two then goes on to win this round with the Classic 500 getting close on the top end. In the second round though, the Royal Enfield Classic 500 stays behind the Jawa Forty-Two since the start and the gap between both the bikes grows rapidly during the course of the race.
Needless to say, how skilled a rider is makes a lot of difference in drag races. Had both the riders been of equal skillsets, the result could have been slightly different. However, the Jawa Forty-Two would have won even then since its much lighter and almost as powerful as the Classic 500. There is a weight difference of around 20 kg between both the bikes and that makes quite a difference in drag races. In city usage though, both the bikes will have an identical performance with the Classic 500 leading on a few fronts due to its strong low-end grunt.
Talking about the technical specifications of both the bikes, the Jawa Forty-Two is powered by a 293 cc four-stroke engine that churns out 27 Bhp of power and 28 Nm of torque. The liquid-cooled engine comes mated to a six-speed transmission and the bike weighs 170 kg. In comparison, the Royal Enfield Bullet 500 gets powered by a single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that generates a maximum of 27.2 Bhp and peak torque of 41.3 Nm. The Enfield 500 weighs 190 kg
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