Those Isdt Jawas
THOSE ISDT JAWAS
Like the famous Banana-framed model, the 275-lb. Gelandesport is built to last, and last, and...
John Waaser
DICK BETTENCOURT IS quite a guy. He used to run a little machine shop, with a few bikes out front—Indians, Beezas, stuff like that. Then he became the first Honda dealer in New England. I still remember the gleam in his eye when he showed me that first 50cc step-through, and said it was the “coming thing.” I had my doubts at the time, though it was strong for a 50, and appeared well-made for the price. But through the years Dick prospered with Honda, and moved his shop, then opened a second agency a few miles away.
He’s still the oldest active scrambles rider in New England, though he only rides one track, and no longer tries to be first into the first turn. He wears his hair somewhat longer now than he used to, and drives a new Cadillac Eldorado convertible—the trunk of which is always full of motocross leathers, boots, and beer.
A few years ago, he stopped in California on his way home from one of those Honda-sponsored trips to Japan. He had been invited to ride the Baja peninsula with Ken Maely, but didn’t have a bike suitable for the trip. Dick’s a
big man, and he likes to drag down every 100-ft. straightaway he comes to when he’s riding through the woods. Casting around for a suitable bike, he came across a Banana-frame Jawa at McLaughlin Motors. That was his bike, and he rode it down the Baja without even having time to get to know the bike, and without any real spares. You come to love a machine which gets you through a deal like that.
Last fall, the Czech representatives on hand for the Berkshire Invitationalthe two-day trial run to prove the AMA’s ability to handle the ISDT— spent some time with Dick at his place. They saw the Banana frame, and they went for a woods ride with him. Dick has a favorite 38-mile loop which he rides about twice a week. The Czechs, even their star ISDT rider, Zdenek Cespiva, were hard pressed to stay with Dick on this trail which he knows so well. By now, Dick’s Baja ride had become an annual affair, and he cast covetous eyes on Cespiva’s bike. Most of the machine-the engine and bike parts—were identical to the Banana frame model, but the frame was a conventional double-cradle tube type, much lighter than the older model. Over a few beers and a little wine, Dick asked the Czechs, “Would it be possible for me to obtain a bike like that for my Baja trip this December?” “We will see,” they replied.
Up until a couple of weeks before his departure, he still thought he might have the new “Gelandesport” model for the ride, but then it became obvious that he would not. He wound up taking his C-Z motocrosser. Finally this spring, two of the Gelandesports arrived in the eastern US. Jawa called: “Are you still interested?” He was. I was at his second shop on the day the new toy arrived. He called his son and described the machine in glowing terms, adding “The air bottle weighs 18 lb.!” The bike had come with a wooden box full of spares, and a compressed air bottle for quickly inflating tires after repair.
The list of spares was extensive, including rubber rings obviously slit from an inner tube, for fastening things to the bike, a rag for cleaning, a hammer and screwdriver, bailing wire, two kinds of tape, extra bulbs, points, plugs, condenser, bolts, nuts, tire valve stem, different front sprockets for gearing changes, a carburetor return spring, spokes, rings, etc. The owner’s manual is rather imperfectly written in three languages, and describes the bike as follows: “It has been actually designed for transportation of a single (alternatively two) person along stabilised surfaced roads as well as along unstabilized roads, and free terrain.” You’ll note the misspellings, and (twice) the two different spellings of the same word. The manual shows a picture of the older Banana frame model on the cover.
Both bikes are built around an engine which is unique. The main crankcase casting is a single piece, with bolt-on side covers. The last machine which comes to mind which was built like this was the early Triumph Cub, before 1959. The reason for it in this case is to allow removal and exchange of the crankshaft assembly without removing the engine from the frame. Thus an engine overhaul can be more quickly accomplished, if, for instance, an ISDT rider has been given a substitute machine while his is being repaired. Under those conditions it is essential that the rider’s own bike be returned as quickly as possible, before the ruse is detected.
This engine is made in 250cc, 350cc and 400cc sizes. Both of Dick’s bikes are the 402cc (35 bhp at 6500 rpm) versions—the only one with a square bore and stroke. The two smaller bikes are substantially oversquare. The onepiece casting is in light alloy, with the side covers cast in electron alloy. The rod runs in a 28mm by 35mm by 17mm roller bearing.
The barrel is aluminum with a niresist liner, and uses no head gasket, the joint being carefully lapped on assembly. The piston has two rings, and the wrist pin is retained by circlips. The pin is a press fit in the piston, and uses 3 1 needle rollers, 2mm by 14mm, which are secured at the side by shims. A special tool must be used to remove the piston; this tool holds the needles and shims in place in the rod. Three oversize pistons are available,in steps of 0.25mm.
The engine is designed to run on a diet of 84 octane fuel, mixed with oil at a 25:1 ratio. The carburetor is a 32mm Jikov, which from the left side may appear to be concentric. It is not, and actually is more like a monobloc in design, though it does not resemble the monobloc in appearance. It breathes through a huge air filter, actually two car-type paper filters taped together, and housed in a fiberglass air box under the seat. Dual ignition circuitry is used, with individual toggle switches for each coil. Either or both may be used. The manual instructs the rider to check the timing with a cigarette paper between the points, rather than any battery operated timing devices.
From the engine, power passes through a seven-plate dry clutch to a five speed transmission—which also may be removed without removing the engine from the frame. The rear chain is fully enclosed. The Czech officials here for the Berkshire Invitational last year predicted that the winner of the Berkshire ISDT will have a fully-enclosed rear chain—a feature which these Jawas have enjoyed for years.
Electrically, the bike is equipped with two 12V lighting coils, a 25w/25w headlight, and a 5w/15w tail/stoplight. A Smiths speedometer, calibrated in kilometers, is rubber mounted, front and center, and takes its drive from the transmission. This is hardly state-of-theart, since it allows wheelspin to affect the reading, and one would expect that the speedometer will be useless to Jawa riders in the Berkshire mud.
The front forks and hub appear identical to those on C-Z motocross bikes. While riders in this country think of Jawa and C-Z as one and the same, they are in face as competitive as Ford and Chevrolet; they are both, however, exported by the same firm, and handled by the same firm here in the states. Jawa apparently felt that they should buy these items outside, as these readily available units far outperform anything they could make without a sizable tooling investment.
Brakes are 180mm by 25mm, front and rear—about 7 in. diameter by 1 in. wide. Steel rims are used front and rear (though Dick’s Banana has Akronts, probably installed in California), with a 3.00-21 tire up front, and a 4.00-18 in the rear. The rear hub incorporates a cush drive, and the brake, oddly enough, is not full floating.
The 13 liter (about 3 gal.) gas tank is of fiberglass, held on by a metal strap. Materials and workmanship in non-critical areas are extremely shoddy—what we in this country expect to see from people who work under a Communist regime.
As noted earlier, the main difference between the two bikes is in the frame. The older bike is noticeably more heavy at the rear end, when you are loading them onto a trailer. You look down, and discover that the swinging arm on the Banana frame is decidedly more massive, made of oval section tubing, while that on the newer bike is of round section tubing, with crimped ends—the sort of thing you’d you’d expect to see on a 50cc bike, only heavier. The Banana style frame gave good access to most serviceable items, and the exhaust tucked in a lot better on the older bike. The new frame has been designed to maintain the accessability. It does everything as well as the Banana, and offers better protection under the engine cases to boot.
We took a 2Vi hour trail ride, using the “short loop” through the Miles Standish State Forest, where Dick does most of his riding. The center stand comes up and clips to the frame so that it can’t flop down against a spring like many bikes do every time they hit a bump. The kick start lever swings in a forward arc, like that of the old Honda Hawk. Dick pushes the bikes when cold; he. has yet to learn the knack of starting them. That there is a knack is evident from the fact that Zdenek Cespiva lights his off regularly within the time limit allowed in the ISDT. Both will start on the first kick when warm.
The first thing you notice is the vibration—402cc two-stroke Singles vibrate—a lot. “Watch the brakes,” admonished Dick, “they’re not very good.” They also weren’t very well adjusted, since Dick prefers to ride with brakes that can’t possibly lock up on dirt. I get scared under those conditions, so we adjusted the brakes up a bit. They still weren’t very good.
The leatherette panels on the side of the tank do a surprisingly good job of gripping your pants, giving you more control over the bike, especially while standing.
The engine pulls from about zero rpm, so you don’t have to worry about shifting when the going gets hairy. Shifts are delightful, up and down, with or without the clutch.
Much of the feeling of bulk tends to disappear when you get moving, even slowly, but the bike still is tiring to ride. It simply was not meant for the small rider, or the neophyte. Given a capable master, it will do all he asks.
The suspension is great, though the rear end bottomed a couple of times, and Dick mentioned that if he decides to get serious with it, he’ll replace the rear shocks. Most of the riding in this area is sandy, hardly my cup of tea, and I was not enjoying the ride; it takes a special brand of skill to ride in this stuff. At one point, I got off the trail—not, of course, because I failed to see the arrows (ahem), but simply to check the machine out at high speeds on graded dirt roads. It tracked true, and seemed capable of flying at high speeds all day on this sort of going.
Certainly this bike is the stuff of which winners are made, and those in the know expect it to add to its string of ISDT victories this fall. |QJ
