Jawa Motorcycles 1929 T-Shirt

JAWA was a motorcycle manufacturer founded in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1929 by František Janeček, who bought the motorcycle division of Wanderer and by concatenating the first letters of Janeček and Wanderer, created the name JAWA. By the 1950s, JAWA was one of the top motorcycle manufacturers in the world and exported its popular model 350 Pérák into over 120 countries. The 350 California achieved similar popularity in the 1970s and you could spot them in their typical red and black livery everywhere from Californian beaches to Auckland city streets. By 1990 increasing competition from Japanese manufacturers had finally taken its toll on the company and production ceased, but to this day enthusiasts remain quite active.