I would like to share a not so good experience of one of my distant cousin who owns a Jawa especially on his trip from Mumbai to Chennai. If I would've been in his place, I for sure would've kicked the bike & would've started walking.
After making a few trips from Bombay - Pune & surroundings from day-night, confident enough to ride for 2-3 days. He asked for my suggestion on route & I guided him. Only thing I didn't ask him initially was, when was the vehicle last serviced & he didn't mention it to me either.
Started from Bombay at 4:00 Am on a Saturday, rode all through NH4 reaching Davangere by evening; I think around 7:30 Pm or so. Considering my impulsive riding style, I will say he did an enjoyable ride. And the plan was to start next day morning from Davangere by 8:00 Am.
That is when we decided to give him a surprise on Sunday morning &
rode to Davangere overnight
On Sunday, when we started after a sumptuous breakfast, he couldn't keep up with my gallop & neither I could ride composed as him & we planned to meet at McD Shoolagiri that evening. In between he communicated that he started riding a little slow as he started hearing squeaking noise from rear brakes as well. We reached McD by around 3:30 Pm & met some old friends & waited for him to arrive. Around 5:30 we saw he wasn't moving from Kamandoddi. When we called, we got to know the rear brakes have been struck & the wheel refused to move.
All of us went to a small workshop at Kamandoddi & got to know the brake pads have been worn out completely & they were on outlook for new brake pads.
At this juncture I've to certainly convey a message that, we got in touch with Jawa Hosur & they were very cooperative. The manager gave the contact of head technician & he got in touch with us & said he can bring the pads or use Royal Enfield's rear pads for now to reach Chennai. All this happens over phone just because the showroom & workshop is closed on Sunday!!
Anyway, we got all this fixed & started at 6:30 Pm riding back to Chennai. Our friends, also being Weather experts warned us on a cloud burst around Vellore & urged us to ride faster. As usual, we rode off swiftly to reach home by 9:30 Pm & got to know the saga next day!!
My cousin had a battery issue nearing Arcot. The AHO was drinking the battery like dracula thirsting blood & probably the RR unit had been conked off. Upon checking the battery, it seem to be good, but he also got a new battery as well & started riding. When nearing Vellore, Jawa switched off completely. He then replaced it with new battery & started riding again. Somewhere between Vellore & Kanchipuram the bike stopped again. He then stayed at a hotel nearby & Monday morning he visited another battery shop, found both batteries are good, surprisingly the RR unit also was good, he then bought a third battery & started riding again. Surprisingly this one never gave up & finally he reached Chennai Monday afternoon.
After reaching, we started doing aftermath which is when I asked why didn't he get the bike serviced for which he said, he indeed got the bike serviced 2 days before (
Wednesday) & he had specifically asked for the rear brake pads & oil levels for which he got a response that everything is good for him to reach Chennai comfortably!!