I use to sell mopeds, which included the CZ-Jawa Babetta, so I have a little backround in this.
The CZ-Jawa was originally derived from the Batavius moped that appeared in the 20's. The concept being a bicycle that had an assist for getting around town around 20 m.p.h. If the motor failed or you ran out of gas you could pedal. Encountering large hills required that you pedaled along with the motor to attain enough power to climb.
The early 30's were the early blossoming of the moped industry with several additional brands coming to market. This included VeloSolex with the first fuel injection system, Fitchel-Sachs with a two speed auto gear box, Puch with the first really dependable motor, and CZ-Jawa Kaktus that could travel over 30 m.p.h.
Jawa over the years continued to produce really capable motors and frames. And while they never dropped the moped, the main portion of their production was a motocross bike and a 250cc touring model followed by a 350 cc touring.
CZ-Jawa was known for a tough durable design, but they began rusting before they arrived at the dealership. They never rusted out, but always looked like they would. They just kept running. They pioneered the electronic module ignition system and it worked quite well. Their wet clutch always seemed to slip but never seemed to wear out.
The Babetta is still in production, I believe in Slovinia in a joint Puch-Babetta factory.
