Babetta


Babetta was a moped built in Czechoslovakia and commonly marketed under the Jawa name in other countries. It had a 50cc two-stroke engine, 1speed or 2speed and reached 25-50 km/h. They were produced in Považská Bystrica and then in Kolárovo, Rajec and Veľký Meder.
Originally the Babetta was conceived as lightweight moped to compete with the Solex moped which was popular during the 1960s. The first Babetta mopeds type 228 to see the light of day in 1970 featured very large 23-inch wheels, but these were soon swapped out in favour of smaller 16-inch wheels. The Babetta was notable for its electronic ignition — the first time a transistorized contactless ignition had been used in a moped.
Type 206 was a modified type 228 produced in the years 1971-1972, mainly for Germany. Engine power was reduced to 1 kW by Jikov carburetor and at the time no driver's license was required for this Babetta. A new model 207 was presented in 1972. The wheels were now 16 inches, otherwise it had the same parameters as type 228.
In 1983 the original models were replaced by the new 210 model, which featured a new engine and the 215 model with two-speed transmission that earned a reputation for being unreliable. This model was produced until 1999.
In the first half of the 1990s, sales and exports gradually began to decline. By cooperation with a moped production plant in Latvia, originated Babetta 134 Stella. The Latvian company later went bankrupt and Babetta produced all components for the Stella. The last sold model was Babetta 193 Sting, produced was in 1994-1999 only 100 of these pieces.
In 1999, the production of all Babetta types were definitely discontinued. On the remains of company in Kolárovo was founded a new company Sting 2000 s.r.o., it have all production documentation and produces spare parts for Babetta mopeds.