PAv Motorcycle Trailers

Tie-On Trailers

With the expansions in motorization and with the increasing popularity of motorcycles there was a need for more luggage capacity. In the 50’s and 60’s panniers and tank rucksacks were not adequate, so the problem was solved with tie on trailers. Czech manufacturer Jawa produced one and two wheeled trailers.(the mono wheeled trailer being the PAv 40 and 41 and the two wheeled trailer being the Motex)

Jawa motorcycle combined with a PAv 40 trailer

Semi-Trailer PAv 40,41

The small letter “v” in the trailer name is correct though it is always referred to as PAV (the pronunciation being”Paff”) The first article about the new trailer was in the Svete motoru (World of Engines, a czech periodical) issue number 2 January 1960. The PAv trailer was first developed and built at the Jiriho Dimitrova factory in Letnanech an industrial area of Prague. The PAv was first tested at the N.P Mototechna factory and was initially produced from Dural metal plate; it’s weight being only 18Kg. ( Dural metal is an alloy of aluminum which was used extensively in the aircraft industry because of it’s superior strength)

The history is rather sketchy in that there is not a lot of detail, Marcela goes onto say that he has never seen a PAv from Dural metal plate and he has no technical specifications for it. All the PAv’s that he has seen are from steel plate.

The PAv trailer was developed through a series of steps, PAv, PAv 40, PAv 40/b, PAv 40/c and the PAv 41. No production dates have been given for each incarnation of the trailer. Though Marcela goes onto say that bills of sale for the PAv 40/b was produced from December 1968. The PAV was manufactured from the late 50’s until 1972.

At the beginning of 1964 the manufacture of the PAv was shifted to the Kovozavody Semily factory at Roztoky by Jilomnice. In that year they produced 1100 trailers.

( Kovazavody Semily- In 1949 there was a co-operative of a small group of sheet metal working companies. In 1953-1955 this co-operative of specialized metal workers was centralized under the name of Kovazavody Semily. Amongst other metal items including the PAv they produced domestic metal toys from sheet metal. From 1990-1993 the Kovazavody factory was privatized under the name of Vista Semily which still exists and is still manufacturing sheet metal toys)

What of the colors. From the information from the article in the Svete moturu the trailers were first offered in “Jawa” red and black. In the second half of 1965 they also offered the PAv in light blue, petrol blue and coral red.

The Svete moturu goes onto to describe the connection to the motorcycle. Technical specifications for the PAv 40 states two kinds of connections, the “M” connection for the standard motorcycle and the “MS” connection for the sport having 19′ wheels. The PAv 40 was suitable for motorcycles Jawa and Jawa CZ with engine capacity 125cm3-350cm3 and the scooter Cezeta 175cm3.

For the PAv 41 there were four connections, the “M” and the “MS” as with the PAv 40 and two additional connections the “UZ” for the CZ motorcycle type 476 and 477, 18″ wheels and the “UJ” for the Jawa type 623 and 633. ( two connections are pictured below. I’m not sure what designation of the type of connection they are, though they are being remanufactured if needed)

This is an article written by Marcela Malypetra giving a brief historical overview of the Pav trailer 'Talking about trailers' from an article by Marcela Malypetra printed in the quartile Cezetarsky Obcasnik.