Possibly the most famous photograph of a man fence-jumping on a motorcycle is that of Steve McQueen in ‘The Great Escape’ (on Triumph TR6 Trophy). But show it to any grown-up daddy-cool and the likely answer would be: “Been there, done that.”(Author Adil Jal Darukhanawala, in his book ‘Jawa: The Forever Bike: A definitive history of Ideal Jawa & Yezdi’, describes ‘daddy-cool’ as the breed that rode Jawas and Yezdis during 1960s-1980s.)
While Jawa was a Czech brand (brought to India by Farrokh K Irani and Rustom S Irani after Independence), Yezdi was the Indianisation of the Jawa brand, built to greater standards of ruggedness.
In India, Jawa’s journey lasted till the early 1970s, and Yezdi followed (till 1996, when the company shut operations—the wave of Indo-Japanese bikes, among other reasons, killed it).
The brand was reborn a little over three years ago, when Anand Mahindra met the zestful Anupam Thareja (founder of Phi Capital, and currently the co-founder & director of Classic Legends, which aims to revive dormant brands; Jawa was the first, in 2018, to be followed by Yezdi and BSA).
Classic Legends will re-launch Yezdi on January 13
Thareja shared with FE: “When the modern generation still remembers Jawa, there is no question it won’t remember Yezdi. But this time there would be a difference: While earlier Jawa went away and Yezdi arrived, January 13 onwards will be the first time when Jawa and Yezdi will coexist.”Jawa and Yezdi dealerships will be common, both the motorcycles are being produced in the same factory, but the way these brands will be positioned will be completely different.
Learning set developed from Jawa
Even though it was launched a little over three years ago, you may not see many Jawa motorcycles on our roads—Classic Legends has sold just a little over 1 lakh motorcycles in this huge country, too little compared to competition such as Royal Enfield.
“If there is ever a management case study on what all things can go wrong in a start-up, ours would perhaps be the best one,” said Thareja.” We launched Jawa and got over 1 lakh bookings; our strategy was to reveal the product, start bookings, produce the motorcycle, and then deliver to customers.”
”But by the time Classic Legends started ramping up production and delivering in larger numbers, Covid-19 happened, and that negatively impacted both the supply chain and distribution chain.”
“The more established players have multiple vendors for parts of a motorcycle, but when you start a product you usually have a single vendor,” said Thareja. “Even if one part is missing, you cannot make a motorcycle.”
With fewer motorcycles for sale at the showrooms, Classic Legends started losing bookings.
“The learning set we have developed from Jawa is that we should launch the bike and immediately start delivery,” added Thareja. “From January 13 onwards, we will not only reveal the Yezdi, but also let customers book it, test ride, and even take delivery.”
Classic Legends had another learning set, pertaining to the product. “We learnt that you may make a bike for a certain purpose but the consumer can use it for a different purpose. We also realised that a little more is needed from the engine point of view,” he said. “Lastly, we needed to communicate with the consumers in a better way.”
Armed with this learning, Classic Legends has ramped up its dealer network from 100 to about 300, expanded its vendor base, and developed two new brands: Yezdi and BSA.
“Unfortunately, we are back in the pandemic wave again but this time we know how to handle it way better than what we did during the first Covid-19 wave,” Thareja said.
The Yezdi motorcycle model that Classic Legends will launch will be in the sub-500cc segment, but going forward it (maybe a different model) can also have bigger engines.
BSA will be the most premium range of Classic Legends; Yezdi will be the most fun range; and Jawa will be the most understated, classic range.
As far as exports are concerned, BSA will primarily be for western markets, Jawa will be for eastern markets and Africa, and Yezdi will be a hardcore Indian brand.
