Yezdi – a name synonymous to Jawa to a lot of people. Some simply even call Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles from the yesteryear Jawa-Yezdi. My mother still has memories of riding pillion on the red Yezdi that was my father’s first bike ever. It was also the first bike I gawped at up close. Thing is ‘Yezdi’ has been kept safely in a box of nostalgia in our minds for decades. But now, you can go ahead and buy one today. There are options too – Roadster, Scrambler and Adventure.
While with Jawa, Classic Legends rolled out the classic-looking motorcycle simply called Jawa as a throwback to the previous Jawa design, Yezdi gets a new take on all three motorbikes. The Jawas have a Jawa-like personality unique to them, the Yezdis are rolling with the modern bikes popular in our market.
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So, same engine on all three but a promise of different charateristics. We were all invited to have a go on them on tarmac and on dirt near Amby Valley City to find out more about that promise.
The new Yezdis are powered by the 334cc engine from Jawa Perak in different states of tune. The 334cc 4-stroke liquid-cooled DOHC single-cylinder engine makes 29.7 PS at 7,300 rpm and 29 Nm at 6,500 rpm on the Roadster, 29.1 PS at 8,000 rpm and 28.2 Nm at 6,750 rpm on the Scrambler and 30.2 PS at 8,000 rpm and 29.9 Nm at 6,500 rpm on the Adventure.
So to say the least, Classic Legends have done a good job differentiating the three. Swing a leg across the three back to back and their varying personalities are easily tellable.
Yezdi Roadster
The Roadster is the most accessible of the lot with its low seat height of 790 mm and a very friendly throttle response. A machine that would be fit for going around the city, the Roadster has a personality that would appeal to those who like cruiser-style motorcycles. It gets alloy wheels, of course unlike the other two since it is focussed solely on tarmac.
With a ground clearance of 175 mm and suspension travel of 135 mm and 100 mm (front and rear), the Roadster makes for a relaxed ride fit for the urban scenario. The suspension is sprung not to soft and not to firm either and offers a decent ride experience which is helped by a large soft cushion seats. The rider triangle, however, can be made better through perhaps a slight inward positioning of the handlebar.
Most of the grunt on this bike, like the other two, kicks in past 5,000 rpm which is fun up there, however, it would’ve helped its case if its steep torque curve looked a little flatter with bias towards the lower rpms. For now, it does ask for downshifts constantly.
Yezdi Scrambler
The Scrambler quite simply takes the crown in terms of the throttle response, ride & handling, and also design & styling. The bias towards the lower rpms yearned for above is expected in the Scrambler as well but isn’t too prominent. The Scrambler, in fact, does a fine job to pull through out of situations without complaining.
In terms of handling, the Scrambler feels nimble and lightweight on the handlebar. It is quick to switch directions and made a fun ride on the twisties. If one is into sliding on dirt, the Scrambler is definitely a promising purchase decision. With its higher ground clearance of 200 mm and greater suspension travel of 150 mm and 130 mm (front and rear), it can deliver on impressive performance on both tarmac and dirt.
Yezdi Adventure
Even for an adventure touring on which tall and accessible dimensions are granted, the Yezdi Adventure is friendly for someone 5 feet 5 like me or under. The seat height is 815 mm and it weighs in 188 kg.
The raised and wide handlebar combined with a large soft seat means spending long durations on the Adventure would be easy. Even after being a tall machine, the Adventure promises rather nippy handling and easy maneuver through traffic. And for off the road, it is sprung 220 mm off the ground and offers plenty of suspension travel (200 mm, 180 mm).
Like on the Roadster, a little more torquey lower end would be even more preferred on the Adventure. It is a high revving engine which means it favours power over torque, which is not much of a problem on the road but off it could be tricky, for example, if you’re negotiating your way through some slush at not very great speeds.
Features and equipment
Braking hardware is shared on the three motorcycles with a 320 mm disc up front and a 240 mm at the rear and a dual-channel ABS. Braking is appropriately bitey and gradual indeed. Also, the Scrambler and Adventure get three modes for the ABS.
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The three come with LCD display consoles with functionalities like tripmeter, distance to empty, time, ABS mode and gear indicator as standard. The Adventure gets a tilt adjustment for the instrument console on it and has Bluetooth connectivity & turn-by-turn navigation as standard. All three are equipped with LED head and tail lamps. The Adventure and Scrambler also get standard handlebar-mounted USB and Type C charging points.
To sum it all up..
..all three offer rather a very modern appeal. Like it was back in the day, the Jawas are classic and relaxed and the Yezdis are the young at heart. While some of us may have sighed the we didn’t see any of the quintessential Yezdi visual appeal come back to life, Classic Legends still have the iconic ‘Roadking’ moniker to work with.
This was, in fact, a very limited ride experience with the three and a more detailed review will be possible when we spend more time with the three later on, but we’re really glad that Yezdi has made a strong comeback with three very promising products that are priced well and now there’s just so much more choice in the segment and also, the Yezdi Scrambler is the most affordable scrambler out there.
