Keeping the passion alive

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They wanted to popularise the concept among those with similar interests. And soon a club was formed.

It grew from strength to strength and every year during the International Jawa Yezdi Day, held every second Sunday in July, not less than 300 Jawa and Yezdi bike owners turn up. These bikes are popular for their reliability and low maintenance costs. They
were last manufactured at the Ideal Jawa factory in Mysore.

The media was recently given a preview of what the final programme would like. About 15 Yezdi bikers got together and drove from Cubbon Park till Kanteerava stadium to promote the programme.   

While some members of the club grew up with Jawa and Yezdi bikes, others seemed to have acquired a taste for it, thanks to their friends. The club plans rides twice a month. They ride up to some spot 50 or 60 km from the City, “It’s just a way of keeping the passion alive. And it’s always fun to go riding with a bunch of people with similar tastes and interests,” says Brian, one of the founders of the club.

Lokesh, another member, reasons that these bikes are never good for short distances within the City, “you just can’t manage to ride an Yezdi in the City. It’s best suited for long rides. The unending traffic jams never allow a smooth ride.” It is the sound and the power of the bike that drew Lokesh to it, “there was something so macho about the bike. It has an endurance of a different kind. If you are used to riding an Yedi, you’d find it hard to ride any other bike,” he adds.

The formation of the club led to a lot of Yezdis being brought out from the junkyard and it also indirectly helped Yezdi bike mechanics get back their business. Mansoor Baig literally grew up watching his father and his uncles ride the Yezdi, “I began riding the Yezdi when I was 15-years-old and now my sister and cousins too ride the bike,” he says.   

More than 200 Yezdi bikers are expected for the eighth International Jawa Yezdi Day, which is scheduled to be celebrated on July 11 from 7.30 am at Kanteerva Stadium. The club also plans to honour a few mechanics who help them maintain the bike and keep it going. For details, call 9886101005.