Observed every year on the second Sunday of July, the International Jawa Day falls on July 14 this year.
The Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club (BJYMC), a non-profit organisation of the classic motorcycle enthusiasts, are celebrating the occasion at St Joseph’s Indian High School grounds.
The club has been organising the event since 2008. Co-founder Brian Ammanna says that the event sees more and more people participating
every year.
This year, they are expecting close to 700 bikers at the annual event. Says Brian, “Since it is at a central location, we are expecting a lot of footfall to view the bikes and participate in the fanfare.”
Popular models on display
Almost all models produced in India from the Ideal Jawa Factory will be on display during this year’s event.
The most popular Jawa 250cc, Yezdi Model B, Yezdi Classic, Yezdi Deluxe, Yezdi Monarch and Yezdi Roadking and rare Indian and imported bikes such as Jawa and Yezdi 350cc Twins, 50cc Jawa Jet, 125cc CZ, Jawa Perak, Cezeta scooter will be on display.
Highlight of the event
A live Bike Build activity is also scheduled for the day, where a fully dismantled 1990 model Yezdi Roadking will be assembled and ridden. “The objective of this bike build is to showcase the simplicity and reliability of these machines,” says Pathan Mujahid, one of the club members.
There will be an obstacle course for enthusiasts to try their hand at riding the bikes.
Food and merchandise stalls, featuring memorabilia, are also being set up.
About BJYMC
Founded in 2007, the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club (BJYMC) aims to revive Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles. It has over 1,000 Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles of all variants found in Bengaluru.
The club organises quarterly rides; Malnad Diaries, an annual event for all Karnataka based clubs; and Independence Day charity ride. With the recent launch of the new 4-stroke Jawa bikes, the club is also looking to invite new riders and encourage them to actively participate in the club activities.
Environmentally aware
“We are an environmentally conscious organisation and encourage all our members to always keep their bikes in ideal running condition with all necessary pollution certificates. Since these are old machines (the youngest bike is 23 yrs old), most of the owners use them only on weekends for short rides. As part of our social initiatives, we also actively participate in tree plantation drives once every year to help increase the green cover within the state.”
- Jose Martin, member, BJYMC
‘Bengaluru has second-highest number of Jawa riders’
Shamsheer Ahmad is an expert Jawa mechanic based in Mysuru. He works for MD Auto garage, which was set up by his father Mohammed Dastagir around 45 years ago. He has been celebrating the Jawa Day for the last ten years by going around the city along with 250-300 fellow enthusiasts. Shamsheer’s expertise lies in repairing and customising Jawa bikes. Talking about the latest Jawa series, he says, “The bikes are good, but the only problem is that they deliver them late. It is difficult to find the parts; we import them most times.”
The Jawa-expert gets most bikes from Bengaluru, only after Kerala.
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