Yezdi Makes A Comeback With Three New Motorcycles

Classic Legends has finally resurrected the iconic Yezdi brand, and launched as many as three motorcycles: the Roadster, Scrambler and Adventure. Contrary to what was speculated earlier, the bikemaker hasn’t revived the ‘Roadking’ moniker yet, but the new bikes pose a serious threat to its competition.

What's Its Price? Who Are Its Rivals?

The Yezdi Roadster is the most affordable of the trio, and has been priced at Rs 1,98,142 onwards and goes up to Rs 2,06,142 for the chrome variant. With this bike, Yezdi has its eyes set on the Royal Enfield Meteor 350, which starts at Rs 2.01 lakh onwards.

The Yezdi Scrambler has been priced between Rs 2,04,900 to Rs 2,10,900, depending on the colour you choose. While its direct rival, the Royal Enfield Scram is yet to debut, the bike faces competition from the Husqvarna Svartpilen 250 (Rs 2.10 lakh) and the Honda CB350RS (Rs 2 lakh).

Yezdi’s ADV bike, the Adventure, is the priciest of the lot, bearing a tag of Rs 2,09,900 for the base colour option, and going up to Rs 2,18,900 for the Camo colour option. The Adventure competes with the likes of the Royal Enfield Himalayan (Rs 2.14 lakh onwards), Benelli TRK 251 (Rs 2.51 lakh) and the KTM 250 Adventure (Rs 2.35 lakh).

(all prices ex-showroom Delhi)

What's New?

Design

Classic Legends has broadened its customer base with Yezdi, by catering to an audience that the Jawa didn’t. Yezdi has a cruiser, an ADV and a scrambler on offer, each with its own distinct styling that is true to their genre.

For starters, the Roadster’s teardrop-shaped tank, wide handlebar, comfortable saddle with a backrest for the pillion and the long peashooter exhaust all scream cruiser. However, we are not fully convinced by the neutrally-set footpegs.

The Scrambler, on the other hand, with its high-mounted fender, tuck-and-roll seat, upswept exhaust and minimalist body panel lure you to hit the trails. But does it have the hardware to do so? More on that later.

But when it comes to aesthetics, the Adventure is a bit of a missed opportunity in our opinion. Though we expect retro-themed motorcycles from Yezdi, and this ADV fits the bill perfectly, it comes out as a ripoff of the Himalayan. That said, it is a completely different motorcycle otherwise, starting from its engine

Engine
The Yezdi trio use the 334cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine from the Jawa Perak. However, Yezdi has tuned the motor differently for all the three bikes to suit their individual purposes and claims to use a different piston than the Jawa.

Underpinnings
The Yezdi Roadster uses a double cradle frame suspended onto a telescopic fork and twin shocks, and runs on 18/17-inch alloy wheels. The cruiser has an accessible seat height of 790mm and a decent ground clearance of 175mm.

Even the Scrambler uses a double cradle frame, and packs a telescopic fork offering 150mm of travel and preload adjustable twin shocks at the rear with 130mm travel. Given its intended purpose, the Scrambler flaunts a 19/17-inch wire-spoke setup with dual-purpose tyres. It has a high ground clearance of 200mm, and slightly taller saddle height of 800mm. At 182kg, it weighs 2kg less than the Roadster.

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The Yezdi Adventure too uses the same chassis as the Scrambler, but packs long-travel suspension with 200mm of travel at the front and 180mm of travel from the preload-adjustable monoshock. Like one would expect from an ADV, the bike gets a 21/17-inch wheel setup with 220mm ground clearance. However, at 815mm, the saddle height may not be comfortable for shorter riders. The Adventure is the heftiest of the lot, tipping the scales at 188kg. It also packs a 15.5-litre fuel tank (the biggest of the lot), while the other two use a 12.5-litre unit.

Braking hardware is shared across the trio, with a 320mm disc up front and a 240mm unit at the rear. This system is backed by dual-channel ABS with three modes: Road, Off-road and Rain, each having varying levels of intervention.

Features
All the bikes pack LED headlights and tail lights, and while the Scrambler and Adventure also feature LED indicators, the Roadster uses halogen units. The Roadster is also void of the USB and Type-C charger that the other two bikes pack as standard equipment.

Lastly, the three bikes feature LCD instrument consoles, however, the Roadster and the Scrambler get a single-pod unit, whereas the Adventure gets a bigger one with a few tricks up its sleeve. Not only does the ADV’s console feature Bluetooth connectivity and navigation, but also can be adjusted for better visibility when straddling.

Yezdi is offering an array of accessories for each bike, ranging from headlight grilles, and auxiliary lights, to hand guards and windshields.

ZigSays

The Yezdi trio’s pricing is on par with its rivals, with these bikes offering more performance than their competition. Classic Legends’ biggest hurdle was the never-ending waiting period with the Jawa, and they claim to have fixed it with the Yezdi. The bikes are already under production for over a month, and deliveries are expected to commence this week via existing Jawa dealerships.

The Scrambler and the Adventure pose a big threat to the Himalayan, which recently faced a massive price hike, making these Yezdis more affordable. However, with the Scram could be RE’s redemption, but that is still a couple of months away.