Vintage Jawa bikes thump on city roads

Mysuru: Roads came alive on Sunday with the thumping sound of the legendary Yezdi and Jawa bikes.
Over the years, Jawa-Yezdi bikes have attained a cult status among the young and the old across the country. As part of the International Jawa Day, proud owners hit the city roads to take part in a rally organised by Mysore Jawa Friends Club.
The rally was flagged off by Zakaria, airport officer, in front of the Fire Station in Saraswathipuram and culminated at Joy Ice Cream in Yadavagiri where the Ideal Jawa factory was earlier functioning.
Bike enthusiasts from not only across the state, but also from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, took part in the rally. The bikes which took part in the rally included Jawa Peraks, Road King, Jawa Cezetas and Jawa 350.
More than 300 motorbikes, mainly Jawa and Yezdi, manufactured between 1960 and 1996 were part of the rally. Jawa-Yezdi bikes were earlier manufactured at Yadavagiri in Mysuru.
The first Jawa rolled out of a Czechoslovakia plant in 1929. It made its Indian debut through the efforts of NK Irani and his family. Ideal Jawa went on to produce Jawa bikes at their Mysuru Factory in Yadavagiri in 1961. That was then, but the Jawa has stood the test of time wven after the name was changed to Yezdi for India, living up to its slogan of being a ‘forever bike with forever value’. It’s no wonder that these bikes are still being used not just by their original owners, but also handed down generations. This lasted until the last motorcycle rolled out of the Mysuru factory in 1996, before the company eventually shut down in 2005.
Sameer, an organiser said, “We got good response for the 17th International Jawa Yezdi Day celebration. One of the important things about Jawa is that it has been passed on over generations. There are people who are riding bikes used by their grandfathers.”
Jawa rally connects people
Mohammed Rafi, a civil engineer from Coimbatore who owns three Jawa bikes and two Road Kings took part in the rally for the first time. “I feel proud to have such vehicle. It can’t be compared with the latest vehicles. This segment is different and it connects people. This rally also gets all sorts of people, whether rich or poor or any community, there is no discrimination. After seeing the Jawa rally in Mysuru, we are planning to start a club in Coimbatore as well,” Rafi said.
Vintage value
Akram, a fleet operator from Chennai, took part in the rally with his Road King. He said, “Riding Jawa or Road King is very different; it has vintage value. Every bike brand has unique mechanism. I am riding this bike for the last five years. Earlier, my father and even my grandfather rode the Road King. Even today, there are more than 100 such bikes in Chennai alone.”