A huge wave of nostalgia hits us motorcyclists when we hear the name ‘Yezdi’. It brings back all the memories of the retro roadster which used to rule our streets back in the day. Time and again, there have been rumours that Yezdi might return to our shores. Back in 2018, Classis Legends, the subsidiary of Mahindra which brought Jawa back to life, announced that it might resurrect Yezdi as well. And now, it seems like it is finally happening!
More details
A test mule was recently spotted on the Pune-Nashik highway which hints that Classic Legends might be working on a 2021 iteration of the Yezdi Roadking or in this particular case, a Yezdi Roadking Scrambler!
The rise of Scramblers!
The rise in popularity of Scramblers is pretty visible and is reflected in the surge of new affordable Scramblers which have graced our shores. Before the BS6 era kicked in, the Benelli Leoncino 250 used to be one of the most affordable Scramblers in our country. Later on, Husqvarna followed suit with its Svartpilen 250 and now, we have two retro-styled Scramblers as well – the Jawa 42 and the recently launched Honda CB 350 RS. Sure, all the motorcycles mentioned here aren’t true-blue Scramblers and can’t take that much beating off the tarmac but their rugged and unique appeal is certainly pleasing the Indian motorcyclist.
The test mule
The recently spotted Yezdi Scrambler follows the same design philosophy as the other motorcycles mentioned here. The front end comprises of a round headlight, typical retro Scrambler, we must say! The handlebar looks tall and there are fork gaiters in place as well. The utilization of spoked rims as opposed to alloys hints at its rugged intention. Judging from the photos, the rear end of the motorcycle surely resembles a modern-day scrambler, thanks to its rear tyre hugger, narrow tailpiece and slim flat ribbed seat. It also sports twin exhausts which look oddly unfinished. The rims are wrapped in MRF Zapper Kurve rubber, as seen in the newly launched Honda CB 350 RS.
While there’s no information on exact engine specifications, the radiator and engine head design seems identical to that on the Jawas, and this could mean that this motorcycle will feature an iteration of the Jawa engine, as expected. We also noticed that the engine casing is similar to that seen on the legendary Yezdi Roadking, confirming that it is indeed a modern-day Yezdi.
Most of the design elements you see in the test prototype are not production-ready yet hinting that the Jawa/Yezdi scrambler could be more than a year away from making its official debut.