Fantasy vs. Reality. Review on Yezdi CL II

Its been 20+ years that I have listening to stories about Jawas and Yezdis from  my dad and uncles. In my entire lifespan of 25+ years, I haven't encountered even a single person who spoke negative about Yezdi and Jawa. My liking for yezdi started with a story told by my dad long back that once he had a race with a Bullet owner on the Lucknow-Kanpur highway years ago and he won it with quite a fair margin. I started dreaming about having a Yezdi one day and driving it to the max. Well, years passed and I got involved in books and career and my dream took a backseat for sometime. Now, 2007, I am well-settled, up and running, thought of buying a Yezdi which is not at all an

easy task as we all know. Its easier to get a US visa than to get a good Yezdi.  I started hunting for one here in Lucknow(i am from Lucknow(salaam-waaley-kum) and one fine day I landed up in the lap of my dream-bike  in the older part of the city. After some typical Indian bargaining, I got the bike for Rs. 3800/-. Isn't that awesome? I invested 600/- for painting, 1200/-  for legal formalities, 1000/- for servicing and a few things replaced like piston-rings, brake-shoes and some electrical(though they are not much) and got it done from the best Yezdi mechanic in Lucknow i.e. Babloo(near

nishatganj) and my fantasy turned out to be a reality. So here is fantasy vs.reality:-

Pickup:- I heard that only Hero-Honda Karizma can beat Yezdi in this

regard. Reality is that I never had a chance to twist my machine against

Karizma but what I feel is that Yezdi's normal pick-up is slightly above Pulsar

150 DTSI. What I feel is that if you a up against Pulsar 150, drag your bike in

the IInd gear and then change it to the third with the clutch depressd(no

auto-clutching this time). You will see that Pulsar goes ahead by 5-6 meters

but after 3-4 seconds it will hear your music. To increase the pick-up, you

have to make sure the fuel intake in the bike is more and this will decrease the

kmpl aspect. But its worth doing sometimes.

Control:- Now with that kind of pick-up and speed, one needs control. Yezdi provides commendable control even at high speeds. By the time you switch to 4th gear normally, you will notice that you are at 60kmph. This is all because to the great handing that the bike provides. I, sometimes take a turn at 60-65-70 kmph without being into fear of slipping and falling. I have driven the beast at 110 kmph last night in total control and without any vibrations. Then I felt what is a real Yezdi. The auto-clutch provides me a facility of talking with my cell while riding, though this is not advisable, as I do it only when I am in the cantonment area.  I have driven almost all bikes available in India and the only other machine that comes close to Yezdi in this regard in Bullet. However, I would like to state that for a biker of an average height of 5’7” till 5’11”, Yezdi is the best deal as Bullet for people with this height doesn’t look good and doesn’t suits the personality of the biker. So for handling and control, I give 9.9/10 to Yezdi. Why not 10/10 is because nothing is perfect except God Almighty.

Looks:-   As compared to the modern bikes which are more aerodynamic as they say it, Yezdi has a cruiser-cousin look. Cruiser-cousin, wow what a word. I was actually not impressed with the new-look of Yezdi that had a CL II and Roadking kind of a headlamp and a different ignition and speedometer. I changed the headlight to the Classic headlight which, to me looks like a frog’s eye and I like it very much. But I have retained the handle-bar of CL II. Well to tell you I have a CL II. So I get a very different kind of a look with the headlight that of Classic and the handlebar of CL II.  Also to tell you the reality, in this year of 2007, nobody bothers about how Yezdi looks, everyone is just glad to see and hear as it is a rare sight. So looks doesn’t matter, the bike has to be cleaned and polished thats it.

Fuel Comsumption:- Do I really have to say anything. For the output I get from the bike, I am happy with even 25-28 kmpl. Well people say Yezdi gives 30-35 but then performance goes for a toss and I don’t really enjoy riding it. Yezdi, today, should not be driven for saving for your pocket but its a passion for which there is a cost.

Electricals:- I am driving on dynamo since I bought it so that electricals are weak as of now but will be ok when there is a battery. There is really no need of horn if there is no mesh in the silencers. Lights, I would say are classic in performance and stand nowhere compared to modern machines. But Yezdi is not driven for lights and electricals, its driven for a light and passion within the rider.

Overall:- A biker will never dislike a Yezdi. What I can say is that what I thought about Yezdi is really what I got. What I thought is what I got(WITWIG).  For all new owners reading this review, I would say is find a good mechanic, get the things fixed and you will never be tempted to drive anything else. Its an out of the world experience while riding a Yezdi. Any questions?  I can be contacted at marvingray@rediffmail.com

Happy Biking.

Marvin