More than 180 owners of Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles rode through the main thoroughfares of the city on Sunday, reviving memories of the iconic motorcycle’s glorious past.
The characteristic roar of the Jawa and Yezdi motorcycle engines transported old-timers back in time to the days when the bike was a rage among youngsters. The rally, organised as part of the 14th International Jawa Yezdi Day, began from the residence of the late F.K. Irani, founder of the Ideal Jawa factory, in Nazarbad. Various models of the motorcycle once rolled out of the Ideal Jawa factory in Yadavgiri.
After Mr. Irani’s son Raian Irani flagged off the rally, bike enthusiasts rode through Nazarbad Main Road and passed Hardinge Circle, Ramaswamy Circle, and the open-air theatre at Manasagangothri before reaching the Yadavgiri factory site, which now houses a multi-storeyed residential apartment complex.
Many motorcycle owners participated in the rally along with their wives or other family members, including children. Though most of the participants were from Mysuru, there were a few from Kodagu, Hassan and Chamarajanagar districts. About 30 motorcyclists came from Kodagu.
Though the rally is held in different parts of India every year, particularly in a few North Indian cities, it is held only in Mysuru and Bengaluru in Karnataka, said Sunil Somasundar, a member of the Jawa Friends Club, Mysuru. “We even had two participants from Gangavathi in North Karnataka,” he added.
Golden oldie
Also participating in the rally was Athaulla Khan (65), a Jawa enthusiast who used to head the painting division at the Ideal Jawa factory.
Several models of the motorcycle, including Roadking 250, Roadking 350, Yezdi Classic, besides the older models manufactured in Czechoslovakia like CZ 125 and CZ Perak, were to be seen at the rally.
The rally is held on the second Sunday of July every year. The International Jawa Yezdi Day is celebrated to mark the start of production of Jawa motorcycles in India back in the 1960s.
