Torque and Tranquility

Nostalgia runs deep in the Tezat name, but the Roadster proves it isn't stuck in history. Easy to ride, eager when pushed, and confident on both highways and battered backroads, it feels like an introduction to motorcycling with real character

- By Sharan Sanil

Mysore was still brewing its morning coffees when we rolled out of the hotel car park, a neat queue of Yezdis heading towards the palace for the compulsory early photo stop. Ten years ago, I did this same run with an entirely different kind of bike and an entirely different kind of brain. Back then I was astride a Bajaj Avenger, riding like a labrador off the leash—all nerve, no patience, convinced that every overtake had to be made and every pothole was a personal challenge. What that bike gave me, besides a sore back and what I hope will be a lifelong attachment to motorcycles, was a string of stories stitched into the highways of Karnataka. Now, in my late twenties, I find myself back on the same stretch, riding differently. Not cautiously, but with more judgement, more rhythm. This time, my companion was the Yezdi Roadster, a bike that invites you to misbehave but won't punish you when you do.

I began the ride in Eco mode, letting the bike cap my early enthusiasm at just over 100 kmph. Eco forces restraint, and for the first hundred-odd kilometres it kept things calm as our convoy chugged along reservedly after some photo ops at the Mysore Palace. The Roadster settled into a steady hum, eating up distance without drama. Krishna Café was our first proper pause: steel plates of idlis, another round of coffee, and a few riders already loosening their jackets. It was here that I flicked the switch into Power mode, and the ride shifted gears in more ways than one. The Roadster didn’t roar—that isn’t its personality. It shrugged, steadied, and asked me to keep up. Long sweepers opened up, speed bumps tested reflexes, and a pair of lumbering buses became benchmarks for overtakes. That itch to chase the fast group at the front returned, and the bike met me halfway, planted but playful.