One for the Roadster

Siling Tongkhor Rinpoche of Namdroling monastery says, 'Motorcycling is being in the present while going into the future.' Yezdi has attempted to evoke that feeling with the new Roadster

- Story: Salman Bargir Photography: Kalidas M

A GROUP OF MOTORCYCLISTS ASSEMBLED AT THE foothills of the sacred Chamundi Hill to ride across and back to Mysuru, via the Western Ghats, to its eastern slope town of Kushalanagar, on the new Yezdi Roadster.

A day before the ride, I observed that this new Roadster does not look particularly different from the previous model. Although there is a new hydroformed handlebar, which can be swapped with a flat handlebar from Yezdi, and a sharper rake angle for improved agility, it is at the rear that the changes become the most prominent. The sawn-off rear fender, tyre hugger-mounted registration number-plate and taillight, with a fat radial tyre in its backdrop, give it a more appealing bobber-style look.

The ride was flagged off the next morning with two of the founders, Anupam Thareja and Boman Rustom Irani, at the front. This was a proper group ride. There was a lead, two marshals, and a sweeper. Astride the Yezdi, in my preferred Shark Skin Blue colour and on the solo seat, I was ready for the ride. Firing up the engine, I slotted the motorcycle into first gear and eased out the light clutch to get going.