BackThe romance of the Jawa
In the land of the Royal Enfield, a small army of petrolheads continue their love affair with a motorcycle brand born in Prague
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Photographs by Hemant Mishra.
The second Sunday of July is a special day for the fans of Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles. Not just in India, but the world over. This year was no different.
On 12 July, passionate owners gathered at the National College Grounds in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru, to celebrate the 13th International Jawa and Yezdi Day, organized by the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club (BJYMC) and Jawa Nanna Jeeva (Kannada for “Jawa is my life").
BJYMC was founded in 2007, and has since been actively trying to restore the motorcycles, and bring them back onto the roads.
Jawa motorcycles were launched in India in 1961 by Mysore-based Ideal Jawa (India) Pvt. Ltd, in collaboration with Jawa Ltd, based in what was then Czechoslovakia.
The collaboration lasted till 1968, by which time the Indian arm had acquired the requisite technical expertise to produce its own motorcycles.
Ten years later, Ideal Jawa came up with its own product under the brand name Yezdi.
Known for their reliability and low maintenance costs, Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles gradually acquired a cult following.
This lasted until the last motorcycle rolled out of the Mysore factory in 1996, before the company eventually went bankrupt and shut down in 2005.
Currently, more than 700 Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles, across all variants, restored by passionate mechanics, are found on the streets of Bengaluru, according to BJYMC. This includes the rare Jawa Peraks, the Jawa Cezetas and the Java 350.
More than 600 motorcycles were on display at the College Grounds, right from the 60cc to the 350cc Jawa models.
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