Jawa Day takes bike aficionados on a jaw-dropping ride

MANGALURU: Beauty of the coastal city doubled on Sunday as around 50 yesteryear favourites, Yezdi and Jawa bikes, thundered on terra firma to mark 14th International Jawa Day. Yezdi and Jawa Owners Club of India - Mangaluru chapter organized the rally, which started from Car Street and culminated at Tannirbavi beach.
As many as 100 motor enthusiasts rode bikes including the rare 1960s 250cc macho - The Jawa Bison, Tank Switch Jawa, Roadkings, Oilking, Yezdi Classic, Yezdi 'B' type, Pionyr's, Jet Jawa and the Yezdi Colt.Also, mechanics who keep these bikes roaring and healthy were felicitated by bike-owners as a token of love and respect. Shawn Fernadez, a club member, said they dedicate the second Sunday of July to celebrate the ownership of their vintage and classic motorbikes.
The Mangaluru chapter of the all-India club - The Mangalore Jawa and Yezdi Motorcycle Club, while still in its nascent stage, has various members from all walks of life, including students, professors, IT professionals, doctors and engineers.
"Though we have a meeting once a month, riders often meet up, simply to ride through the beach or up the hills to watch the meandering Gurupur and Nethravathi rivers," he said.
Two vintage bike lovers Richard and Arvind came all the way from Bengaluru to take part in the event.
It all started in Mysuru:
Jawa bikes were rolled out to the entire nation from Mysuru city. In 1961, the then-Governor of Mysore state Jayachamaraja Wadiyar inaugurated the Ideal Jawa (India) Limited with the slogan 'Forever bike, forever value', which became a great sensation among motorcycle lovers across India.
When Wadiyar learnt about the bikes being imported, he planned opening an engineering industry in Mysore," recalled Raian F Irani, son of co-founder Farrokh K Irani, while speaking to TOI.
Farrokh and Rustom S set up Jawa in Yadavgiri, and the factory had a capital investment of Rs50 lakh, with Wadiyar being one of the stakeholders. He also helped to get industrial land approved from the government.
The company was given a licence and was permitted to manufacture 42,000 bikes per year, with most of the materials being imported.
It employed 2,200 workers and rolled out 130 bikes per day.
The production of the two-stroke motorcycle stopped in 1998 due to fuel efficiency issues, leaving bike-lovers disheartened.