Yezdi Scrambler: 1st impressions by Continental GT 535 owner

Mahindra has done a good job with the motorcycle but there are rough edges that are difficult to miss.

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I dropped into the local Jawa showroom to check out the Scrambler. Surprisingly, the Adventure and the Roadster will arrive only on Friday and there is going to be a launch event on that day. Only then will the Scrambler in other colours be brought to the showroom. As of now, the red / silver and green / silver bikes were on display. Test rides will also only begin on Friday. There were a lot of walk-ins for the Scramblers. This showroom is otherwise pretty empty.

After checking out the bike for around 20 to 25 minutes, I came out with mixed impressions. Mahindra has done a good job with the Scrambler but there are rough edges that are difficult to miss. I don’t know why all these Johnny Come Latelys with their GoPros are raving about the feel of the bike in the showroom.

Here are some thoughts

The bike looks good but proportion wise, it feels like it’s half a size down. Taller riders will look awkward on it in their Instagram updates.
Maybe it’s because I have seen more mainstream bikes than Mahindra bikes, but the depth of the paint job and the finishing of it feels a lot more premium on the Honda CB350 / Royal Enfield Classic 350, etc. I recently spent some time with the Apache RR 310 and the paint job on that is world-class. On this front, the Yezdi Scrambler isn’t even close to its competition.
The seating position is quite comfortable and the bars are at a nice, easy to reach position. It feels very natural and easy to get used to but the seat is surprisingly hard.
I found it awkward to put my foot down while simulating a stopped at a red light condition. My feet kept fouling with the footpegs. I’m used to stretching my feet forward on my Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 but on the Scrambler, the only comfortable position is to keep my feet behind the footpegs.
The execution of the digital dash is very impressive. The fonts and layout look gorgeous. Good job!
The front brakes are by Bybre.
The rubber gaiters at the front look like they are of poor quality.
The finishing on some parts is sub par.
The headlight looks nice but the Yezdi sticker on it will fall off by the end of your first monsoon with the bike.
The switchgear is par for course. The left side switches should have been built with a bit more tactile feel. It was almost like pressing the buttons of a fake Nintendo console pad.
The levers are non-adjustable and could have been of better quality. It looks like it is shared between all the Jawa / Yezdi bikes.
The rear suspension is by Gabriel and comes with multi-step adjustment for preload.
The welding under the seat is super ugly and was equally bad on all 4 bikes in the showroom.
The rear is a tale (tail?) of two cities. The top half looks nicely executed. But the rear mudguard looks ungainly and takes away the visual appeal of the bike.
I would immediately get a tail tidy and throw that heavy mudguard in the dustbin.
I’m not a big fan of all the sticker work on the bike. It would look a lot better with a clean look.
The mirrors are fine but I would take the bar end mirrors from the Jawas instead and remove the stock ones that come on the Scrambler. You can be guaranteed an additional 50 likes on Instagram.

Prior to seeing the Scrambler, I hoped that the quality levels that Mahindra had exhibited with the new BSA Goldstar prototypes, would be evident in the new launches. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

But despite these rough edges, I am still quite impressed with what Mahindra has pulled off with the bike. Kudos to them for coming out with a unique offering that the competition has shied away from. For Rs 2.77 L on road, I am quite intrigued by the bike and am waiting for the test ride next week.

There is a genuine buzz about the Scrambler in the market today, and I only wish that Mahindra had spent that additional 5% of the time, effort and money, to make this bike look and feel more premium.