The Yezdi brand is no stranger to the Indian market. Some of the fondest memories motorcycle enthusiasts have of the brand is its motorcycles ruling the streets of some popular cities. It was just a beautiful sight to see on the roads, which used to be almost empty back then!
However, there are some memories of Yezdi motorcycles that are more powerful than that of them rolling on the streets. These are memories of the Yezdi Roadking roaring down rally stages at full throttle, leaving behind a trail of dirt and sweet-smelling smoke from the two-stroke engine.
These machines absolutely dominated the Indian rally scene for several years. In essence, they were road motorcycles modified to run on rally stages. Sometimes with a dirt-bike style mudguard up front and sometimes without. Well, that’s how the scrambler segment of motorcycles came about.
When Yezdi made a comeback, one of the three motorcycles launched earlier this month was a scrambler. The brand named it after the category of motorcycles it slots into – Scrambler. It is obviously meant to handle both on and off-road duties. So, how good is it really? We rode it to figure out.
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Yezdi Scrambler Design & Style
Right from the get-go, it is quite obvious that the Yezdi Scrambler is a unique motorcycle. In terms of design and style, it is a proper scrambler. ‘Scrambler’ is a term that became quite mainstream in the 50s and 60s but has been around since as early as the 1920s. All scramblers across the world typically have a similar design language.
The typical design language of a scrambler includes a circular headlamp, minimal bodywork, protection for the engine, and off-road/dual-purpose tyres. Well, it seems like Yezdi dug into the textbook of scrambler styling and launched the ‘Scrambler.’ If youre already tired of reading the word Scrambler, well, there’s more coming your way.
Coming back to the Yezdi Scrambler, It gets the signature scrambler flyline with the single-piece seat flowing into the fuel tank. The fuel tank itself is voluptuous and curvy with distinguishable design lines. Up front is a circular LED headlamp with the Yezdi logo separating the high and low beams. It also gets a chrome surround.
Right above it is the circular LCD instrument cluster, which is offset to the right, once again in typical scrambler fashion. The first element that will draw your attention when you view the motorcycle from the front is the dirtbike-style mudguard.
The Yezdi Scrambler also sports twin exhaust pipes and this makes the motorcycle look uber cool. This is one of those elements that is sure to fascinate grown up riders who haven’t really grown up: the super enthusiastic kind. The engine gets a matte finish with the cooling fins on the cylinder getting a contrasting silver finish.
The spoked wheels shod with dual-purpose tyres further add to the off-road-ready design and styling. At the rear is a tyre hugger that also has the registration number plate mounted on it. Under the single-piece seat towards the rear is a small mudguard that surely won’t hold back any mud. It is here that the small circular tail lamp is mounted and this is flanked by the indicators.
There are quite a few attractive colour options you can choose the Scrambler in. There are three dual-tone colours and three single-tone colours. The small mudguard at the rear is finished in black on the dual-tone colour options while it is finished in the body colour when a single-tone is picked. Also, whatever colour you pick, reflects only on the fuel tank. The rest of the motorcycle is only clad in black.
On the whole, the Yezdi Scrambler is a super attractive motorcycle to behold, no matter what angle you choose to look at it from. It is very unique and there is nothing in this price bracket that comes close to it in terms of design and styling.
Yezdi Scrambler Features
Traditionally, scramblers are not supposed to have any features at all. They are supposed to be motorcycles with just the bare minimum — just the engine, chassis, suspension, and lights. The whole point is to make them go faster on tarmac and off it. Over time though, things have changed.
The mainstream production scramblers out there are very well equipped and they get a bootload of features. However, these scramblers also cost quite a lot. The Yezdi Scrambler on the other hand has been launched at a price of Rs 2.04 lakh, making it the cheapest scrambler on sale. Yet, the resurrected manufacturer has equipped the motorcycle with a few features.
The availability of two smartphone charging ports really sets this one apart. The Yezdi Scrambler features a Type-A and a Type-C port to keep your gadgets juiced up. Another element that makes it into the features list is the LED lighting. All lights on the motorcycle are LED units and they look really nice too.
Though the Yezdi Scrambler features a single-pod circular display, the LCD unit gives out lots of information. It displays the trip meters, gear position indicator, distance-to-empty, speedometer, tachometer, odometer, ABS modes, etc.
Yes, that’s yet another feature that sets it apart in a crowd. The Yezdi Scrambler features three ABS modes — Road, Off-Road & Rain. Read on to know more about these riding modes. The information on the screen as well as the ABS modes can be controlled via the switchgear on the handlebar. The quality of this switchgear is great.
Yezdi Scrambler Engine Performance & Riding Impressions
By definition, a scrambler is supposed to be a fun-to-ride machine. The only purpose for a scrambler’s existence as a type of motorcycle is to allow its riders to have fun while on the saddle. I might dare say, a carefree kind of fun — when you let go of all worries and just push the motorcycle to the ragged edge while being at the risk of crashing at all times.
Does the Yezdi Scrambler give its rider such a thrill? We rode the motorcycle on tarmac and off it to figure out. What we discovered was quite interesting indeed. Spoiler alert: We did have fun, lots of it.
Let’s start off with the engine. The Yezdi Scrambler is powered by a liquid-cooled, 334cc, DOHC engine. It is the same engine that powers the Yezdi Adventure, Yezdi Roadster, and even the Jawa Perak. However, it is tuned differently in all the aforementioned bikes to suit their character and particular requirements.
In the Yezdi Scrambler, it is tuned to produce 28.7bhp at 8,000rpm and 28.2Nm at 6,750rpm. As you might have already figured out, the power and torque figures come higher up in the rev range. This will quite obviously affect the riding experience, in a good way, depending on the terrain you are riding on.
Let’s start off with the on-road performance. The bottom-end is more than satisfying and the mid-range is where the fun lies. It feels the most alive in the mid-range, between 6,000 and 8,000rpm. It will rev higher too but feels a little stressed at engine speeds higher than 8,500rpm. The 6-speed gearbox on the other hand is slick-shifting and is a pleasure to use.
Cruising abilities are great too, however, the riding position on the Scrambler is not meant for you to be cruising out on the highway. The suspension too will tell you the same story. The suspension is set up more towards the stiffer side.
While the suspension itself doesn’t affect handling adversely the steering angle and rake combined with the front fork does make for some scary situations, especially at speed. You do feel a little understeer on the handlebar. This isn’t a dealbreaker though and you will soon learn to enjoy the steering feel.
Then we get to the off-road bit and this is where the motorcycle shines, especially if you like to push your luck a little. The thing is, the understeering feel is still very present. However, it becomes a more enjoyable, on-the-edge kind of experience when the tyres are rolling on mud or gravel.
Standing up and riding is not really something we would suggest you to do, given the weird riding position. However, wherever necessary, you can get onto the footpegs and use the tankpads to grip the motorcycle. You also end up occasionally wringing your right wrist just to get the rear-end out for fun. The engine sounds brilliant thanks to the twin exhausts.
According to Yezdi, the engine now runs cooler in various conditions. This is courtesy of a new radiator design. It now gets horizontal internal cooling pipes as opposed to the norm which is vertical cooling pipes. This apparently allows the cooling to be upto 50 percent more efficient.
This brings us to the brakes. Up front is a 320mm disc and at the rear is a 240mm disc. ABS is standard fitment and as aforementioned, you also get three ABS modes. Road mode makes the ABS function normally and is made for use on tarmac. The Off-Road mode switches off ABS on the rear brakes and in Rain mode, the ABS mechanism cuts in really early to avoid any mishaps. The brakes do not allow any room for complaints as they do their job very well indeed.
Yezdi Scrambler Colours, Price & Competition
The Yezdi Scrambler is available in an array of attractive colours and the price varies according to the colour chosen.
Single-Tone:- Fire Orange: Rs 2,04,900- Outlaw Olive: Rs 2,06,900
– Yelling Yellow: Rs 2,06,900
Dual-Tone:- Midnight Blue: Rs 2,10,900- Mean Green: Rs 2,10,900
– Rebel Red: Rs 2,10,900
Among the single-tone shades, the Outlaw Olive is the best option while all dual-tone shades look brilliant on the Yezdi Scrambler.
As for the competition, well, there isn’t any. There are barely any scramblers in India and the Yezdi Scrambler is now the least expensive one. The only other scramblers in the Indian market are the Benelli Leoncino 500, BMW R NineT Scrambler, Triumph Street Scrambler, and Ducati Scrambler.
Verdict
Well, it is quite obvious that the Yezdi Scrambler is the most accessible scrambler in India. Given that unique position, it is already a winner. Then you add in the fact that it is fun-to-ride, performs well, looks absolutely brilliant, and makes you feel like a hooligan to an extent. Well, we have one cracker of a motorcycle here.
Keyword: Yezdi Scrambler Review — The Scrambler Spirit Is Alive & Kicking