Words: Abhishek Pandey
Adventure motorcycles are typically associated with off-road routes, highways, and mountains, rather than racetracks. This was a compelling enough reason for me to choose the Yezdi Adventure as my next motorcycle for the Classic Legends NATRAX experience.
Yezdi Adventure was my second motorcycle for the day after the BSA Goldstar 650. By the time I got hold of the Yezdi Adventure, I was already well acquainted with the handling track at the NATRAX. What I was not acquainted with was the Yezdi Adventure, as it was the first time I was riding one, although I have spent thousands of kilometres touring on different adventure motorcycles, this was going to be my first time with one on a testing track.
At first look, the Yezdi Adventure feels tall, but the moment you swing your leg over, it feels just like a street bike, easy and accommodating, and you sit upright but have to reach out a bit for the handlebars. The narrow seat and 815mm of seat height make it easy even for the shorter riders to keep their foot down easily.
The 334cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled Alpha 2 engine on the Yezdi Adventure has been tuned to offer more torque on the lower and mid ends of the rev range, and that is pretty noticeable while you ride the motorcycle. The gearshifts are smooth, and the engine pulls well from a standstill and feels confident in the first two gears, but there is a noticeable flat spot in the powerband between four and five thousand rpm when being accelerated aggressively. The bike seems to hesitate and then picks up the pace. The engine has been tuned keeping touring and adventure riding in mind and should be able to hold speeds between 100-110kmph with ease. On the straight patch of the handling track, I was able to clock a max of 130kmph before turning into the sharp right-hander.
On the track, one of the first things I noticed was how light and flickable the Adventure felt, especially after the BSA Goldstar 650. The wide handlebars and 21-inch wheels allowed for quick direction changes. The long travel suspension is typically adventure and tuned for handling roads and off-roads alike, the front forks are a little soft and would dive down considerably during hard braking. This didn’t hamper my riding experience, but it took me a while to get used to the feedback, especially while making quick directional changes. What surprised me was how well the rear link-type suspension had been set up, the dampening was spot on, be it in the corners or the straights, and it inspired me to push the motorcycle even more. The bike felt easy, and I was naturally able to push it a lot more on the corners despite the higher centre of gravity. The Yezdi Adventure comes equipped with Ceat Gripp XL, which has been in the market for a long time and performs well in on and off-road usage, the same was the case on the track as well. The brakes on the Yezdi Adventure have been tuned, keeping the on and off-road usage in mind. To some, it might feel that they lack bite, but in my opinion, they have been set up just right. The front copes well with the suspension dive and doesn’t let you feel out of control.
The Yezdi Adventure surprised me with its capabilities at the NATRAX. After riding it hard for a little over thirty minutes, I can very well say it would be a potent mile muncher, but how it performs off-road is something I would only be able to say after riding it on a trail.
