Buddy List contd...

Mr Jikov

This mottai in the pic is Venkat and he is also called jikov and ur seeing him sitting on top of his pride and joy his jawa and his actual pride and joy is a Roadking but some how jawa came and took its place and that jawa aint cheap i think including the cost of the vehicle it should be around 90k to 100k and thats classic brit bike price range this either shows his love for jawa or the sad situation he is in but to be honest i like his roadking better and i had it with me for somme time and it was a dream and his jawa in comparison to roadking i think the roadking is better cos i am used to seeing him in the pillon seat while ravi (senthil's assitant rides the bike) yeah if its a long ride he always brings his driver but ride the ruins was an exception. oh why Mr jikov some two years ago when we all are new to these and when ever he meets some one with a yezdi or jawa he used to ask if there carb was jikov and the name stuck 

Buddy List contd

The guy in white shirt is senthil my mech he is a wiz with Jawa and yezdi and he has learnt the art from Mr.Durai who in days of yore is to tune Jawa /yezdi and other motorcycles for racing and also was one the best mech for the everyday rider too . Anyway it was after i met vasanth and kannan i got the phone no. of Senthil and vasanth recomended him so i gave a call to him and he said he was busy but as usual i pushed him and i took my jawa to his garage . At that point i didnt realise that the garage is gonna be my hangout every sunday and that i am gonna make more friends . so i went there and  when i took the bike to him it had hell of issues , i had no brakes watsoever the carb was leaking and basically it was crap . senthil jr was at the shop he was very little kid and when i asked senthil to go for a ride on my bike he warned me that the kid would be a handful but i took the kid gave him my mobile he was quiet and senthil went for the ride and two minutes later the kid raised the alarm and thank god senthil was back and took the kid and in a month he did up the bike and he has been a friend ever since

Myself in Hindu

MAN AND MACHINE
The king of the road

PRINCE FREDERICK

Venkataraman’s 1973 Jawa Type 353 has been spruced up to keep pace with the Yezdi Roadking

A 1973 model, Venkataraman’s Jawa Type 353 signifies the changes the motorcycle underwent at the Ideal factory. When the Mysore-based factory first made the Type 353 under licence, the bike’s ignition switch was on the petrol tank. After a few years, the switch was shifted to the rear end of the headlight case. In its twilight years, the Type 353 sported knee pads that were recessed into the petrol tank.

The knee pads are a feature of Yezdi, launched a year after Venkataraman’s Type 353. Other features that this Jawa shares with the Yezdi, to a greater or smaller degree, is the exhaust assembly design.

Despite being its immediate predecessor, this 1973 Jawa did not receive the same gearbox as the Yezdi. Jawas are notorious for slips on the third gear — ninety per cent of them have this problem. It is probably caused by the over-abundance of grooves on the gear sprocket — a feature meant to increase lubrication. With lesser number of grooves, Yezdis don’t pose the same problem.

In his own way, Venkataraman has helped this Jawa catch up with the Yezdi Roadking (1978-96), arguably the best Yezdi model. His Jawa puts puts out 16 bhp, just like the Roadking. The engine has a higher compression ratio, thanks to some nifty work from mechanic Senthil. So, whenever Venkataraman sets out on a Jawa and Yezdi rally, he’s at the head of the pack, along with men on Roadkings.

Kanzoom in Hindu

MAN & MACHINE  PRINCE FREDERICK
It’s never sundown at Jawa

T.S. Kannan’s enthusiasm for a 1968 motorcycle proves that Jawa is indeed ‘forever bike, forever value’

IDEAL ROADMATE Ridinf a 250 cc, single-cylinder, 1968 Ideal Jawa for over 35 years, T.S. Kannan has seen it all!

This Jawa has tutored T.S. Kannan in two seemingly contradictory lessons. One, everything is in a state of flux. Two, certain things don’t change with time. When his eldest son was a crawling baby, Kannan used to seat him on the petrol tank and go for a ride. Now, his firstborn is 28 years old and has flown the nest. But when the youngster takes a break from work, he participates in the past in new ways. And Kannan watches with a mixture of wonder and pain that his little one has outgrown the tank and does not depend on dad anymore for a joy ride.

In Kannan’s mind, this Jawa is a constant in a world pervaded by change. People are hooked on machines because these ‘inanimate creatures’ can cock a snook at time and get away with it. Through restorations and replacements, a bike or a car can be kept running for any number of years. They don’t reach the point of no return, as all of us do. They might undergo changes in form, but they can go on.

Kannan’s 1968, 250cc, two-stroke, single-cylinder Ideal Jawa (a Mysore-based company that made Jawa motorcycles under licence in India) has not been free of changes. But they have been far from drastic and not easily noticeable. One, however, can’t be missed. The almost emblematic cowl is missing. “Old-model Jawa motorcycles did not come with powerful headlights. I replaced them with those more suited for destinations that have to be reached via unlit roads. I had to remove the cowl to fit in the new headlight assembly.”

But there was a time when safety used to be the last thing on Kannan’s mind. He enjoyed sailing close to the wind. Once, he took a big risk on the road to Bangalore. “I left Chennai after sundown. When I reached Kancheepuram, my headlight bulb fused. I searched for an automobile spares shop in vain. I followed a bus for some distance, but gave up because of speed; the bus was far too slow for my Jawa. A tourist-taxi driver came to my rescue, letting me travel ahead of him so that I could use the light from his headlamps. We stopped for tea at Kolar. The taxi driver and passengers advised me to spend the night off the road. The non-functional headlamps and my reckless driving were gnawing at their mind. They were worried about my safety. But I reached Bangalore, guided by the moonlight.” Kannan named this bike ‘desperado’ and never before had this name seemed so apt.

As we age, our mnemonic cells seem to get rejuvenated. Kannan remembers how he scrimped and saved and bought this Jawa in 1971 for Rs. 3,000. And he likes to run you through track races, rallies and drag meets he took part in with his ‘desperado’.

Kannan’s Jawa is based on a popular model introduced in the 1940s, but it is garden variety. More spectacular models include the ones with the ignition placed on the tank. But the 250cc single (dual-exhaust) is a widely owned bike in India and a slogan used by Ideal Jawa aptly describes it – “Forever bike, forever value”. Common variety or not, all Jawa owners are proud about their machines and tend to bond greatly with one another. Today, this 59-year-old biker belongs to a group of Jawa and Yezdi (Ideal Jawa used this brand name to market a few Jawa models) owners. “I give some of these youngsters tips on safe-riding”.

People change. Certain things never do. Kannan and his Jawa illustrate this truth.

Ride the Ruins-Part 1

Its was two days before the independence day that discussion started about a ride since the independence was on a monday and we were getting a three day holiday big plans were started to be made we were thinking about a ride to yelagiri but our friends from the so called happening club are already on there way there and after declining the offer to ride with them , it wouldn be nice if we went with them, so next bright idea a two day trip to pondy and i said whoa there!! i aint going to pondy the trip was going to be a booze trip and i aint gonna drink , the discussion were primarily between Rajaram , Vasanth and Me with occasional inputs from Kannan sir and Venkat but it was already close to 15th and everybody was running low and cash so trip was reduced to a day trip and now we were thinking about new places i said nagalapuram suppose to be a falls there but Kannan sir said no to Andhra (bad roads, bad foods) , hence that plan was kicked out and then i asked "how about sholingar a reversed forest near it" that was also not gonna work out , i suggested that there is a fort near Mahabalipuram but at that point did not remember the name and asked rajaram to check it out in net and nextday he sent me a link to another fort called alamparai while i was talking about sardas but as both were close by we decided to go to both   a day before the trip i got my Jawa to the mech to get the clutch plates changed and rajaram and solomon dilligently got to work on my bike and i helped to get the plates to fit by filling the conners and that was done , It was sunday morning it was not hot but not cold either i woke by 5 and started from home at 5.30 and when i went there vasanth and kannan sir and aquin were there
 and we were joined by rajaram after some waiting

the black bike is standing alone is desparado as Mr Kannan calls it and its bloody fast so we all left for one hell of ride and solomon and venkat were gonna join near RTO

                                                                 

Trip

Our rides have taken to many places our favourite road is ECR the east coast seecenic highway its serenity when u ride that road the views are sublime the asaphalt is sooper smooth and an early sunday morning ride is the way to end a hard week , the ride is time when ur thoughts get cleared and ur enjoying pure bliss, its like entangling a very tangled set of earphones and once the ride is over ur brain is redy to be entangled again . we have been to vedanthangal , race track, pulicat , yelagiri, Tada falls and may other places and recently we went to a place called Alamparai Fort some 30km form pondy and a dutch fort in kalpakkam the ride was amazing and even more was the places pics/videos comming soon

CL-II

I have added a new horse to my Stable its a Yezdi CL-II an 87 model , its rusty but its trusty
Its at my mech shop getting saddled up. Am waiting ................ to ride it
Why i purchased this ride?
My wife loves riding my Jawa and she does ride my bullet but she finds the bullet a bit scary cos of its height and weight but the last time she rode my jawa the gear/ kicker rachet was broken and i ended up with le man's style push start and never gave the jawa to her again

But now she can ride the CL 2 all she wants (u should be thinking how JAWA is different from CL-II , will she not brreak the rachet again)

The gear ratios of CL-II and Jawa are Different and even the crank case is different JAWA comes with
see the pic below

the case to extreme left is of a CL-II the one on the extreme right is a Jawa and the last big one is of the 350 twin  but if u notice that in CL-II the case has become smaller the nuts/crews are within the casing and do not hangout hence the problem with gears is eleminated hence my wife can acually use it without wrecking it like that of a jawa.

Anyway waiting for my CL-II