[shortbread]

There's been a lot of promise in Mahindra's Classic Legends unit since the 2018 Jawa launch, followed by the Yezdi bikes more than a year ago. Targeting a segment that was monopolised by RE, the new entrant had everything going for it. The financial and industrial muscle of Mahindra, the following/nostalgia related to the Jawa/Yezdi brands, customers yearning for an alternative/competition..... in all ways this was a plan too good to fail.

They had a product to walk the talk as well, an impressive debut motorcycle at that as well, more technically modern than competition at the time, coupled with near perfect retro looks, the audience was convinced. The take-off was impressive too, a loud launch, superfast showroom launches many right next to RE showrooms, bookings in the tens of thousands, huge order backlogs and waiting periods..... one couldn't have scripted a better start.

Fast forward 3 years and Classic Legends remains a disappointing and miniscule presence in the Indian two wheeler space. In a country that sells more than a million two wheelers every month, CL scrapes the barrel with a piddly 3k approx. units monthly. Even if one uses the premium product argument lets not forget RE sells 19-20 times the motorcycles a month.

To make matters tougher there's more new 300+ cc competition in the horizon, HD/Hero, Bajaj/Triumph and not to forget RE's own line-up of single cylinder liquid cooled bikes.

Mahindra's tryst in the two wheeler segment has been a struggle from the start. Firstly the Kinetic take over, then the purchase (and sale) of controlling stake in Peugeot two wheelers and now the way forward looks unclear for it's latest venture Classic Legends. Nonetheless some plans have been discussed including increasing showroom footprint, rumours of a new electric bike plus the impending launch of the BSA brand. Perhaps third time lucky!

[commonman]

To be truthful, Jawa pricing and delivery was a flop from the beginning. Even in second hand markets, Jawa bike have high depreciation. At the same time RE had kept it's value. Yezdi also going in the same route as Jawa . The NVH levels in these bikes also makes one question the build quality. Just because we loved Jawa bikes in the yester years doesn't mean that people will take up anything.

My view point.

[Ironhide]

They started out with a lot of promise and they did have decent products to begin with. The Jawa Classic and 42 were well sorted products and the Mojo engine was a gem in its own right. The Yezdi offerings are also competent motorcycles, and quite reliable at that. What they should have done was to maybe disrupt the market initially a la Jio ; by providing bikes initially at cut throat prices and selling a huge number of them so that there is increased visibility of their products. Once the general motorcycling public is aware of the product, and the curiosity of the customer is piqued, more footfalls in the showrooms would be a given.

However they failed to do that also the fact that they could not meet the demand that was generated in the beginning led to very short recall in the mind of the consumer - out of sight, out of mind !

Some suggestions that may help the brand move forward .

• Strengthen the brand image: Classic Legends should focus on strengthening its brand image by creating a clear brand identity and communicating it effectively through marketing and advertising campaigns. This could include emphasizing the company's heritage, promoting the quality of its products, and highlighting the unique features of its motorcycles. Also taking a leaf out of RE's playbook here, Classic Legends needs to invest commitedly into apparel and merchandise, thereby building a brand image and increasing visibility. A funky helmet that screams Yezdi will improve brand visibility, a stylish, utilitarian (& affordable) jacket with the right kind of branding strategically placed, will go a long way in strengthening brand recall !
  
  
• Expand the product range: They should look into expanding its product range to attract a wider customer base. This could include introducing new models with different engine capacities or styles, or offering customization options for customers to personalize their bikes. The 650 single from BSA could be a good start. Maybe even get a larger capacity V-Twin, & plonk it different bodystyles - adventure tourer, cruiser, scrambler, sport tourer, classic.
  
  
• Expand The Dealer/ Sales / Service Network: RE has significant presence in every town whether it is Tier-2 or 3. There are more than one showroom even in small towns. This directly translate into greater visibility and hence sales. Classic Legends needs to put down money on expansion of their dealer network. More the selling points, greater the sales and better the visibility, leading to even better sales.
  
  
• Improve the quality and reliability of the products: Though the initial products were of a high quality and definitely better than their RE counterparts in terms of initial quality, Classic Legends should continue to prioritize improving the quality and reliability of its products to enhance customer satisfaction and reduce warranty claims. This would involve investing in better manufacturing processes and quality control measures, as well as sourcing higher-quality and reliable components. They could take a leaf out of Honda's best practices playbook here.
  
  
• Focus on after-sales service: After-sales service is where RE trumps other manufacturers and this has not come about in a day. To build customer loyalty and promote repeat business, RE put in concerted efforts over the years and this has paid off. This involves improving the availability of spare parts, offering warranty extensions, and investing in customer service training for staff - and Classic Legends should learn a lesson or two from them here.
  
  
• Embrace innovation: Getting their hands on latest technology and innovation in the motorcycle industry oughtn't be too hard. We already have examples of successful and profitable collaboration between homegrown automakers and their foreign counterparts ( Hero-Honda, Kawasaki-Bajaj, Bajaj-KTM, TVS-Suzuki, TVS-BMW & now Bajaj-Triumph). This would bring in research and development to develop new technologies or features that differentiate their motorcycles from its competitors

.

Cheers !

[Nilesh5417]

I think there are 3 key factors and you need to get atleast 2 of them right to get footfalls. Am not even getting into after sales for now.
1. Disruptive product with a strong USP
2. Disruptive pricing
3. Strong brand pull & recall

They had a strong brand to rely on atleast and they failed to make that stick. I agree with Ironhide, they could have been in a much better position if they had kept the momentum on brand building. It's not as if they didn't have the money, they just didn't have a clear long term strategy.

They launched the ADV and it just fizzled out inspite of being a good one cause the fit n finish had the same issues as the Jawa 42. Surprising that they didn't learn that lesson.

Every brand wants to take on RE and that ain't going to happen if you don't prepare to slug it out for a very long time. Esp not with this RE management - they have found their mojo! It's probably easier to do your own thing and build your own brand than try to claw at RE. If you have a good product there is room for you.

[shancz]

The issues revolving around Classic Legends have been explained well so I can only add one point where they missed IMO.

They were hitting a market ruled and benchmarked by Royal Enfield so to capture their customers the products had to be decidedly superior and better instead they ended up with similar products with minor differences which isn't enough to sway customers. Making matters worse was their delivery delays, quality issues and dealer network.

What if they would've developed a 450cc liquid cooled engine and introduced their Roadster, Scrambler and Adventure lineup with it ? IMO that single factor would've also covered up a lot of other issues for which they could've got enough time and revenue to resolve.

[DeadCenter]

Their products have no soul.

This is where Mahindra and CL have gone wrong. RE was doing well back when they had unreliable bikes with a 1 year waiting period. Their bikes have soul.

We all dream of the Jawas and Yezdis of yore. The bikes, not the brand logos. While the Mojo engine is a great engine, a twin exhaust single pot engine cannot be a Yezdi engine and just looking like a Yezdi will never be enough. Enthusiasts consciously or sub-consciously always go for soul and at these price points, no one is making a completely rational ROI decision. So what's your USP? Is it good enough to tug at someone's desires? If not, is it a marvel of engineering like my soulless eleven year old CBR250 was? My 55 year old uncle had a Yezdi back in college and it is still his weekend ride. He'll tell you about soul. Can you imagine holding one of the current CLs for that long?

The BSA Goldstar is a single pot 650. The Brits will love it since their enthusiasts have had access to all the cylinders they've ever needed for the longest time and this is fresh. I could be wrong but my sense is that it will fall flat on its face if it ever comes here. It sells at a higher price overseas than the Interceptor and that will just not fly here. Us Indian enthusiasts have had our fill of single cylinders and we want more at accessible price points. Until then by 3 month old CGT will have to do and it has a decades worth of soul for sure.

CL needs to really think long and hard. They got really close with the bobber and that actually had me thinking for a while but they need to do more.

[davelok]

You can't build brands of durable products on cut-throat pricing, especially if you don't have the quality expected of your segment. Firstly, you would earn infamy for being cheap and shoddy, and your positioning would be undone by the competition that only has to launch a better quality product (or discount an outgoing one) at your price point.

It may work for TVs and mobile handsets, but not for pressure cookers or automobiles.

[VEA]

I was a Yezdi roadking user in the 90s. I was in my teens, a college student, and things appealed to my heart only. When I bought it, it was a niche product, probably end of life cycle. It was difficult to maintain with crappy service, rusted to the core within a year of purchase. The bullet was more expensive, more premium then. The market was ruled by the Japanese bikes, but I thought the roadking was fun. It was a rare bike those days which could comfortably do 100kmph along with the Suzuki shogun. I sold the bike within 3 years for less than 30% of the purchase price. I think it will be the experience of most people who bought these bikes during that period. I personally don’t think they have the reliability or nostalgia value associated with RE bikes of yesteryears. It was a niche then, and will probably be one now also.

[neochanger]

The biggest reason for its failure was that it couldn’t deliver bikes to potential customers in the early days of launch. They launched the product without having any inventory (similar to what Ola did with their electric scooter). The long waiting periods gave enough time to RE to come up with their new platform and improved bikes as well as Honda coming in with their superior, reliable engine. In case of doubt, people then began to choose RE or Honda for reliability and proper legacy, unlike the case of Jawa which is just a brand name and nothing historical in their products.

Way forward in my opinion is that this new company should come out of retro-brand rejuvenator mindset. Why not bring new bikes — make naked street fighters, adventure tourers and cruiser. Don’t be confined in Jawas, Yezdis and BSAs. Bring out a new real identity instead of hiding behind a nostalgic brand to make sales. The bottomline is — don’t fool customers from day one in the name of nostalgia, waiting periods and hypes. Give them good products and better service along with something that noone else is offering and SLOWLY (this is important) you will build a brand.

[Abi5hek]

I've been looking to get a TD of the 42 bobber in Chennai for about 1.5 months now but have been told by all the showrooms in the city to TD the perak instead as it's the same bike minus the forward set foot pegs.

Was told that I'd have to wait 2 months to get an update about the availability of a test drive.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that there may be manufacturing constraints and am also okay with waiting to getting a bike delivered after booking, but waiting 2 months to get an update on the TD bike is something I've never heard of..

I assume this kinda behaviour is one of the main reasons they are loosing many prospective customers despite having drool worthy ( at least visually) products.

And it's also very difficult to find drive / ownership reviews for the 42 bobber.

Could the lack of drive reviews (even on TBhp) be attributed to poor marketing or is there something else to this?

[ajay0612]

Two things necessary:

1. Don't be bogged down by classic image too much. It is enough to retain certain profile to make it look like classic while making necessary changes. Jawa has potential of becoming good cruiser, but marred by pathetic seat.

It has low seat hight but poor contoured seat (nullifying low seat advantage) and still rear suspension. If they can manage to fit in a seat like avenger, it will fly off.

2. Include short initial gear ratios while 4th and 5th can be tall (engine is sporty but initial torque is lacking). Include slipper clutch. Pull the footpegs a bit forward to give it a cruiser stance.

Basically they have to evolve now to make Jawas and Yezdis of everyone's dream.

[R_Gowardhan]

In my opinion, they have mismanaged the social media pr & presence.

They are active on Instagram but with repetitive campaigns which is more members and event lead. Nothing explosive, nothing appealing. Surprisingly, they aren't doing anything to touch upon the old Yezdis & Jawas. This inspite of running an online store to cater to spares of these vintage bikes.

If you head to youtube and try to find credible reviews, comparisons or longterm reports, you will hardly find anything useful or genuine. I was watching a comparo of retro classic bikes which had Jawa present. Not a single word was said about the bike. Neither good nor bad. It was all about how RE Meteor inspite of its flaws is still the best. It seemed like RE is paying youtubers to suppress Jawa.

As a product, Jawa has a lot going for it. Great engine, good handling, sweet engine and exhaust note, proper all metal classic looks. Yet minor issues like seat comfort (which is now rectified) and weld spots get talked about as deal breakers. Lest we forget, the Interceptor has one of the most uncomfortable seat and there have been incidences of the Himalayan front fork joint weld cracking on the Himalayas. Yet everyone swears by the products.

Some lessons to be taken from the book of RE's relentless marketing effort.

[navin_v8]

Ah! Mahindra and its slew of broken marriages (read Mahindra-Navistar, Mahindra-Ssangyong, Mahindra-Renault, Mahindra-Kinetic/Sym, etc.) and the list keeps on growing. Needs to be seen how Mahindra-BSA fares vis a vis Mahindra-Classic Legends (CL).

To begin with things looked promising for CL with their Jawa models. They were fantastic looking motorcycles with a sweet engine(mojo-retuned). But otherwise issues were many like shoddy build quality, delivery delays, dealer apathy, poor aftersales service network, etc. No matter how hard the PR or Marketing tries a poor half-baked product will fail eventually. Classic Legends tried to emulate RE's strategy of having same engine platform across models, including their ADV and Scrambler model. Whereas RE had a different engine for the Himalayan vis a vis their bread and butter model. They could've offered some different engine platform for Yezdi ADV and Scrambler that would've given them a unique identity. That too was a missed opportunity, fantastic looks of them Yezdi's notwithstanding.

I know of one person who sold off his Jawa 42 within 3 years due to its shoddy build quality, poor after sales service and frequent breakdowns.

In today's world when there are choices galore and every other motorcycle looks the same, there has to be some differentiating factors that convinces the potential buyers to shortlist and sign the dotted line.

P.S. I loved the Jawa Classic Maroon model but the shoddy build quality and poor after sales have kept people like me at bay.

[iampulo]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

I know of one person who sold off his Jawa 42 within 3 years due to its shoddy build quality, poor after sales service and frequent breakdowns.


P.S. I loved the Jawa Classic Maroon model but the shoddy build quality and poor after sales have kept people like me at bay.

To add to your point, I would add my experience in short. Purchased Jawa 42 in Oct 2019:

Following are the major issues faced in sequence:

1. Fuel pump choking when fuel in reserve. Changed under warranty.
2. Speedometer pointer vibration. Changed under warranty.
3. Frequent battery discharge if kept idle for more than 15 days.
4. Rear wheel rim change due to bike going through a deep pothole at 80kmph.
5. Inflating the tyre is an issue as all Air pump hose doesnt fit into its rear 12/18 -17 tyre and disc.
6. Fuel intake rubber hose ruptured due to less usage maybe.

Currently the bike is left stranded in my parking shed for more than 1.5 months. Waiting for a buyer as i have been accustomed to using my Etios more.

So, yes, they have a long way to go.

[LtStealthy]

As an owner of Jawa 42, I can say CL mismanaged it from the get go. They used a good Mahindra Mojo engine, but that's it. I can confidently say that the following flaws have led to their decline in sale:

1. Over Promise Under Deliver: Jawa 42 and Jawa Classic were launched with huge hype and many just put down their money for the sheer nostalgia ( including myself), and then the torture began. There were no fixed timelines on deliveries, Customer Support was almost non existent and dealers were delivering vehicles based on their whims and fancies. For most folks it took anywhere between 6-18months to get their bike. By that time RE launched better bikes, was delivering faster and had started salvaging their customer service reputation. The first batch misses out on simple features like a basic trip meter. They were supposed to radically change the retro bike sector, instead they have become a blip in the entire sector.

2. RE Baiting and YouTube Reviews:
CL would bait RE and potential owners on social media by promising better bikes with better features at a better price point. The YouTube Reviews of most channels said otherwise. Channels like Powerdrift were heavily biased towards RE and junked on Jawa bikes left, right and center. Their Yezdi reviews are the same as well. These auto channels have huge following, and their one sided thrashing killed Jawa marketing.

3. Poor Build Quality, Service Center Experience and Parts availability

There are a handful of Jawa service centers which have genuinely good reviews. Initial batch of bikes were riddled with loose bolts, poor paint quality, clutch cable issues etc etc. You had to take your bike to service centers to get even the basics fixed. Even at service centers, lack of part availability was a big concern. Imagine spending 2.2L, and leaving your bike in a service center for weeks for a simple clutch cable replacement. That left a bitter taste in the mouth of current owners. Alot of current owners, while being happy with their bike today, might not recommend it to anyone else simply because no local mechanic can fix your bike, and their service centers are far and few.

4.Following RE footsteps?

This is a sensitive topic and has the Jawa community divided. Yezdi Adventure is a very capable bike, with the only drawback.....it looks "heavily inspired" from the Himalayan. Why would you not buy a Himalayan, which is time tested, almost in it's 4th iteration and with most issues fixed when compared to Yezdi Adventure, which is pretty new and knowing CL track record, is riddled with issues that the initial Jawa 42 had.

Jawa started to make their own identity with Perak and then they stopped.

I do wish that BSA will turn their fortunes and it brings CL back in spotlight