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Apr 29, 2007

10 Attention Pulsar 200 Owners: Get your Front Forks Replaced..!! Soon..!!

The Pulsar DTSi 200 C.C sold so far has defective front forks..!! Owners please ride carefully and get them replaced with new sturdy ones


Imagine...

You are have bought for yourself a Bajaj Pulsar DTSi 200 C.C just 5 days back.

With just 368 Kms on the odometer you certainly don't want to damage the engine. Therefore you wisely cruise on your spanking new bike at a relaxed speed of 45-50 Kms/Hr. Suddenly out of nowhere a cat appears in front of you. To save the poor kitty's life you brake hard. Aren't you glad that the Pulsar 200 comes with a Disc Brake up front..? You are sure that the kitty's life will be spared.


"Sounds like a bikers nightmare doesn't it..??"

The front forks dives hard due to the sudden braking, the bike stops with a jolt. Then suddenly you hear a "blasting sound"..!! The next thing you notice is copious amounts of fluid flooding in front of your front wheel. The cat meanwhile escapes unhurt and scoots off to safety.

You get down of your bike to inspect the reason for the blast and the source of the
fluid gushing out.


Broken Front Fork Barrel of the P200
To your horror you realize that the barrel on which the Front Disc Brake is clamped has broken into two pieces.



Sounds like a bikers nightmare doesn't it..??

But this is exactly what happened to Soumya (from Kolkatta) on 25'th April 2007...


Update: Attention to all.. Bajaj Auto has replaced the initial defective front forks of the Pulsar 200 with new front forks with a better and sturdy design.

All Pulsar 220 DTSi bikes now come equipped with these redesigned and stronger front forks.

A few of my close friends also own the Pulsar 200 DTSi. One of them have even been to LEH on his Pulsar 200 DTSi and his bike is still in excellent condition.



Broken Front Fork Barrel of the P200
The photos posted here are of the Broken Front Fork Barrel of Soumya's New Pulsar DTSi 200 C.C.

The pics were posted in Xbhp.Com by Soumya himself.

I spoke to Soumya over the phone about this incident. He told me that the front fork barrel just gave way on hard braking. To prove this he said that there were no marks anywhere else on the bike which could suggest that the bike had hit somewhere.

The pics scarred the shit out of me. Imagine what is Soumya had been doing speeds of 90 Plus Kms/Hr and had to make an even more emergency stop..??

I had never seen anything like this before.. Bajaj had definitely messed up this time. Either there was a flaw in the design of the front fork barrel or there has been really poor Quality Control on part of Bajaj Auto.

A comparision of the front fork barrels of the Pulsar 180 (on the left) and the Pulsar 200 (on the right) below shows the difference between the two designs.


Different Front Disc Brace Designs of Pulsar 180 & 200
From the above photo it is clear that the current design of the "Brace" of the front disc brake of the Pulsar 200, puts too much pressure on that portion of the barrel where the Disc Brake is clamped. The photo clearly shows the stress fracture which has originated at that joint.

Before I saw these pics, I was very impressed with the Pulsar 200 DTSi and was thiking of getting one for myself very soon. But now I was starting to have second thoughts.

There was something seriously wrong with the design of the front fork barrel.

Everyone at XBhp.Com were shocked.. a few even gave advice to Soumya to sue Bajaj Auto.

Broken Front Fork Barrel
On 28'th April 2007, Bajaj sercive center finally replaced the broken front fork barrel of Soumya's bike with a more sturdy design barrel. The new replaced barrel is posted below.


Replaced Front Fork Barrel
Following the discussions at XBhp.Com, it seems Bajaj is going to replace the front forks of every Pulsar 200 sold so far with this sturdy new replacement.


My faith with Bajaj now seems to be returning back.


Attention Pulsar 200 owners: Inquire about the replacement of your front forks at your Authorized Bajaj Service Centers. Till then ride very carefully. And yes, be very careful of Cats crossing the road..!!




Follow the "Defective Pulsar 200 front fork Barrel" thread on XBhp.Com: Click here



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This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.




10 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Payeng,

I had seen Soumya’s post in xbhp a couple of days ago. It really shocked me!!
I’m happy to know that he’s safe and secure.
It’s nothing but a serious flaw from Bajaj ’s Quality Control as well as the design of the barrel. Soumya has all the rights to sue Bajaj.
Is there any idea about the metal/ alloy used in Barrels?

As far as from Bajaj ’s Quality Control is considered, this does not bring any surprise to me as I had a bitter experience with my new p150ug3. I had communications with Baja’s regional office and Pune Head office. They sent me letters assuring “Best service” but not a replacement. I don’t want to open my engine 5 times a month!!

I don’t think the Bajaj showroom people will call all the P200 owners, take their vehicles and replace the front fork barrels. The owners have to go to showroom and insist to do the replacement!!
How many of the p200 owners will be aware of this?? How many of them will visit xbhp to get to know about this?
Bajaj should inform all the p200 customers and replace the front fork barrels immediately.
We have paid 74K+ and its our right to get a quality product. Bajaj is in a hurry to launch new variants to make more profits by taking advantage of the PULSAR brand name.
Bajaj should improve their quality procedures and do thorogh testing in various riding conditions before launching new variants.

I have noticed that even the LED's of some of the new UG3's are not glowing properly!!

One more thing to note is , Bajaj haven’t had a grant launch of the much talked P220 DTSFi. They have sold around 30+ p220’s . I think Bajaj is reviewing the responses from the buyers.

I feel it will be better to review the buyers experiences after atleast 5000 kms and then take the decision to to buy these new members in Pulsar family ie; p200 and p220

Riders Safety + Bike reliability + Good service is MORE important than jazzy design and gizmos like digi speedo and led’s. These gizmos does not contribute more to rider’safety.

Saj.

Anonymous said...

hi payeng i have also gone through the post in xbhp its shocking but bajaj has assured that they will replace all 200s fork so i am just waiting cause i just booked my bike last week.

Anonymous said...

Hi Payeng,

Another case here..this time it's a blue p200 of a guy from Ludhiyana.

http://forum.stuntingsouls.com/showthread.php?t=177

So all the p200 owners make sure to replace their fork assembly as soon as possible.

Saj.

Unknown said...

It is really shocking...it can and will harm people....

Bajaj should wake up from its slumber and test the bikes extensively before launching them...

If i am right, the disco 125 dic was plagued with braking prob..thats why Bajaj stopped offering disc brakes after some time...its high time manu stop their trial and error methods...

Payeng said...

@Saj

Your previous comment:I don’t think the Bajaj showroom people will call all the P200 owners


>> Following discussions at XBhp.Com, Pulsar 200 owners are getting calls from their service centers to get the front forks free of cost

>> In this age of cut throat competition, Bajaj cannot ignore its customers. I am sure all Pulsar 200 Owners will get a call to get their front forks replaced.




Your previous comment:Riders Safety + Bike reliability + Good service is MORE important

>> I totally agree with you. And that's exactly why the front forks of the Pulsar 200 are being replaced by the company. I think that's "Good Service"

>> Even big auto manufacturers recall their models due to problems.. it isn't a new phenomenon.



If someone can provide jazzy design and gizmos like digi speedo and led’s along with Good Service.. Why not..?? I am all for it..!!

By The Way, my next bike in all probablity will be the Pulsar DTSi 200

Anonymous said...

Hello Peyeng,

To me Bajaj have lost their reputation because of this. There's no gurantee of this not happening with other parts of the motorcycle like breaks broken, lights not working etc. I think they should retest their models and correct the current one. Hopefully next year I might believe in them. (if there's no incidents)

MunnaiBhai(MBBS)

Payeng said...

Hi Munna Bhai,

Even my faith in Bajaj has been shaken somewhat by these reports.

I sincerely Bajaj does something and fast

Anonymous said...

hi guys the fork problem is solved i had gone to kivraj to check the status of my bike which i had book 2 weeks back i saw the new lot of pulsar 200 the fork barrel was changed and it was the design in the second pic and also the dealer was talking to a 200 owner and assured him that he would replace the fork barrels as soon as the spares come so i hope now the problem is solved and i have to wait another week cause their are only black 200 stock and other cplors may take another week so i am waiting for my blue color so stop worrying guys the problem is solved

zain inhonvi said...

It is really shocking...it can and will harm people....

Bajaj should wake up from its slumber and test the bikes extensively before launching them...

If i am right, the disco 125 dic was plagued with braking prob..thats why Bajaj stopped offering disc brakes after some time...its high time manu stop their trial and error methods...

suraj said...

hi payeng i have also gone through the post in xbhp its shocking but bajaj has assured that they will replace all 200s fork so i am just waiting cause i just booked my bike last week.

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