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Jul 18, 2012

24 Pulsar 200NS Ownership Review (first 2,700 Kms): By Surojit Sadhu

I would like to thank Surojit Sadhu for sharing a straight from the heart ownership review of his brand new Pulsar 200NS (initial 2,700 Kms). [Find Surojit on Facebook here..]

Hello there. I am Surojit Sadhu, working as an Application Scientist in the field of Bioinformatics and currently based in Mumbai. Posted below is a detailed ownership review of my Pulsar 200NS.



Date of Purchase - 13.06.2012
Date of Delivery - 17.06.2012 (as I was away for work and couldn’t collect the bike)
Total kilometres done - till 15.07.2012: 2,653 Kms

Let me share my ownership experience with my Pulsar 200NS so far:

1. Handling – 5/5

I doubt that anyone has any doubts regarding this. Handling is the most striking feature in this bike, its so so so easy to handle be it on smooth highways, heavy traffic or on off roads. Handling gives you confidence in zigzag city traffic also. Agreed the turn radius is bigger but I now don’t even think of it, might be it's all about getting used to it.

In my rides which were mostly through non-highway roads, I felt very very comfortable with the handling. Even on off roads it was easy to handle.



2. Acceleration/top speed/braking – 4.5/5

I guess I am not the correct person to comment on top speed, because I have touched just 122kmph on this bike. I am not a fan of top speed, all I wanted from this bike was that it should be able to cruise smoothly without strain in 3 digit speeds and I am happy to realize that it does that effortlessly. Acceleration is not the kind as it is in 200 Duke/Pulsar 220. The beauty of the acceleration is that you won’t even notice it, also post 6.5/7k rpms the story changes a bit and you feel that you are in the power band..!!

I don’t know the figures but all I can say is the acceleration makes overtaking on highways effortless. I am also happy with the braking, but sometimes I feel that my front brake is a bit spongy (but I have not taken any steps to rectify it as Its not that critical).



3. Build Quality – 4.5/5

Does the bike vibrate? The amount of vibes that I get before 7-8k rpm is negligible. Post 8k rpm it vibrates a bit more, but even then I can use my rear view mirrors to locate my fellow riders. So the vibrations didn’t hinder the ride quality in my case.

The plastics are of good quality. But the vibes are more in the pillion seat for sure. I just sat twice as a pillion in my own bike and thats all pillion experience I have with the NS. The gap between the panel and the seat should have been reduced though.

About how does the underbelly exhaust/silencer performs in normal real life conditions, as in muddy/flooded waters and all. I guess the pic posted below will answer it all.



4. Tyres – 3/5

This is one part where Bajaj can improve a lot. I do not say that they are the worst tyres but it could have been better. Given the kind of bike that the NS is, it surely deserves better tyres. The tyres doesn’t inspire confidence in corners in wet roads. In many cases I have felt the rear tyre slipping in the corners. In dry roads its good, only when at high speeds and I change gear it seems to loose its grip for a split second and then again grips back. Last Sunday while trying to accelerate on a wet road, I experienced a wheel spin and I guess I was not that harsh on the throttle to get that response from the tyres. But under hard braking I have not faced any issues in any conditions. And yes the tyres do well in off-roads too.



5. Mileage/Fuel Efficiency: 35-38kmpl

I got a mileage/fuel efficiency of 42.xx earlier, but at that time the bike was in the run-in period and 90% of it was highway riding. This figure here is calculated over a distance of approx 1200 kms in different riding conditions. This is also the average of calculations made thrice. I guess looking at the pics you can understand what I mean by "different". This is decent enough for me, given my riding style and conditions.


6. Issues that I have faced in these ~2700 kms

1. Bike slightly drifts to the left at low speeds (when both hands are off the handle), but this does not hinder the balance/ride experience in any way
2. Post 6k rpm the front small visor makes noise due to vibrations
3. The neutral light fickers sometimes
4. The gear box is very very smooth but i had false neutrals 2-3 times.
5. Even after having the rear tyre hugger, the bike throws dirt on you (only when riding at high speeds)


Engine Heating Issues?

I don’t have any. The fan switches on when required and it has switched on many a times, but my legs do not complain about anything.


7. After Sales-Service- 2.5/5

The service centre guys surely needs to know more about the bike, my bike has been in the service centre for a total of 5 days (excluding the 1st service day) in the last one month. They svc guys claimed to have rectified issue no 2 last week after keeping my bike for 3 days, but after 10 kms things were back to normal. Now again my bike is with them. I did not have any performance based issues with my bike. Am I happy with the quality of after sales service? No. Then why haven’t I written a mail to bajaj? Just testing my tolerance limit I guess.

I am not that good at writing these things (reviews I mean). But this is what I feel for the bike, my experiences.


To sum it up:

I didn’t expect the bike to be flawless, because I guess that is impractical. All I wanted is a bike that will let me take it anywhere I want, will be comfortable, will handle well and will give me a decent mileage (ok my CBZ classic gave me 25-30 kmpl, so I am happy with this)



I am very happy with the bike and the ride experience it provides, and I guess me doing ~2,700 kms within a month itself proves that the bike is so inviting that every time you see it you want to go for a ride.





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Disclaimer:

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.





24 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr. Satedal Payeng :)
I am Rifky From Indonesia.

Another Owner Review Of Pulsar 200 NS, and this one points out Few things that we Really need to pay attention to, espscially:

1. Bike slightly drifts to the left at low speeds (when both hands are off the handle), but this does not hinder the balance/ride experience in any way

-Could there be any Problem with the bike's Steering cone?, or the Bike Chasis is not Centre / Allign ? (again), if it So, then QC Guys at Bajaj might have dropped the ball this time around :) (again), I Have confirmation that Quite a number of Pulsar owner in my country has their Pulsar's Chasis not Quite Centre / Allign.-

Mr. Satedal Payeng, please keep us Posted on more Owner Review of Pulsar 200NS AND the Recently upgraded TVS Apache :)

Veerendra Giddaluru said...

Nice pics, was the exhaust test in flowing water, if so, i'm very very impressed.

Gunawan MS said...

Oops, that CBZ classic is using Honda's GL160 engine base, right ? 25-30 KM/L for it is rather pitiful, but quite understandable considering its age, and perhaps the engine isn't fully standard anymore.

If the bike is optimally set, i mean the engine & carburetor, fully standard, already passes the break in period, and being ride economically (max 7000 RPM, mostly in 3000-5000 RPM band), can we expect around 40-45 KM/L for a sane urban riding & around 45-50 KM/L for its rural counterpart ?

Payeng said...

@Rifky,

Just came across this comment (on an Indian online forum on maotorcyclea) from one Pulsar 200NS owner: "The bike moving on the left is due to fork setting and they have rectified it in 10 bikes. They said the company setting was hard and needed to be adjusted.."

Seems like its being rectified


About more info, will surely try to post more about these bikes

Gunawan MS said...

Glad that we'll have Indian bros doing the beta testing for the bike, hehehe ...... (posting in jest). :D

Kushagra said...

What add-ons you had put on your bikes when u got it from the show-room.. i mean a teflon coating perhaps?? anything else?? and what about the reserve in the bike?? how many litre?

Anonymous said...

Hi...
Nice pics,
i think most pics are taken by Aashutosh sir...?

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I liked your review...
I have one query...u said its mileage is 35-38kmpl...dats different den wot dey say...dey said me it will definitely give 45-48kmpl...
and one more thing pls suggest bikes me between 200ns, fzs & r15.....

Sundar said...

awesome writeup my friend! much awaited review for the NS!
Keep us posted regarding the issues in the bike, im sure bajaj will have them rectified soon.
btw what is the place in the pics?

Payeng said...

Compared to the 200NS, the FZ is substantially cheaper (around Rs. 80K vs Rs.95K), also FZ is substantially less powered than the 200NS (13.8 Ps Vs 23.5 Ps).. so it basically depends on your budget and your need for speed


Can't be compared directly to the R15 because both bikes are poles apart and are very very different find of bikes. Its like asking which one is a better super hero, Batman or Spiderman

Anonymous said...

seems like BAJAJs promise of keeping the 200.NS below 1Lak is compromised in Bangalore.ON ROAD PRICE IS Rs100482/-
Took a test ride today ,was really smooth ,gear box was a complete pleasure to handle ,yellow colour was very apealing ,grabbed lot of attention ,and the yellow colour is not premium to other colour's. Same price .

Anonymous said...

How will it perform in hills

Anonymous said...

is option of rubber tyres available while booking

Ama Sei said...

Nice preview
Let me translate this article to Indonesian language
for enthusiast biker of pulsar here

Payeng said...

Amana Ali bro,

you are most welcome to translate thus article and use it

tarun said...

Nice review Bud.Which tyres are better for the 200ns.......the tvs or mrf?

Anonymous said...

wat abt vibes? 4000-7000rpm range vibes are there wat abt ur experience biker next door?

Anonymous said...

Nice Reveiw! Just rectify the date
Total kilometres done till 15.06.2012 – 2,653 Kms

This should be 15.07.2012

Vishwajeet said...

very nice review with appropriate photos with good backgrounds.
you really inspired me, and now i think i have made a right decision of BOOKING 200NS.
i'm buying it on 2 aug 2012.

the only thing i'm worried about is it's silencer height from ground.though ground clearance of bike is good, there is no for sure protection to silencer and could be problematic in remote areas. i think so.

will it be needful to add some engine guard panel under the silencer pipe and silencer.?

for others who are new with bike dimensions and statistics. please have a Test Ride of the bike. rest all Reasonable by your own.

Unknown said...

@surojit
plz tell me about the mileage in city limit. plz reply

Anonymous said...

200ns gives mileage about 35km pl in city traffic.!!! but the mud guard gets really dirty while riding in a single rain.!!

Jeby Sebastian said...

After riding my yellow NS for a month,i am very satisfied with the bike.Its superb...

Amarjeet Singh said...

I owned 200NS from a month and 2k run so far. me too faced false neutral issue.

Rhiddhiman said...

Total honest ownership review. I have bought a Mustard Yellow NS on 24th April 2013. I am using it mostly to go to office and back home and I am getting a descent 36+ mileage. Haven't tried it on highways though. All the pros and cons that you mentioned are correct and everything else from tyres to brakes, performance, comfort and service. The service guys are definitely in need for some more hands on training on this beast :-)

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