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.

Related Posts

• Ride Review: Pulsar 200NS - Return of the King [Jun 2012]



• Pulsar 200NS can ride though knee deep water [Jul 2012]



• KTM 200 Duke Vs. Pulsar 200NS: Sibling Rivalry [Jul 2012]

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.