It was October 25th, 2002 and I was all set to take delivery of my Brand new Bajaj Pulsar 180 from Sumer Motors, Mumbai. It was finally coming after 3 months of pataoing my dad. There were a lot of things going on in my mind, like the hard gears, the tank harming the private areas and being uncomfortable and all the others rumours people floated about the Pulsar twins. Well the former was to a certain extent true, but the rest is all bullshit. The delivery was taken and I was flying. Gave it a good running in till 3000 odd kms. It gave a pretty bad mileage during running in but improved after each service. It started with 35kmpl but increased gradually.
I later developed a hobby and liking for touring on the bike. Now places like Lonavla, Pune, Alibaug were coming nearer. I developed a love for the bike and its working. The bike has a 180cc powerplantwhich spits out 15bhp@8000rpm with excellent mileage figures. The best part comes when one talks about the 18litre fuell tank. It really has that macho look which gives the bike a very street fighter look. The bike has given me a best mileage of 52kmpl and worst of 34kmpl, which makes it a very fuel efficient bike, and a powerful one as well. These figures are all thanx to a feul effient Mukini CV Carburetor. The top whack touches 120kmph (on the speedo) and the bike on the whole is very aggressive in terms of power.
The instrumentation consists of a speedo and tachometer in two pods with vertical needles. There is also a feul gauge which is never handy. It shows empty even when you have 100bucks of petrol left in the tank. Teh bike also has a side stand stand indicator which is very useful for forgetful lazy people like me. The bike comes with a 2.75x18’’ MRF Nylogrip zapper tyre up front and a 100/90x18’’ Zapper on the rear. This combination gives the bike a good feel while handling. Although one feels a fright during extreme cornering when the lack of a rectangular swing arm and the cruiser pattern of the MRF tyre make way for the bike to loosen out a bit. Must say that the handling aint as good as the CBZ. One has to ply the brakes a bit to make an extreme corner on the Pulsar180. The bike seating is a bit uncomfortable making it difficult for the behind in long runs. The hard gear problems were solved after 500kms when I started using Castrol GTX magnatec oil for the engine. The bike has a KBX disk up front and 130mm drum brakes at the rear, giving the bike decent braking capabilities. On the whole the Pulsar 180 is a superb bike to own. It is an excellent combination of good peppy power, mileage and looks.