Safety
Its hard to comment on the safety of a bike, since bikes aren?t safe at all! Which I just learn?t recently. I was on the pillion riding home from school. I was joyous, as I?d just finished an exam and was hoping to be home soon, and have a nice loooong sleep. The car in front of us suddenly swerved and there it was, a huge hunk of metal, a tanker, right there on the side of the road, of course we hadn?t seen it because of the car in front of us. Having nowhere to go my friend braked and braked, the bike skidded in an almost straight line, just swerving a little here and there, which was manageable and controllable.
We had been traveling at 60 km/h, so the braking was kind of useless. It seemed as if the bike would never stop, as if the laws of friction did not exist at that instant. I reviewed the whole day and what had happened till now, as I saw the hunk of metal get closer. ?No! we cannot crash into it!, ? my friend must have thought and he applied the front brake fully, and another shriek joined the already shrieking back tire. The bike swerved sideways and we fell a few centimeters in front of the tanker.
I haven?t just told you all of this for sake of conversation (one sided?), this shows the characteristics of the bike. If you haven?t caught on, well, the braking is strong, front brakes lock if you want them to(also rear ones), which can save your life or kill you depending on your speed. After we fell, all the metal parts of the bike scrapped on the road providing enough friction for us to stop, which is what I think is responsible for us not colliding. The leg guard is a must, if you want to keep your legs. At the rear , the rear foot rest and the silencer protect your legs from hitting the ground when the bike falls. Overall, its as safe as a bike can get, only thing you can do to improve safety is to have thicker tires allowing you to skid to a stop better.
Handling
The pulsar feels heavy compared to the RX100, CD100, these sort of bikes, but you quickly get used to it and learn to enjoy it. It is very stable at high speeds(120km/h), though you shouldn?t be riding that fast on Indian roads. It doesn?t shake or vibrate at this speed. When you let go of the handle(why would you want to?) it doesn?t turn either way, moves straight, which gives you a feeling of safety.
looks
the big shiny light on the new model looks too big and out of proportion. The round one looks classier and adds to the retro look, but its up to you to decide which one you want.
Price
It is reasonable
Oomph factor
It definitely has a nice pick up, but sadly it isn?t complemented by a grunty loud sound. No matter how much you twist the darn accelerator the bike still makes a little purring sound. The power output is smooth and the bike forgives you if you switch to wrong gear by not turning off. The top speed is thrilling, if your crazy enough to reach it, you can easily go at 120 km/h with two people on a nice highway, like the one at noida. At around 50 km/h you can no longer feel the bike pull, no matter what you do. But until that speed you enjoy twisting that thing and leaving everybody behind you at the red light, except for the guy in the black Mercedes( damn him!).
I conclude that the pulsar is one of the best bikes out there right now, also has a great mileage, unlike its rival, the CBZ.
Hey, check out my other reviews if you have time.
You better rate this, I want to be in the top 10!