The Indian motorcycle market has seen a tremendous growth over the last decade or so. Every manufacturer worth its salt is either already here or is planning to set up shop in India. This growth has brought in all kinds of motorcycles for the prospective buyers, from street bike to cruisers to adventure touring machines. Bajaj is the only player catering to the bottom end of this market with its sole offering – the Avenger 220. The Avenger has done decent numbers(around 4000 units per month) for Bajaj despite seemingly almost zero efforts from Bajaj’s end to promote it. The last big upgrade the Avenger has seen was in 2010 when it was fitted with a 220cc engine. Yet the Avenger has held its ground. But the recent upheavals in the market have forced Bajaj to shift gear and give the Avenger the kind of attention it needs. Bajaj recently launched an entire range of Avenger and there is not one, not two, but three different variants of the Avenger now on sale, with which Bajaj is aiming to touch the 20k units per month sales target. The Avenger is now available in 220cc Cruise and 220cc Street versions. The Street version is also available in a 150cc variant, which is aimed at people who want the styling and comfort of a cruiser but need to take care of their budget and fuel economy restraints as well.
The Avenger Cruise 220 retain the same old 220cc oil cooled DTSi engine that makes 19PS at 8400RPM and 17.5Nm of max torque at 7000RPM. These figures remain unchanged from the earlier avatar of Avenger. There is a very solid and planted feel to the Avenger when you ride it. The bike is quick off the mark, but obviously not the quickest of the lot. The engine responds readily to rider inputs and is smooth. The 5-speed gearbox also didn’t show any signs of distress or false neutrals. On the handling front, the Cruise 220 true to its name acts in a very relaxed and sedate manner. It loves to go straight and feels a bit hesitant when put it through the zigzags of city traffic. The Avenger Street 220 on the other hand is 5 kg lighter and, thanks to its flatter handlebar, feels much more eager to turn quickly and wants you to push it more. Overall the Avenger 220s behave reasonably well on the twistys, though none of them are corner cravers and shouldn’t be treated like one. The rear suspension on these bikes have been tweaked and it seemed to take the potholes and large speed breakers with much more ease than earlier without transferring much of the impact on rider’s back.
We are pretty sure that it would be a difficult choice for people who would be choosing between the Avenger Cruise 220 and the Avenger Street 220. It would be a classic battle between the heart and the mind. The heart would want to go with the Cruise for its quintessential classic cruiser feel and the oomph factor and that chilled out riding posture, but the mind would want the Street 220 for all the practical reasons like its handling and the alloy wheels to put tubeless tyres. Making the choice easier would be of course the similar performance and the 220cc DTSi workhorse engine.