Around September/October 2008, I was doing lot of research for a power bike. I zeroed in on the Pulsar 200 and after 13 months and 18000 kms(yes I ride a lottttt) I’m so happy I made that choice.
Since Bajaj has stopped production of the 200(by downgrading the P220 from DTS-fi to DTSi), I hope this review helps guys who want to buy a second hand 200.
My typical day involves around 70kms of travel. Hence even though I wanted good power, mileage was a critical factor. I’m happy to say my P200 has always given me 42 km per liter or more. I generally touch 100 kph every day and ride over 70kph through most stretches and still the mileage is consistently above 42.
I feel this is what separates the 200 and Karizma.
I guess by now the P200 is quite common and everyone must be familiar about its looks. The only thing I’d like to add about the looks is its quite attractive and very well styled. Especially the exhaust.
The posture on this bike is different from the typical bikes. The footrest is placed quite back and hence your knees bend more while riding. It gives a nice aggressive feel about the bike. It does take some time to adjust for gear changes and rear brakes because of the posture. It took me about a month for braking comfortably.
I have achieved a top speed of 126kph on the P200 in doubles. It was on the highway entering Vijayawada.not sure y people complain about not achieving the top speed. The P200 does upto 115kph pretty quickly and the push upto 126kph needed a very long stretch(much like any other bike in this class, except for R15 and P220).
The bike handles really well in all speeds and is quite stable. Braking for speeds over 90 is little dangerous since there is too much pressure on the front tyre due to the shape of the bike. But with practice its easy to handle most situations on this bike
Pickup is quite good(slightly better than Karizma), overtaking in this bike gives awesome pleasure. You can just cruise past all the vehicles without any effort. Although after 70kph its not as aggressive as perhaps the Karizma.
The Open chain is 1 con in this bike. It requires constant attention and cleaning. During rainy season it is advised you take it to the mechanic every week. The bike becomes really loud and rough if not maintained during the rainy season because of the open chain. Maintenance has to be constant for this bike. Its not like some Splendor which can be ignored for long periods.
Another negative about this bike is the pillion rider’s posture. It is quite odd and every new pillion rider would need atleast 5 mins to get adjusted. The grab handle has a sharp shape and hence can’t be held very well. This makes the pillion rider really insecure and there is constant fear of falling off. Also when we brake, the pillion rider is thrown towards the rider because of the shape of the seat(good if u want to fool around with girls;-))
But otherwise its a really good bike that offers so much. Fantastic for city driving, not bat for long journeys either. Also its very quick and gives best in class mileage.I guess now its price would drop further in the second hand market because Bajaj has stopped production. Recommend it to anyone who loves a quick bike.