I was smitted by the looks of P200...... period.
I am married and have a small kid too and had been driving a Hero Honda Splendor since the last 4 years in Bangalore.
Riding a splendor is a joy altogether, with its light weigh, and maintenance free engine, and adding to it was the factor that my kid also used to be very comfortable sitting on its small tank, that I hardly thought abt moving to a new bike.
However, after a trip to Goa when I happened to drive a P150 for a couple of weeks, I realized that Pulsar was a good enuf machine. Though I admit, it may not be very comfortable in the city driving conditions esp with a small kid on the petrol tank, but the power factor was very much there.
it took me some time... but then I zeroed on P200 as it had the best looks abt it. P220 waz never in consideration, as I didn’t really appreciate its design.*
Finally I went to the probiking center in bangalore and booked my P200 (Red).
I went in for a vehicle exchange offer for my splendor and finally got the delivery on 22’th May.
Have since that time clocked 900kms and as the vehicle is in running in period, so have not yet pressed it to the limits.
Let me start with some of my observations of the P200.. beginning with the khivraj motors itself.
guys at khivraj were quite professional in approach and the Center Manager Mr Ram Prasad was quite understanding. As I would have been in a inconvenient situation if I would have left my splendor at the day of booking itself, he was ok when I said that I will come back the same day of delivery and leave my splendor and take the new P200. The balance amount can be collected from me when ever he requires. That was a big load off my back as I stay quite some distance from the MG road and would have not been interested in going there to leave the vehicle one day.. and then going back again to collect the new bike. Also they had me choose what ever accessories I wanted to have on my P200. I just went in for the minimal ones as I am not very open to get my bike all "decorated".
On 22’nd when I reached there to take the delivery, the bike had been taken to the RTO for its registration process, however, none of the selected accessories had been fitted yet. It took me almost 2 hours to get the ppl to have the seat covers fitted and the handle grips and the helmet lock attached. But by far it was ok as I was expecting such delays to happen.
The first impression of the machine when I drove back home was not very encouraging as it was around 6pm and it was raining little bit. Bumper to Bumber traffic on MG and air port road had me wondering if I had made the right decision to swap my Splendor with this big machine as it had considerable larger turning radius, and I was finding it quite difficult to wriggle out of cars and other vehicles lined up all around, which used to be a cake walk on my splendor. By the time I reached home which was some 20 kms away I could sense my wrists paining with all the clutch play I had indulged in during the way back.
*However, I was taking pride in having moved to a bigger bike and this seemed to be a little trade off.
One observation I would like to mention: the low oil indicator started blinking at random and I checked with the Khivraj ppl and they said its a known issue and I need not worry abt it. frankly speaking I was not convinced.
During the following few days I drove the bike a lot .. going in for long drives with my wife and kid.. getting more used to it... drove around 500 kms in the first one and a half week.. got the first service done.*
*Pros of the Bike:
Great Sporty Looks: it is a beauty with the tank flanks, and wide tyres with black alloys. Silencer shape is also a neck turner.
Nice on Road Handling: the bike is quite stable during cornering, and there are not much vibrations during rapid acceleration too.
Efficient front Braking:Braking is very good with no such issues as skids/instability noticed so far.
Cons of the Bike:
Admitting it has been lauched to target the 20’s audience, however, it is not very easy to adjust to the sporty sitting position, without straining your wrists. After a long ride, you can feel the pressure building up in your wrists due to the slanting sitting posture.
I have noticed that the tyres at times give a feeling as if they are going to roll over/slip esp. when you are riding on little uneven surface.
Electrical circuits are suspects as I have got the circuit changed for the low oil indicator blinking issue, with out any results.
Very large turning radius, making it very troublesome to cut narrow corners, zigzagging through tight traffic situations.
Heavy weight also is a factor which may tend to fend off some ppl.
Will add more inputs later in july as I plan to go on a 2 weeks vacation starting this weekend. Most importantly I will be eager to know if the battery will last that long... n if not .. then will I have to go back to the medival times when we used to push hard to get the old fiat in the garage to get started.... heave ho... :)*