Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS Fi

I finally got hold on to P220 two months back. I bought the Wine Red one and couldn’t be happier with the experience in last 2 months. The bike ROCKS. I will update the review soon with the experience.

Some quick observations:

1. The bike zoomes past everything on the road!

   
   




2. The looks are GREAT, lot of turning heads. The color quality is GREAT!

   
   




3. Fuel Economy: 37-40 depending on traffic.

   
   




4. Great balance & stability  @high speed

   
   




5. Some vibrations at speed of 70 in 4th gear.

   
   

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I am back after a looong gap due to ever increasing workload, astrology interests, studies, playing with my 15 month old Kid and what not! :) It is Bajaj that has made me come down here and write on their soon to be launched bike.

It has been almost 5 years now after original Pulsar debuted. Since then it has ruled the market single handedly and brought front Bajaj Auto’s new face to the world. Stylish, Performance, Fuel Economy all were segment leader than usual follow-the leader (Hero Honda) in the 90s.

Bajaj is now taking a much bolder step by stretching (literally) Pulsar platform to 220 cc class thereby directly getting into a segment which is non existent save for ’mostly’ unsuccessful Karizma (hardly anyone buys with their own hard-earned money, more than 95% Karizma’s are bought by Dad’s money!) :-) Also, Shame on Yamaha, Honda for giving us such boring bikes in India.

This is a review to just capture initial analysis and the information that is currently being floating around. I will substitute it with actual road test experience as soon as I can drive it, I am going to trade in my Red 180 DTSi for a RED 220 as soon as I can!!

STYLING

Pulsar 220 is an aggressive animal with a VERY aggressive front end with aerodynamic front fairing. The tank is carryover from Pulsar and has new scratch-pad for protection. The rear is as striking with LED lighting. The 17 inch tires are now more aggressive and wide giving more masculine to the bike. The seat is a two step which adds flair w.r.t styling. The rear-disc adds to the mean-ness factor. The switch gears are digital and there are quite a bit of India-bike firsts on the bike. First bike without kick lever (only button start), digital speedometer, lots of warning lights for oil, side stand and what not. The open chain would also give it a purposeful look. The chain has been specially processed to avoid corrosion that out weather tends to impart.

The bike will have only side stand & not the main stand !

The bike would look GREAT in Black and Red colors in my opinion which is anyway a highly subjective topic.

Overall 9 out of 10 to Bajaj on this front.

ENGINE / TRANNY

This was a topic of great enthusiasm for all bikers in the country. We knew it was supposed to be a twin spark-plug, digital controlled, Exhaus-Tek equipped bike with OIL cooled and direct fuel injection added to it. What was unknown was the engine capacity & power. Well, it is 220 cc with 20 hp which is I guess more than enough for Indian roads. However, I was expecting it to be a full 250 cc bike but I guess current Pulsar chassis and engine (single cylinder) architecture is good enough for 220 cc and not those additional magical 30 cc! :) The transmission is again a 5 speed with 1 down 4 up pattern, going by experience with 180 I guess this is going to be a GREAT one.

PERFORMANCE, HANDLING

The tubeless tires, disc brakes at both the ends, big tires with alloys! Direct fuel injection would make the throttle response ’Makhkhan’ and could surprise with you every time in a first few months. I think the 0-60 would be 5 seconds or lower as 180 does it in 5.3 or so. Expected top speed in excess of 130 Kmph would make it like a BIG bike. The basic difference would be how it feels to do 130 on this bike than doing 90 on 180. 180 is quite involving with throaty exhaust note. Expect 220 a bit more relaxed while doing high speeds. The cornering ability should be of course better than the Pulsar 180 due to wider/better rubber, longer wheelbase.

The double disc should stop this bike with authority. It remains to be seen how our riders use the rear brake. If you use it alone without the front-one you WILL rotate the bike with rear end trying to kiss the front fairing! :) So let us be careful in first few days.

FUEL ECONOMY

Ours is a country where people see a CBR 900 or a Hayabusa the first question they ask is what kind of fuel economy the monster has! :) So Bajaj HAS to deliver on this front. Karizma lies somewhere around 20-25 and I think with all that technology Bajaj should be able to deliver 35-40 on a consistent basis if you drive like my father! :) For me I guess I would be more than happy with anything above 30.

7 out of 10 ??

PRICING

All this is in vain if not priced correctly. I expect a 80 ish figure, say 75-80 road or out the door as they call in US of A (including everything). Let us hope it is not in the 90s. Pricing it higher only makes in exclusive and the rich kids with Papa’s money so that not many on road..but I for one who is going to spend my own hard-earned money wouldn’t want to pay more than 80K for a bike with 20 HP. With Indian Roads and always climbing fuel prices I guess Bajaj needs to be a lot smarter than Hero Honda while pricing this beauty. Else we would have a beast made of a beauty!

Bajaj: Are you listening? :)

P.S. Recently BIke magazine has mentioned a mid 70s price rangem, which is a GREAT news.