Bajaj Pulsar

I have been driving the Pulsar 150CC for over

an year now and I have had one accident too. Before that I had driven the TVS

Fierro F2 for an year and herein I would like to give an honest feedback from a

person who is a avid bike rider and who has ridden both the famous 150CC bikes

for a year.

The comparitive is top down and I have done the

ratings from the user’s perspective not the looks perspective as looks are

subjective.

Overall rating of the Fierro:

Overall rating of the Pulsar: Why?

Fierro

1. Very good pick-up, that stays with time, I still ride the Fierro at times

when I’m in Kolkata as I sold the bike to a friend;

1. Very good balance, you feel secure & poised on the bike, maybe the

upright facade of the meter assembly gives you a better feel;

1. Very good braking, I mean, all disk brakes stop you fast, that is what they

are meant for, but the question is how much do you feel the jolt of the

stoppage? Maybe the CG of the Fierro is better designed to absorb more of the

shock in the frame and transmit less to the handlebars, hence you feel less;

That adds to the comfort factor of the bike if you are navigating on busy

traffic in city;

1. Very Very comfortable ride, both for the rider and the pillion, I had dosed

off on my ride to Durgapur from Kolkata, somehow escaped being hit by an

oncoming car;

1. Chain never becomes loose, there is some kind of auto-tensioner mechanism for

keeping the chain always taught, that’s good no knocking of the chain against

the cover when you take a speedbraker, no loss in pick-up;

1. Very aristrocratic look, when riding gives you a very compact and in-control

feeling, the upright look of the meter assembly contributes to this good

feeling;

1. Very Comfortable Handlebar, gives a sense of command and very well balanced

by the handlebar weights;

1. Very good Control switches, stout and durable, comes with an engine cut-off

when other bikes did not have the same feature;

1. Good quality tyres, they are harder compared to the Pulsar so offer lesser

road grip compared to a Pulsar, perhaps the weakest link in the chain. Why? If

this bike could have a pair of MRF Zappers, it could be the indisputable leader

on the Indian roads, otherwise you feel afraid of tilting the bike too far if

you have to;

Pulsar

1. Good pick-up, that decreases with time, the bike seems to wear out and come

down to a stable ride, but the punch is gone which is retained in the Fierro;

1. Fair balance, you do feel you are on somthing rock solid, very difficult to

tip but the bike’s weight is concentrated towards the front portion hence, you

apply the disks suddenly the rear overtakes you;

1. Very good braking, as meant to it’ll stop you on the tracks but in spite of

having a better handlebar compared to the Fierro you feel more of the shock;

Here I’d like to mention that though the Pulsar handlebar is made of better and

heavier material, it does not have the same type of inclination as in the

Fierro, the former is more comfortable;

1. Not very comfortable ride, Fair for the driver and bad for the pillion, you

always feel like moving yourself to make the seating more cmfortable, it seems

like you never are sitting in the correct stance;

1. Chain becomes loose frequently, specially if you are a fast driver, after all

why would you buy a 150cc unless you are;

1. So called male look, you’ll not get the compact feeling like you get on the

Fierro, the headlight assembly seems to be protruding too far in front of you,

It does give you the feeling of a ’BIG’ bike but not a tough bike;

1. Handlebar is of very good material but on the longish & straighter side

hence, requires getting used to, once the break-in period is over, it is not

that bad, acceptable;

1. Good quality of the control switches, but Fierro’s ones are better, the

engine cut-off is missing but the auto start is there??;

1. The very best quality tyres, superb road grip, perhaps the only undisputable

plus point in the Pulsar, you can tilt the bike into ridiculus angles on a good

road and it’ll never betray you;

Why do I rate the Fierro higher to the Pulsar?

I had faced two similar incidents, common to Delhi roads on two bikes at almost

the same speed. One took it in it’s stride, the other gave me a broken

collarbone. We all face a situation when, in a T junction under a flyover, you

have turned at a speed of say 30~35 Kmph and a car has turned in from the

opposite side to join the same road. Maybe you have turned right and the car has

turned left to meet and go on the same road. Just after the turn the car changes

lane, comes up in front of you and brakes. What do you do? You have to brake

suddenly and at an inclined angle. The Fierro took it in it’s stride, the rear

tyre skidded about an inch and the bike came to standstill. The Pulsar lost

control, the rear swevered right and you fall on your right shoulder and your

helmet crashes onto the tarmac. Mind you, in the later situation, you had the

best tyres under you. Why did this happen then? Simply because the Pulsar is not

having it’s CG in it’s center, which the Fierro is having. What I feel is that

bike enthusiasts should buy a Fierro and fit MRF Nylogrips/Zappers to it. You

then have the best indian bike. Do not get taken in by the 5 gears on the Pulsar

and the 4 gears on the Fierro. As a matter of fact, the fierro has managed to

harness more power and punch compared to the Pulsar with it’s four gears. The 5

gears on the Pulsar are more of a drag than a comfort. I have taken a approx

200Km constant ride on the Fierro and I did’nt feel tired at all. The ride is

very very comfortable. On the contrary, I have taken an approx 85KM drive on the

Pulsar and I had a backache. Finally if you compare the finishing of paint and

everything on the two bikes, the Fierro is a clear winner over the Pulsar. Rest

guys, are up to you.