Efore I start off with my impression of the Bajaj Pulsar RS200 after the brief ride I had on it at Bajaj’s test track in Chakan, I must accept that I suffer from a little paranoia and reluctance when it comes to the Pulsar name. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the Bajaj Pulsar. I’ve ridden all the Pulsars to come out till now, and have had some really good moments with them. I also suffered a very severe accident a decade-and-a-half ago while riding the original Pulsar 180 that almost cost me my life. That’s stuck with me ever since Bajaj has just rolled out its second variant from the platform that
was co-developed with the KTM 200 Duke . The first one was the
200NS, of course. The RS200 is the sports version and like the RC
200 has slightly sharper steering, the RS does too. The RS stands
for Race Sport which is extremely odd, given Bajaj’s marketing
campaign which urges the’Pulsarmaniacs’ to’Leave Track Racing
To Amateurs’. What does that mean? Is Bajaj exhorting Pulsar fans,
the pros, to eschew track racing in favour of racing on the street?
Thankfully, this is the test of the motorcycle not of the genius at the
agency who dreamt up this stupid, offensive and blatantly half-
baked advertising campaign or the chap at Bajaj who selected it
from the stellar bouquet the agency no doubt presented. Actually, if
this was the best campaign option presented, I’d actually beg to see
the other options on offer. However, it’s Race Sport time