Pulsar 200 - First 1200 KM

From the time I decided to own a Pulsar 200 till now, I've been through numerous sites and blogs in regards to Pulsar 200 and have found that there's a mixed sense of acceptance for this bike. Some admire this bike and some hate it and this lot contains both owners and non-owners of Pulsar 200.

This made me so nervous that I consulted Pyeng and Rearset in regards to this and they were all praise for the P2. So, I went ahead and bought this bike (costed me Rs. 71315 on road in Gurgaon). Jumping to a 200cc bike straight from 125cc Hero Honda Super Splendor was a big decision and took a lot of courage as obviously the P2 was costlier and I couldn't not take of my earlier 125cc machine properly. So, there were lots of apprehensions that were raised, lots of suggestions given, and also lots of words spoken as - "this better be your last investment on bike kid...................any complains about this bike from your side and you find yourself grounded!!!!!".

Well I always do what I have to do, so one fine morning woke up, and within the next couple of hours, I found my self on the road riding my own Pulsar 200. Getting adjusted to the gear shift took 1-2 blips (including me getting off the bike and pushing it through a Traffic Read light to cross the road), but after that it has been a dream run.

During this period, I met some real envious riders and some real cool dudes. Cool dudes are always cool dudes, but the envious ones made me go defensive on the road as they were falling all around me in order to prove themselves in front of the beast......(well saw three accidents like that).

Common issues that I've heard so far about the bike from some forums like the xbhp, are -

• Front shocker breaking off - The first of the P200 did had this issue but Bajaj had modified the shocker ASAP and now the bike is as safe as any other bike of any other brand.
  
• Front shocker oil seal leaking - Never had this issue.
  
• Oil cooler oil leaking - Never had this issue.
  
• Engine heating up - Initially yes, but once I switched to Speed 97 petrol, never had this issue again and also after the first 1000 km the engine runs like butter over toast.
  
• The engine vibrates at high speeds - This may be routed to the engine oil being used in the bike, but personally never had this issue.
  
• Oil gauge and engine oil gauge malfunctioning - Just recently started facing this, and when taken to Bajaj service center they promptly said that if during the time of second service the issue persists they would change the components. But the issue of the gauge never posed any problem with performance of the bike.

As for me, everything in this bike is king size and I need to take a lot of care to protect this beast from the bad eyes (specially in the parking lot of my office which has gifted it with lot of miss-handling and scratches).

The features I loved in this bike are -

• The handling and control of this bike is mind - blowing. Initially I read in some of the blogs that since the wheelbase of the bike is less than the length of the bike, the bike would be unsteady at sharp turn, but I found otherwise. The swing arm gives you ample control of this beast even at high speeds

• The engine note is awesome - a unique mixture of power and silence, thanks to the stylish exhaust and the engine architecture.

• The front disk brake, the rear drum brake and the huge rear tyre work miracles in tandem and build up a lot of confidence in bike. One of the user in the xbhm.com has complained that the bike skids when driven over small stone chips and with a CBZExtreme he can ride over those same stone chips at around 40 kmph. Ask me and I'll say it's bullshit. You don't get more nasty small stone chips turns as they are there in Gurgaon and I have no complains with this bike over such turn.

• The pick-up and power of the machine is awesome. You won't even know when you went off the block at 1st gear and when you are at 65 kmph at 5th. It's that fast, it's that blazing. I must admit here that since the bike has not clocked it's 2000 km, I haven't taken the bike beyond 65 kmph.

• The mileage of the machine has stayed between 40-45 kmpl till now which I thing is great in it's genre (considering the 35 kmpl of the 100cc Performance Bike Great Grand Father - the Yamaha RX100)

All I can say is it's not because that I own this bike that praise this bike but this bike is a true picture of the technological advancement that India is capable of doing on it's own. All other bike brands are great but the simple fact that it's an all India bike right to the level of each and every nut bolt of the bike, makes this bike all the more special.