Pulsar 180 and Pulsar 150 UGIV - Test Ride

Yesterday, as planned went to the Krishna Bajaj PBK to get a test ride of the New Bajaj Pulsar 180 and Pulsar 150. So, I would quickly begin with Bajaj Pulsar 150.

2009 Bajaj Pulsar 150

In most of the Indian biking forum I've come across, I've seen a lot of hoola - hoo about the 2009 Bajaj Pulsar 180, but nothing much is being said about the 2009 Bajaj Pulsar 150. I'm not sure what's the reason behind is, but after yesterday's test ride I would say, we are unnecessarily missing out on an amazing upgrade. Yes, I would call it an upgrade, because it's not cosmetic or a "Laal Salaam" paint job. It's a serious improvement.

The Likes

1. The handle bar has gone down a bit (but not as much as the Pulsar 200) and therefore the sitting has become a bit more sporty.
   
2. The DC system of the bike works like magic. You don't even need to to twist the throttle while cranking the machine. Just give a small push to the Self Start Button, and it's in life.
   
3. The engine note has changed drastically. It has lost a lot of grunt that's characteristic to Bajaj Pulsars and is now lot more silent and relaxed.



4. When idling I just twist the throttle, and woala..... I saw the RPM niddle engage into a frezy and it just shot up. In my amaze I quickly switch on my Pulsar 200, and did the same thing, and on my bike the RPM niddle is much more sluggish. This clearly depicted that some serious work has been done in Torque optimization of the bike.
   
5. There is no vibes at all..... I mean I didn't feel a single thing either between my legs or on my hands when I shot the RPM up. It went up till 8K and there was nothing in the vibes department.
   
6. Now it was time for the run!! The bike started off like a butter with the gear falling into the right place at the right time. This is what I've liked about Bajaj Pulsars. Bajaj has taken into account every negative feedback the company has received and we see an improvement in the next installment of the bike. Above all I didn't had to do my special trick to find the Neutral on this bike as I have to do on my bike.
   
7. As I said earlier, the Torques have been very well managed and that was very well seen while riding the bike. In every gear (apart from the 1st) I was able to take bike past 9k rpm and the bike showed no signs of protest. The throttle response has improved immensely.
   
8. The Bottom End, Mid Range and the Top End Torque segment gave a feeling of both joy and thrill to ride the bike. The absence of vibes, made the ride all the more relaxed.
   
9. Again, while being in 5th gear, I was able ride the bike at speeds of 20-25kmph without much engine knocking, which is again a very good thing, and the best part was, when I wanted to pull the bike from there, it pulled effortlessly.

The Dislikes

1. Not many and not much, but I found a serious absence of information with the Bajaj PBK guys in regards to the new bikes. I mean they didn't even had the new brochures of the bikes and that was very annoying.
   
2. For a new bike, I found the front disk of the bike lacking a bit of bite, but again that's always expected from a Test Ride bike.

So, that's all about the Pulsar 150 UGIV from my side. So, now I move on to the Pulsar 180 UGIV.

The Likes

1. Apart from the engine grunt, the "Likes" of bike were exactly like the Pulsar 150 I described above. The bike note has a lot of heart and a lot of grunt compared to it's smaller sibling.
   
2. The clip-on handle bar do give you a "FEEL" of sportiness, but frankly speaking I've never liked the non-adjustable clip-ons used by Bajaj. The clip-ons on the TVS Apache RTRs look and work a lot better.
   
3. The bike builds up speeds like crazy and would give you that Pulsar signature scare and thrill while riding.

The Dislikes

1. The increase in overall kerb weight and the swing arm grossly affects the flickability of the bike at low speeds. With a penal on, it's really a frustrating job to do a tight U turn with the bike.

All in all I would say, I found the new Pulsar 150 a more fun bike to ride than the Pulsar 180. No doubt the Pulsar 180 looks more muscular, with the Pulsar 200 and 220 modes on, but Bajaj should have given a serious thought on the Power-to-Weight ratio there. Increasing the weight of the bike, seriously underplayed the fun factor me with this bike.