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Topic approved.

"Bajaj comes up with something brilliant & then few years down the line they just choose to forget their legacy."
This one line sums up what's wrong with the brand. That's very sad experience you had. All hell break loose when our beliefs and trust shatter and we tend to think it's done, but the saddest part is for mechanics it's just another day of their lives.
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I could relate to your story up to some extent. I too bought a pulsar which has always been my childhood dream. UG4 P180 was then new kid on the block. It had all the latest and greatest of what Bajaj could offer then. First service was done beside a P220 in a PBK, I liked their professionalism back then. That was very good experience. But later on it only became worse. I have written about every servicing in the ownership thread. Most of the problems and issues bike faced till today were introduced by A.S.S. mechanics. Headlight assembly vibrations, broken fuel lock, leaving air bubbles in front brake hydraulics, forgetting to tighten the clutch cable after releasing it, drive chain tightening without aligning both sprockets and other dozens of issues that I can't seem to recall right now, were all introduced by so called mechanics. It might not be just the Bajaj but they seem to worst breed of mechanics.
Once a service manager told me that they really don't receive formal guidelines/instructions for repairing new types of vehicles, he further said, they learn as they go along. I wrote this on xbhp and it was taken as a joke by others. May be people read what they want to read.
Even though the issues that I faced were never as severe as what you faced, they got me thinking of learning the actual mechanical stuff myself. I began to walk away from my needs of visiting service center. I learnt a lot of things from experts' experiences. Youtube was also helpful in this matter to clear many ideas. 3 years back I didn't have any idea how does the petrol make the bike move and now I can do all basic servicing myself. It's not a big deal if one has an interest in tinkering and mechanical stuff. Still some operations like replacing brake pads are complex for me. But basic service like oil/filter change, carb & air filter cleaning, chain tension adjustment, greasing, oiling, washing are now done at my house.

Bajaj maybe launching exciting model every other week but it's a harsh truth that they lag behind Hero, TVS, Honda in number of service centers. They come up with new models with flashy spec list now and then to sell as many units as they can but forget about after sell part conveniently. Is that how they became the biggest automotive company in the country? I think the problem is not with bajaj themselves but rather their lack of quality control measurements at their service center. Hell, it's same for every manufacturer in India. And why is that? Well, the principle is simple, we're Indian and hence can be taken for a ride.

The "reason" behind this is, they expect everyone to sell off their bikes in 2-3 years and go for a newer bike. The problem is, if you go in with unsuccsesful model to any asc, chances of bad service increases. People with hh ambitions, Tvs apache, Honda eterno, Glamor fi, all face simmilar issues.

The problems both of you are reffering to is not a bajaj exclusive one. Any and all manufacturers are the same in this regard. My first bike was an lml energy. It was sold off in 7 months or so because the service station charged me for oil change, drained it and conveniently forgot to put in the fresh oil. Bike seized and I was blamed for it. A friend of mine who owns a splendor was blamed for riding too rough and bending the cylinder!!! A friend with a yamaha fazer, who clearly had a seizing exhaust valve, was told that the bike is fine and it was all in his head.

There used to be asc and mechs, untill a decade ago, who actually wanted to learn to fix machines, who cared for your ride and stayed with you till an issue was resolved. Not any more.

While most people on forums shun the notion of going to street mechs, have you ever wondered where these asc mechs come from? They are not mit graduates. They are the same street mechanics. In my city, a dealer after loosing his contract with bajaj, has been awarded a honda contract. Now, the same guy who was servicing ct100s and platinas, is servicing cbr 150s. Bike is just a bike.... Right?? Two wheels and all???

This is the very reason I never went for a higher tech bike as I know the tech might be great but the people who take care of them are not.

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[/MENTION]: sad to hear that bro...now actually this is a two part problem with a two part solution.

but before that, i will say, relax brother....rest and cool down, take some time, think deeply. this is not only your problem but a lot of guys.

one thing i would say is that when any bike gets more than 50-60 thousand kms old, it becomes less reliable. and at 80-90 thousand kms on the odo, any bike is bound to give such problems once in a while which will make anybody feel like throwing it away. please realise that it has done its job, served its purpose and is well past its prime.

i too have a pulsar, a humble modest P150, although no Fi, but still a bike i was very fond of, my first bike with my own money, have lots of fond memories, ever since it got about 80,000 kms old it started giving me nightmares once in a while and now at 1.35 lakh kms, i decided to give it rest. although it had no Fi or any other hi-fi thing, it still gave me lot of troubles once past its prime. and maintenance was not as simple as it used to be for RX100, with BCU and backlit switches, don't remember how many times i changed the BCU and backlit switches and how much money was wasted or rather invested to keep it running.

now i have realized that an average motorcycle has an age of around 70-80,000 kms and should be replaced when that figure appears on odo, the sooner the better.

then i also went through similar dilemma of CBR250, GT250R and finally decided ...what an NS, yes P200NS. but thats a different story.

now the problem--

1) the first part is that service centers don't do their job well. WHY...?? to earn more profit they first don't keep all the machines and apparatus required to correctly service your bike as it needs investment. i have two simple examples- once my service center told me you need block-piston replacement, i asked the mechanic to check compression ration in my presence, and his expression was like ..... WTF ??? how did this customer know such a thing exists... he went to his service manager who first tried to convince me that such a test is not required and their experience is sufficient, when i insisted, he said he will ask ASC owner, he called the owner on telephone as the apparatus was kept in lock and key. the owner arrived and looked upto me and said -- "boss, it is not required, but since you are insisting so much we will do it" as if he is doing a great deal of ehsaan on me. when they tried to test the compression ratio, needless to say the way in which they were trying to do it clearly showed they don't know how to do it and are probably doing it first time in the absence of someone from bajaj. the scene was much like it used to be in school chemistry lab, when we knew exactly what should happen when we do a particular experiment, but no matter how hard we try the end result was always far from desired result.

exactly same thing happened when i asked them to refill the nitrox shock absorbers, this time the scene was even bizzare as all but one of the mechanics were of the opinion that "boss, this is not a tyre, which you can refill air" and i was like lol....the rest of things were same as in first case - a call to owner, lock and key, trying to do what they had never done before.

now most of the service centers simply do not keep such tools and even those who keep do not use them as using them means maintenance to tools also, so they are kept just to show off to any occasional BAL personal visit.

another thing is quality of training to mechanics, even though BAL invites mechanics from all service centers for training everytime a new bike is launched, most of the ASC do not send mechanics, because if mechanics will go on training that means reduced earning for service centers. and when they do send them, they just send one mechanic for training and rest have to learn from him. obviously there is information loss as well as information hiding due to workplace competition. also this one person who attended the training did not attend full training but only a crash course. this was told by a mechanic only that there are two levels of training, a basic crash course and a full hands on training of every thing including troubleshooting and engine works and electrical.

now these problems can only be tackled by BAL. we as customers can not do anything.

2) second part of the problem is us riders, sometimes we depend too much on service centers, may be because we do not like to get our hands dirty or we do not want to spend that much time and energy. call it over reliance on service centers.

don't just drop your bike in the morning and pick-it up in evening and pay the bills. instead wait there, watch them, check every part they replace, correct them if their is need.

learn as much about bikes.

more importantly watch and observe carefully to find who is the best mechanic, talk to him, make him your friend. this way when your service center is shut down, you can still get your bike serviced from that trusted mechanic, you will be surprised to find out what your trusted mechanic can do to your bike outside of service center, and most mechanics always work on sundays or late evenings outside ASC too.

while this post is not a solution to your particular problem, but since the topic came, i thought i would express my views, which can be helpful to some newbies ....

to you my bro, i will simply say that your bike has passed its prime and you should plan for a new bike and ......part your ways with your old bike but with respect, love and good memories of those 5 years when it served you with all it had and gave you lasting joy and forever memories.

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ah....sigh... gone are the days when my father rode a lambretta for more than 35 years... that quality can not be found in today's vehicles...gone are the days when my father along with his friends used to do all the servicing themselves incuding even things like engine rebuilds ... that quality can not be found in today's bikers.....may be we are too busy to do it ourselves....may be ASC are too busy making money....and maybe the manufacturers are too busy launching newer & newer products every fortnight......


times have changed....thats when i realized i can not ride my P150 ...for as long as my father rode his lambretta...

this time using this amount of money and effort, either i would live with the problem forever or I would sell off the machine. I wont let a problem keep banging my head every now and then.

[/MENTION]: Completely agree with you.
[MENTION=11587]rx100.7050[/MENTION]: You have every reason to hate the brand. Here, I can't help but amaze about how long did you take to realise the service quality maybe in your case you were lucky to receive good service for so many years.

[/MENTION]

Sad to hear about your story.
I have faced similar issues with the Bajaj SVCs, and everyone knows that the Service provided for two wheelers in Bangalore is the worst in the whole world!
But, its not the same for cars. Dunno about other brands but Hyundai gives great service.
Since the day we bought the i20 till today, after 32k on the odo, the service provided is top notch by Advaith Hyundai.

I only wish, we had similar service provided for two wheelers as well..

I feel, the reasons for bad service could be : the same what princesirohi stated and also, Overpopulation.
Which in turn, puts a lot of work load on the people working in the SVCs ..
Especially in Bangalore, i have noticed that people just keep coming with issues in their bikes, they dont stop at all.
When one is in that position of a worker, with shit-load of work to finish, he would be frustrated which in turn is reflected on our precious vehicles !


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📲 Sent from my Nexus !

Look man, none of the companies bother whether you loathe them or set em on fire. Forget a p220 which is just another street bike, true legends of the industry like the rd, rx, shogun, kb, all of them got left behind. Nobody bothered that the rd was an internationally acclaimed sports bike which was a hit in every other place it was launched. Ax100, shogun and samurai, these 3 bikes put tvs on the map. But tvs offers no support what so ever for them now. Companies just dont bother about sentiments. They are here to make a profit and thats what they will do. At any cost.

Some fault lies with general consumers too, who think its beneth them to even touch a wrench. They would over burden the ascs with stupid things like adjust the brake or tightening the clutch. They will do things which they are not supposed to do and then blame the ascs and demand warrenty. After a point the asc people just give up.

There are only two ways you maintain bikes. Either keep buying and selling every few years or learn to fix stuff yourself or atleast identify problems and get someone to fix it for you. I maintain a freaking rd and an rx. Do you think I get support from any yamaha asc? Are they the least bit bothered that I am keeping two of their legendary bikes alive? NO. You either find a way to get it done yourself or go with the crowd and treat bikes like appliances and change them every time they get old.

In the end Its you against the world.

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That is because CD 100s were made in era when quality and reliability were considered ethical business practices and not a sales pitch to draw customers in like hero and honda do today.

That was the whole point of my first reply. Those days are gone when manufacturers actually cared about things like build quality, customer satisfaction and reliable technology.

PS: Which part are you talking about? Didnt get you? Is it a joiner between the nozzle and fuel n air pump assy? Are you sure that the mech didnt break it while working on it?

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Believe me when I say that my bike all these 77000 kms ran absolutely brilliant without any major issue like the one which I faced.

Anyway, it's the end of owning an Fi 220. I will get it changed to carb or sell it. Unfortunately, I was looking to buy D390 but not now. Nothing from Bajaj's stable. My passion for riding will take a hit for a long time to come.

Well that's exactly what I meant. Bikes those times were gems. Not having a single fibre part. But now? Maintenance is more with high costs of ownership.
And ya the part am talking about joins the injector to the pump system. My bad luck was having given the bike to a stupid mech. He broke it and had somehow heated it and fixed it. But the bike kept giving problems so I had to change the place of service. Rite now this present guy has worked well with the bike til now and when he spotted the crack in that part he had warned me of it thus clearing my doubts as to why the bike was not running properly. I was rite there when he showed it to me. I was watching him clean the fi system as I wanted to do it myself next time.
There's no perfect mech available. We have to just find someone better than the authorised people.
Some authorised guyd do not let you in the service area. They say entry only for staff. How then would you learn as to how to do minor servicings?

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The place where I gave my bike was an automated service center where hayabusas and r1s and a hell lot of harleys used to get serviced. Every time I went, atleast one super bike would have been completely dismantled. And the owner was a very close friend.


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First of all, if it feels wrong to do something, dont do it. Giving an fi bike to street mechs is one of those things.

Second, replace the injector assy and get the pumps checked. If thr guy welded something then there is chance of damage to other parts too.

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