Finally I got the Big Bore and Bigger carb installed on my bike. Completed running in today. Planing to do Bangalore-Mumbai run next month on my bike. Watch out this space for a complete long term detailed review.

However, Initial impression is good. Bike no longer feels like a Pulsar (in a positive way). Feels very smooth across the rev range.

The strange part is I am doing running in with Bajaj Dtsi oil, and bike feels very smooth even after 150 KMs long ride.

Before the Big Bore engine would sound gruff with Bajaj or Castrol. Got to see if it stays like that for long.

Want to share an experience here.

Big Bore was in pipeline for a very long time, however I never had time to go for it. Finally, when I got a job in Mumbai, I decided to get the job done before leaving Bangalore.

A lot had unfolded between the last time I got the head work done (1 year back) and now. There were a lot of incidents on xbhp regarding quality of Joels Mods.

Since I had experienced Joels Mods, I had faith in him.

to be continued.........



Joel says the new kit is designed to give better results with FFE. Hence, planning to get the FFE refilled this weekend.

So happy for you bro. Just out of curiosity. How would you compare your bike with CBR 250, DUKE and greeny meany 250 and have you faced any of them on roads. The reason behind is I am going to get my babe made over by Joel by december and about to get the entire set of mods he has for pulsar 220. And in some of your post you have mentioned that you were trying to make your bike's performance at par with ninja 250. So its better to hear it from you as the spell stays for more than a year on your bike.

Hello Guys, here is the complete story on my Joeled P 230. It has been a long journey since the time I got my bike tuned for the first time from Joel. Before I delve deep into Mods I would like to go little into past. Before I came to Bangalore I had owned 6 bikes (P220 fi, 2 Karizma, 1 FZ). I bought and sold all these bikes excluding 220 Fi as I wasn't satisfied with any of these. My brother took the 220 Fi and I decided to give 220 dtsi (carb) a shot as it was newly launched and the reviews were good.

As my 220 dtsi was from first lot, it had its own share of niggles. Cold start, handle issues etc etc. I spent a lot of time trying to iron out the niggles. Even though I continued to face those niggles, the joy of riding 220 on open highways was something I cherished a lot. However, deep down I felt that there's lot more that this bike can deliver. Hence, began my quest to modify my bike.

All this while I was in Pune. Fortunately I got a job offer in Bangalore, and it is here that I met Joel. I called him up and set an appointment for first level of Mods. (Head Job). I wasn't too optimistic initially, however I wanted to give it a shot. The first level of Mods was enough to instill trust on Joel. Bike felt better than stock condition. Ever since I got the first set of Mods, I have never experienced any cold start issues. Also, before the mods, I could hear a metallic sound whenever I rode my bike after a cold start. The noise too vanished.

Before the first set of Mods, I also met Ashish Nikhar on my first Bangalore ride. He has been a great friend and partner in crime. He too opted for the Mods on his 220 Fi. Then we went for FFE. FFE does increase power substantially however it was too loud for our daily use. Hence, we opted for stock exhaust after spending 2-3000 KMs with FFE.

I then went for next round of Head Job which was 2-3 months after the first round of Mods. Bike showed improved performance with all the Mods that had gone in. I could feel remarkable improvement vis-a-vis a stock 220. Joel was still working on a Big Bore for 220 back then. I had no option but to wait.

Finally when he came out with his big bore I got caught in my personal life with no time for bike. In the mean while there were lot of new releases (CBR, KTM, 200 NS). I did check out all those bikes and never felt like going for those as my current setup was more or less giving me same level of performance.

I would also like to mention here that while I was planning for Big Bore and Bigger carbs, I read a lot of negative reviews regarding Joels Mods on some R15’s. However, as I had experienced his Mods first hand, and had complete trust in him, I decided to go for the Mods.

Also a word of caution. You will find a lot of people who call themselves tuners and are out there to experiment on your ride as well as charge a bomb. I too had a similar experience. While Joel was busy with his race schedule I came across a couple of wannabe tuners. I decided to give it a try while I waited for the Big Bore operation. I got a UNI Air Filter and 125 jet installed on my bike. Bottom end had improved and bike felt more easy to ride in bumper-to-bumper traffic. However on the highway it was a completely different story. Even stock 220 could beat my bike past the 4th gear. As, I was not used to such a situation I lost my cool and called up Joel.

It was later I realized that the jet size was too big, and bike was running rich. Also, I promised to myself to stay away from budding or for that matter any other tuner and learn to be more patient.

Finally August this year I got a job back in Mumbai. I had time till November to relocate and join the new company. And it is then I decided to complete the Mods. Called up Joel and got the following Mods done:

Big Bore, Bigger carb, Simota Air filter, stiffer clutch springs.

I completed my initial 500KMs of running in within the city with occasional trips to Nandi Hills. Next 500 Kms I opened up throttle. Bike felt completely different. It no longer felt like a Pulsar. The bike has completed around 4000 KMs on the new setup with 1000 KMs of Bangalore-Mumbai high speed touring.

During the trip I was constantly doing speeds upwards of 125 Km/hr for hours at a stretch and bike showed no signs of stress.
Did 1000KMs in 14 hours flat with lots of breaks in between.

I personally feel Bigger carb is a must as bike breathes much better.
Also, I got a chance to interact with some of the experts in Bangalore and as per them the bigger piston & the carb is the best a P220 can get and the tuning is also good.

The best part of the new carb is the A/F screw is not easily accessible, it is below the carb, hence there's no chance of any mechanic tampering with it.

The stiffer clutch springs too are very hard. It takes sometime getting used to it. Its a good workout of your left forearm in traffic conditions. Also, I think the torque delivery too has improved with stiffer springs. Bike just leaps with slight release of clutch.

All the Mods together have improved rideability in both city and highway conditions. On the highways especially it feels lot different. It just surges ahead with slight release of throttle.

The FUN factor (the thing that I look in bikes) has increased many fold.

As regards my earlier goal of making the bike faster than a Ninja or a CBR 250R, I did get a chance to drag alongside a couple of CBR’s, and boy, I just could not believe it. The bike shoots like a rocket. Also, the sound of the engine, exhaust note has changed. It sounds more like a KTM now.

If you ask me, Yes, I am one happy customer, and I do recommend Joels Mods for P220. It just transforms the bike.

But I think it is best to get all the Mods done by Joel himself.

Finally when I thought this was max I can go with Modifying my 220 Joel surprised me when he said theres more that we can do.

Hence I will be riding down to Bangalore sometime November next year to get next level of Mods.

Advice to riders who plan to go for the Mods:
Not everything is rosy when you decide to Modify your ride. You need to understand what you are getting into. Be prepared for ups & downs. You need a lot of patience, and you need to keep your mind open. You may hear a lot of +ve & -ve reviews, and it all boils down to how desperately you need to tune your ride and how far have you done your homework.

For me it has been a good experience, and I am keeping my current ride for years to come. It makes me feel special whenever I wack open the throttle.

Finally I would like to thank Joel, his crew Mani & my best friend Ashish Nikhar who has been a constant help all this while.

Hats off to your determination Chinmay. I know it was difficult to iron out even the minutest of the niggles. I guess the difference between you and me(and most of us here) is: we face a problem, we look for the root cause and find out its not major problem and we let it sink in. On the other hand you chase the problem down till its resolved irrespective of its impact. And that is the reason your 220 is what it is today. Keep up the good work buddy.

Waiting for Joel to come up with a soup-pack for 200NS too. Although I am enjoying the power slides on 200 for the time being. I am not sure for how long it will keep me engaged...
Chinmay, I definitely want to borrow your bike every time I come down to Mumbai .

@Chinmayakar: thanks for the elaboration bro.. though I didn't get reply for my previous post, this shot cleared everything
I was looking here and there in the forum. thanx a ton again

You are welcome bro. I am sorry if I missed your previous post. I hope my experience helps others in making a decision.

I want to know how exactly the FFE sounds ? Is it having a bass-filled vroom vroom sound ? Also let us know the sound with and without the DB killer...

Re: JOELED 220 (Performance Tuned)

Dont expect a SBK bass note out of it. But it sounds great with deeper bass especially at 6k above RPMs.
The sound with DB killer will be marginally deeper but notable drop in performance if you have used w/o DB killer previously.

By the way I liked your 'vroom vroom' part

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Welcome to the club,i remember the wide grin he had in his face after he did the mods on my bike,one satisfied tuner-Head job,big bore,carb and filter.I had purchased the ffe a year before the mods.The clutch springs were not available.Will place an order once i come back to India.As for me,ONE HAPPY 230 RIDER.
OT-I also got to sit in Joel's insane modded City,so much torque that the navi seat(on which i was i sitting) came out loose

Thanks. Joels Mods does give new life to bike. I don't feel like upgrading my bike now. For next year too there are mods planned to keep my ride interesting.

Thanks for the review Chinmay! Its been a pleasure to work with you and I'm sure you have a handful of experience by now on what works and what does not. There is a lot more to go before you quit that P230

@Velociraptor - Well, yours was the first Pulsar that I loved the most. And changed my view point on the Pulsar engine. And yea, next time you come to Bangalore, you have have an even more maddening version of the same Honda city waiting for you