Topic Approved.

I am not too sure why ain't Bajaj's any bike a legend unlike the RXs of the gone era which are still the machines to behold, or perhaps even the RD350 whose performance some latest machines fail to match!

May be too much of Bajaj bikes have killed that excitement amongst the prospective enthusiasts, may be some quality issues have not gone too well with the people or may be there is some third reason behind all this. But the bottom line is - Bajaj's bikes are not really the legend, except for the nomenclature - The Bajaj Legend, which turned out to be anything but a legend!

P.S: Yes, I am not ready to sell my P180 Classic inspite of her being 100,000+ kms. old (the speedo doesn't work anymore). I am not ready to sell my P180 Classic inspite of her losing her "early days' " performance. I am not ready to sell my P180 Classic anytime soon!

I mentioned it there... There are people like you...if i would have be having enuf financial resources by the time i change bike i would also not sell it Off..

May be because Bajaj has/had a scooter named Legend.

The bikes which are called legendary has got a very unique characteristic of being "Uncommon". Another characteristic is being of the gone by time.

Now, Bajaj was considered as a real bike manufacturer with the production of Caliber and then finally with the success of Pulsar. Before that no one really wanted to go with Bajaj. I would say it was an underdog. The KB125 RTZ was one of a class bike. 4S Champion was one fuel efficient bike. But, the dominance of HH on the biking senario and the legendary Scooter series from Bajaj didn't helped it break off its image as a scooter maker.

It was only till late 1990s that Bajaj started coming into picture as a credible bike manufacturer. Now, the other legendary bikes have a long history of performance biking and a globally recognised identity like Yamaha, RE, BSA etc.

It takes time for a bike to become legend. And it is not the company that makes a bike a legend but the riders. They are the real testers of the bike and no one can give a test report of a bike as they can. If I own a bike and still ride it after 20 years then it will build the credibility of that company. A company or a bike cannot become a legend at such as infant stage like Bajaj/Discover/Pulsar. On the other hand if you look at a Bajaj Chetak, you know its a legendary one because it has a long history of Bajaj scooters starting right from 1970, I believe. It has that credibility that the riders of Chetak has added to it over the years. My father owned a chetak for more than 20 years. That kind of history and the stories that go behind with each day of riding that vehicle makes it legendary.

Bajaj bikes will become legendary if you keep riding your discover till 2020 even when the world has hopped onto 1500 CCs, I ride my pulsar til 2050 when I can no longer rider it due to age factor, when Aryan's grandkids will still their grandfather's Red 180 Pulsar tank in their garage apart from xbhp, when c_sbk's kids own a whole big garage of Bajaj bikes, when MG's supergrand kids are still riding on the supermod's P220, when JB kas travelled across Botswana clicking the wildlife on his P200 and when B2l's kids become the CEO of an IT company and still ride B2l's P200 to their board room office (you know what I mean ).

Product life is average. Parts supply not consistent. No great long-standing value propotion. Competition is way better.
You get the RX100's spares even now, and this has been around since 1986. Do u get anything for the KB?
TVS still churns parts for the AX/Max engines till date.
A few of them retain coz of sentimental values and attachments.
A KB or a pulsar cant be tuned for any great performnce. An RX can turn from mild to wild when tweeked, so can the AX100. The KB was one of the worst 2-strokes sold in the country. The disc valve was a serious downer to produce serious power. Also lengetivity was not great.
An RX100/AX100 is built like a gun.
The pulsars are too flashy. Lots of jazz and crudely engineered, something like what the chinese do. Bajaj seems to have hurried up on every stage of the pulsars development. The pulsars are loosing the sales chart very rapidly and very soon it will be due for a replacement.
Legends are those which have a lot of potential and a "dream to own" bike, like an RD. It still holds the torch for being the fastest indian made bike.
I bet a pulsar 10 yrs later will never be a dream bike to any kid.

You can still turn a 20yr old RX100 into a 20+ bhp screamer and a 20yr old RD into a 50bhp bomb, what can you do with a 20yr old Bajaj? beg and borrow for parts maybe!

A bike also turns into a legend when it has a lot of race winning credits. Which Bajaj has ever won a respected race?
A pulsar will shy away, the moment it sees a corner. The most scary thing to do is ride a pulsar on the track. The RX has won more races in the country than anything else. Then the shogun and RD. Followed by the Fiero. They are sure hot favourites till today among the right crowd.

And Nav, that so called "legend" flopped bigtime. See Bajaj has even tried to call their product a "legend", still didnt work

@Joel: so true...

I might be one of those who's keeping a bajaj bike running.. but I can tell you that there's nothing 'legendary' about it.. (though its very close to my heart)

I have a Pulsar 180 DTSi 2005, 70K+ kms old.. engine has seized 5 times so far.. I can verbally run you through the complete list of all the parts I've had to change since it has been giving trouble. I can also narrate experiences where I've had to spend the night at a petrol pump on May 1st with my seized bike blah blah.. .. bottom line.. I have spent enough money on my P180 amounting to the cost of a completely new bike. Yet, I keep the bike running. Now,..your question..is this all legendary?.. I guess not.. Infact, I'd have kept my first true touring bike close to my heart regardless of which make it was..it just so happened that it was a Bajaj.. but that won't make the bike good . or a legend.

Adding to what leon_nerd has said.. It takes time, and it's the consumers who give the bike the legendary status..the manufacturer just has to make a quality bike. Bikes are remembered for both good and bad reasons. It's generally the bikes that last the test of time WHILE have stood by their owners at the time of hardship that truely become iconic. Some of them are not all that 'cool' but you'll know one when you see one.

The reasons for it being legendary are again not common. There's generally a unique reason behind each bike that makes it legendary. I strongly doubt if a pulsar will be a legend even if it's ridden many years down the line. Infact, bajaj themselves change the bike so often that there's nothing special about it.. On the other hand I quite fancy the Karizma simply for the fact that it has stood its ground over so many years and still can bring a smile on their owners faces. Look at its involvement in motorsports (esp. rallys in north india)..It's still among the prefered bikes.. despite so many such modern gizmotic bikes crowding the city streets.. TVS will be another manufacturer I'm highly optimistic about.. 10-15 years down the line when you read that racers, rallyists and performance enthu bikers prefered a bike like Apache/RTR.. it'll be something..

The only vehicle with a bajaj branding over it that still is legendary is probably the M80..
Esp, when you see a traders M80 (quite common here in Pune).. one 15 year old puny looking machine with more luggage than you'll ever carry on any trip and still going strong.. respect!


[edit] -- summary

'considered' cool category:
Reebok
Adidas
Nike
Woodlands


legend category:
daddy's 15 year old leather boots
(may be dirty, may not be in the best shape - but definitely not throw-away material)

+1
100 % Bulls Eye!

pulsars will be legend, well they are almost. also ppl have get bored faster now compared to only choiced days of RX 100. Don't we see TVS copying them with Apache every now on then whenever i see apache's brake light it rings bell of copy of new pulsars.

days of RX100 were more or less like winning alone in a league

Let me make this clear to everyone,Bajaj bikes are not made for going round a track as fast as possible. Please get this inside your head. Correct me if the P220 manual or advertisement shows the bike going round a track.
Would you take a Harley Davidson or a Triumph or an MT-01/FZ1 around a track hoping it will blow your mind around the corners as the R1/CBR would? No.
As for reliability's sake,please let's not forget of how many 'Pulsars' are on the road. Something is always bound to go wrong with one of them. Not everyone is a Honda. And Honda have been making bikes when us Indians were riding on bulls(literally). And when you take into account of how many Pulsars are being stoppied/wheelied/rolled everyday than you will realize how big the picture is. Not to forget most of the touring records are done everyday on Pulsars.
And even if you are nitpicking then head over to the Bajaj Discover thread. How many problems have you seen being posted? None.There are just queries. That's 100% of satisfied Discover owners.
Now head over to the Gladiator thread. That thing wouldn't stop rusting and falling apart or stalling round a corner. Quite unlike a product from a company that is making bikes for.....around 40 years.
What you have to do is change your perception. I have always likened Bajajs to Mustangs. They are like fast muscle cars. Good in a straight line and rubbish at corners. But extremely good fun.
If you are track addict than buying a Bajaj is the worst mistake you can do.Steer away and get something else.
If for instance,you are normal and just want to reach from one point to the other in comfort with good mileage and goodies,than Bajaj is for you.

Now to the case in point: Nothing that is common can be a legend. There are exceptions though.

For me a bike is a legend if it brings about a revolution in terms how bikes are made in an industry. We are too early to categorise the current crop of bikes as legends. RX is a legend because we still talk about it after 20 years. Let's see after another 20 years, we will be talking about the current crop.

Three names that come to my mind and will always be legends:- CBZ classic, P180 classic, Karizma.
And now recently, a fourth one has been added. R15.

CD 100 ?

Fill it. Shut it. Forget it.

Bloody Hell. Changed the way every Indian looks at a bike.

+1 totalyl agreed


i guess boxer did too hehehe just smell the fuel ad , as i stated earlier RX 100 was the only performance option thats why we still talk about it.

We did not have TVS or Honda's at that time.