^
Now how is that ? I Have never felt the need to muscle the bike, unless you are trying to park it in a cramped space.

yes, the frame is flexing more than what it should and the front and rear shockx are softer than what it should be, but this has all been to overcome the numerous pot holes in the road.

I have felt the pulsars to give the most plush ride.Also its not that you cannot ground your foot pegs in of 220. Its just that it doesn't offer enough confidence when doing it in high speed.

Pulsars can be flicked with ease, and for some reason, the Zma too doesn't offer that much confidence with the big handle bar and the front seems a bit light.
just fiddle with the shocks and air pressure, 220 can become a better handling bike(not on par with R15)
After all, the 220 is for streets where there is no requirement for tackling high speed corners.

He he rite on the target... even i don't feel the handling of P220 is not good compared to the FZ as well...

the discussion is going a bit tangent now...


my question is 'why' to the above statement.


i dont want this to be a war of any sorts. i am trying to rationally analyze the the problem to try to figure exactly why the 220 is considered a poor handler. espessially as it has so many 'handling gizmos'


i am trying to not compare the 220 and kari as this site has a major soft spot for the tourer.
having said that, these are the tentative conclusions from my side:

1. any possible difference in handling between the kari and the 220 might be majorly due to weight distribution.

2. there is no way the kari frame is stiffer than the pulsar. the kari frame has a large spine under the tank and dis-continuous members along the bottom. (stressed engine)
so if the kari is actually a better handler, frame is not the reason.

3. the kari probably has better suspension units than the 220

4. or, there is a really good chance... the notion that the kari is a good handler is psychological. if a lot of people are saying it handles great and hardly anyone who owns a kari has the skill or space to verify it, the myth sticks.

i am not saying the kari sucks but this is a purely rational discussion and one cannot ignore this possibility.


i have put the 220 front end on my rd. will test it in a few days. my rd weighs less than a stock 220 and the present rake on my bike is 25 deg (2 deg less than stock) if the front does not chatter under heavy braking, i will rate the 220 forks 'excellent'.


and one last word for now... please be passionate about bikes on the whole and science. never be passionate about your opinions.

^^ i can tell you this much about the pulsar 220 front forks, that they are a direct copy of the ninja 250R, only slightly smaller in dimension, the plunger, pump, spring, installation, assembly and dis-assembly of the forks is same. So im guessing experimenting with different stiffness springs, and different grades of oil, will get you the best for your setup..

Wow...this thread is pickin up speed.

I have ridden quite a few bikes and do ride a 220 regularly. The question asked by braindead is "why is the 220 an average handler?"
According to me, the following factors influence that

1. Chassis
2. Weight
3. Seating Position
4. Dynamics

The chassis, as someone pointed out earlier, is a twin downtube frame and is not known to be the best of handlers. Flex does set in sometimes. Add to that, a softly sprung rear and you have a bike that goes around the corners like a pogo stick.
Weight is the single largest factor that prevents the 220 from excellent cornering abilities. The weight forces rider to cut momentum early and prepare (much more) than what would be desirable. In fact, going downhill, one needs to brake much earlier since the weight adds momentum. This affects entry and subsequently, the exit.
Seating position dictates and rules the feel and feedback. It also governs the body position for proper cornering. On a 220, one is "On the bike" and not a part of it. That makes weight transfer and body weight shifting a mite difficult to master; if not impossible. Add to that a low center stand that touches ground before anything else.
Dynamics come from a combination of chassis, cycle parts and weight etc. The combination works well but not as great as it would work in an R15.
There are several other factors that prevent the 220 from serious cornering but people who get used to the 220, learn to ride it around it's limitations. So most of the serious riders on a 220 aim at stiffening the rear suspension, remove the center stand, reducing weight, make the seat a bit less stiffer (reducing ride height and improving CG)...the list is endless.

Question is whether the bike is a track bike? Not really, it is a tourer that can corner a bit.

Also, dear friends, dont start counter arguing over my post. My post was based on my experience with the 220. Now, where did I keep that improvement list?

thats something most of the ppl here don't understand buddy, they'll form opinions and somebody might agree to their opinion which then becomes a "fact" with only slight or no connection to ground realities.

to be fair to the 220 have you tried the 220 dtsi handling is pretty amazing , the rake angle has been changed so have the tyres and suspension, but the old "fact" that a 220 cn't handle still plagues it. most people swear by the bad handling without even trying to give it a good whack

+1. The 220 is not all that bad as people make it out to be. I believe that it is a few inches and a few kilograms away from perfection

I'm not quite sure I agree with that point. Being from the hills where corners are a way of life with no true highway to speak of, that is not the impression that I get. True, the HH Splendor is a lighter bike to throw around, and the P220 needs comparatively more effort. But as far as the confidence to corner carve is concerned the bigger bike gives you much more confidence to throw it about, just that you will be more tired at the end of it. I speak this from almost two decades of riding on roads where next S-curve is just around the bend, 8 years of them on the P180 classic and 6 months on the P220. But it really is a heavy beast to throw around compared to the HH.

Just get rid of the center stand if you plan to do some hill riding. Know the limitation of the bike and ride accordingly, and you won't be disappointed.

Hmm.. Got good amount of info from such a new thread.


This is what I call a healthy discussion thread.

I guess you got it in the wrong sense... bringing HH to the topic will definetly end up in quarrelling.. better avoid comparisons which leads to a war (which you and me don't want to happen)... there are more people who off roaded, leh'd with a 220 along with a ZMA...

My previous bike was a HH splendor... believe me you ll feel more confident on a 220 than a splendor on corners
I believe only a person who is not happy about the pulsars can give comparisons like this

not true . Had a pulsar for long enough.v lng enough.
PS : i had the same mindframe that a pulsie handles well when i used to ride it.
Ride something better and then have the same opinion what you have now. Lets see.

Santa

As far as pulsar is concerned, well my take on the matter is that the chassis is a decade old, which in turn was built for a short wheel base and 18 inch wheels. Bajaj may have put a lot of tech in to the newer bikes but never changed the general configuration of the chassis. On top of it, in the 220 they opted for a swing arm from a cruiser (avenger). Overall some serious chassis redesign is required in order to make the bike fickable.

The 220 from a track point of view is almost useless. It is heavy, the CofG is too high and does not have decent rear brakes (the front brake is Great). However, as a street bike the kind of handling it provides is enough and the stability it gives at high speeds and in cross winds make it a great tourer.

I used the 220 in Leh & found it good in handling.
But all of this changed as Santa said when i rode a R15.
So I was constantly experimenting.

Recently I changed the Rear tire of the 220 to a R15 Rubber.
That made a huge difference.
I can flick it much easily & corner much more confidently.
My rear is set to Hardest only when I require some stability in cornering.
The Front Forks with better grade oil & around 10% more quantity made a big difference in the handling too.
try these to make it better -
Better tires - R15s Rubber are the Best I found for the 220( Sounds weird but its by experience)
Stiffer suspension.

^^ Now that could make the required difference. m sure there are other soft compund tyres apart from the r15 ones, call me shallow but the ride's gotta look good too while it does its job and those thin tyres don't cut it for me.