Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

There you go. You need 20w50 and not 10w40. Wrong grade of oil being used!

What? you went to 100 kmph on the day of purchase? Did you carry a slow running in or did you go the Motoman's way? Yes, rim bends can be removed at a competent workshop.

IMO, 55w can be put without any issues. Buy a simple Philips 55w bulb first. Costs 80 odd. If satisfied, go for Osram Night Breaker or Philips Extreme Vision later.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

i couldn't resist to twist the throttle a little more on the first day but until the first service i didn't cross 60 and until 2000kms i didn't cross 100kmph .
where in mysore can i get a rim bend removed ?

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

MYS ka I have little idea. @Rakesh Rok may help you.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

Speedo reading, right?? Cant be for sure true speed

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Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

its been a couple of weeks since i got my bike 'cured' . and im glad to report that its been smooth so far very less vibrations, engine pretty refined and rib-crunching pick up! been getting an economy of nearly 45kmpl feels like a pulsar

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

I'm sorry to say this but you ruined your own bike by taking it to the outside mechanic, outside mechanics don't have the required tools to open up an engine and using many "jugaad" (such as, a penny in the clutch basket to hold it while removing the nut). Your engine did not seem like it developed a play in the con road and just changing the bearings doesn't need access to a lathe. I also guess the clutch plates were not OEM or they were not properly installed. I can understand your frustration though, when ASC can not service the bikes properly. The first problem of bike dying when past 5K RPM was due to clogged jets, I think and the second sound may be from tappet of timing chain. You should have replaced the timing chain first and see if it were gone, always start from the less invasive procedure, be it an engine or a human body. The vibes will be there as the nuts and bolts inside the engine were not torqued properly. IIRC some Loctite 243 needs to be applied before torquing few bolts inside the engine, here some (or should I say most, if not all) mechanics use nail polish for that purpose. Speaking of the "high performance" K&N air filter, you got white smoke coming out of your bike as the excess airflow made possible by the better air filter made the mixture lean. A lean engine easily overheats and gets damaged. BTW the correct engine oil grade for Pulsar 180 is 20W50. How much did you pay for the filter, the stock replacement ones by K&N for P180 costs around 2,600 rupees IIRC.

All this contributed to the downfall of your Pulsar and let's face it, Bajaj ain't no HH boy, and P180 is not a "fill it, shut it, forget it" bike. Take good care of your bike from now on, it may last a few years, better sell it and buy something new, this time be careful and follow the rules.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

I paid around 2400 for the k&n filter. I guess it wasn't properly installed. What some of my friends suggested was that i was probably given a fake k&n in an original box because the name wasn't to be found anywhere on the filter. But then the service by the showroom's service centre was very mediocre. Everytime after the service the bike would come out well polished, clean and shining whereas none of the problems were being solved. You never know if what is claimed to be done in the service centre is actually done . Contacting the bajaj customer care did the job finally. Now its almost as good as new. Will maintain it in this condition only

Perhaps old vehicles are better than the vehicles we see these days? My dad has a lml vespa nv which is nearly 25 years old. As far as he can remember, he's replaced the tyres once, spark plug a couple of times and the headlight once :P He always cleans it himself. Has never seen the door of a mechanic in many years . Always starts at the first kick. Returns a fuel economy of 35-38kmpl . Top-speed when i last tested ( my dad's top speed is 85kmph) was 100kmph. Seems too good to be true right? Vehicles these days are so complicated and have to be pampered .

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

Installing a K&N filter is not as simple as the manual says, you still need to tune/upjet it. I think your main jets were clogged due to bad quality fuel, that's why your bike started dying when you take it above 5K RPM. And again when you installed K&N filter without tuning properly, your bike become lean and with wrong grade of engine oil, the problem worsened.

Speaking of bad experience at Bajaj ASC, Bajaj is not known for great after sales support. Maybe you should have reported the matter to Bajaj support earlier instead of taking it to local mechanics. I'd advise you to learn basic maintenance such as, chain cleaning and adjusting, changing engine oil, cleaning air filter, cleaning spark plug, servicing the brakes etc. that way you would not have to deal with dumb local mechanics and annoying ASC for simple maintenance. The Do it Yourself! section here is a great place to start learning basic maintenance. Also I'd suggest that you get the centrifugal filter cleaned during the next service, somehow I get the feeling that it was never cleaned before, make sure they use a new gasket while reassembling.

About old products being more reliable, the KISS theory applies. The old products were designed with reliability and simplicity in mind. For example, my old bicycle from the 70s have ran really good for over 40 years without requiring any major repairs. And I know of people who buy modern bicycles with better performance and features and needed to fix some small problems in a couple of months after purchase. My old bicycle can't match the performance and comfort of those newer bicycles but with simple all steel construction (Seriously, the only non steel parts on that bicycle are saddle, handlebar grip, brake shoes and of course tires) it can guarantee reliability for years. But with a little bit of maintenance those newer bicycles would easily overtake mine on the road.
Likewise your dad's Vespa had its own share of niggles too, you just forgot it as it gained the status of a family member by being with you for so long. I'm sure it had more tire changes than just once. Ask yourself, would you be happy with the performance of a Vespa now-a-days with all those performance bikes around. Just take good care of your Pulsar and it would serve you many more years. Remember, no more local mechanics.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

I did 151mph on stock p180 ug4 a lily bit downhill too to support me with stock settings n speedo...... That mmeans i actually did 135-137kmph.... :-) BDW it has never given problems like above stated......

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Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

Xbhpians! Please help me with these queries.
1)Has anyone used a 55/60 w bulb on a p180 ? Please share ur experiences as im planning to replace the 35/35w bulb in my p180 with the 55/60w bulb from a p220s.
2)Is the illumination with the 55/60 w bulb as good as in p220? Or is it better than the regular 35/35w ones?
3)Has anyone faced any problems using a 55/60 w bulb? (like the battery draining out sooner)
4)Please enlighten me about the High Intensity Discharge lamps- its advantages, disadvantages, cost and alterations that need to be done in installing them.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

A 55/60 bulb won't do any good as the power is only 35w in P180, You can get a good Phillips 55w bulb and change the stator of P180 to that of Avenger, it's a direct fit and will generate enough power for the 55w bulb, however you may need to change the wiring too so they can withstand the extra load, not sure if it's needed though. P220 has a projector so the light is thrown better at low beam in P220. As I said before if you upgrade to 55w without using the stator of Avenger battery would drain sooner.

HIDs are different thing, costs more and are cop magnet. That being said, a 35w HID would produce more visible light than a 55w halogen. Installing HIDs need no modification as your bike is already DC. You can get a projector to get better throw but that would cost more and installing a projector properly is not something your average mechanic would be able to do.

You can go for 35w HID in 3000K color range, cops tend to think it's 100w halogen, 4300K is ideal color but that attracts cops like flies to jaggery. You might lose the ability to flash your headlight if you go for Bi-Xenon HID setup.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

I am planning to do a short trip of around 150-200 kms on my pulsar 180 ug IV tomorrow. I'll be riding with a pillion. I'm taking the SH17 (mysore to bangalore) . What speed should I maintain on the journey to get the best economy? Considering the history of my bike, would it be alright if i do this trip at an average speed of 80-90kmph? I would be grateful to tips

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

You can go at 60-70Kmph, you seem to be pretty unlucky with the bike , Just forget about the speed as 200Kmph is not that much distance to care about maintaining a steady speed.
Just go with the flow. Pulsars give best economy around 45-60 zone but depends on your riding habits.
Well, we ripped a heavily abused Xtreme yesterday and today around the city and it still gave decent FE of around 50KMPL and not a single failure, we too are unlucky with that bike. I had to ride as a pillion as my left wrist was fractured today at college but I myself rode (read abused) it yesterday.

I say do whatever your heart says, if failure occurs, face them with a big grin on your face.

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

Firstly, I'd like to know if you run-in the machine properly (regardless of what the manual says)? If yes, then you've been sold a lemon engine which is taking both the mechanics and you on a tizzy. The K&N also could be a contributing factor to the problem if it allowed particle dust inside and the walls of the cylinder got scratched at high RPM. It somehow sounds like an abused or a lemon engine to me. When the engine or one of its components like the valves or the cams get damaged, its bound to put pressure on other components... you'd be able to get a fair difference by playing with the diaphragm due to change in fuel/air mixture but the problem will still persist if not worsen. You didn't mention the recommended oil grade for the bike? Anyway if you still want to salvage it, take it to a big, recommended Bajaj service station - don't tell them symptoms... just say that you want them to take the engine unit out to thoroughly check the cams, valves, spark plug inlets, cylinder walls, piston head and piston rings for any marks, scratches, dents and irregularities... if they go on and to this, by now they'd probably recommend a re-bore and some engine parts replacement... which gets me to the question... Do you have any engine warranty? My cbr came with a 5 year extended for the engine. You should take that before you approach the mechs for engine checkup if you have it. Otherwise, just sell the lemon if you think you've already spent too much and get a new one...

Re: pulsar 180 woes and 2 year report

No wonder your bike's engine gets screwed so often!