GS is certainly gaining popularity as i am also seeing lot of GS in my area.

Waiting period has shorten up, now the showrooms have the availablity of bikes

Bajaj have not revealed engine details like bore and stroke size. But it is known that the p220 is just an overbored p150. Bajaj made the bore and piston bigger, but the rest of the engine (connecting rod, crankshaft, etc.) is of p150. This helps in increasing power without increasing engine weight, but this is not good for durability. The p220 has an oversquare engine, meaning bore is bigger than stroke. Oversquare engines offer instantaneous power and pickup, and they operate at higher rpms. But peak torque also comes late @ higher rpms. Peak torque @ lower rpms means fewer gear changes and better pulling, especially noticeable with pillion.

Similarly, the RTR160 and RTR180 too have oversquare engines, but the RTR180 is much more reliable than RTR160, because it has a longer stroke compared to RTR160.

The Sz, Fz16, Unicorn, Hunk, CbZ, Dazzler, and Gs150r all have square engines, meaning bore and stroke are equal or almost equal. This is the ideal balance between power and torque and are more durable.

Bikes like Bullet are undersquared, meaning bore is smaller than stroke. Such bikes more durable as they have higher torque at lower rpms. But dont expect instantaneous power delivery from such bikes.

Also, you can find power-to-weight ratios here: Comparison of the Power to Weight Ratios of Motorcycles of India: 2011 | Bike Chronicles of India

The p220 has high power-to-weight ratio. RTR180, Fz16, Dazzler have good power-to-weight ratio, but you might them to be small in size.

While Unicorn, Hunk, CBZ and Gs150r are heavier and bigger in size, their power-to-weight ratio is a bit less. In fact, you might find all 150cc under-powered, considering that you have been riding a P220.

If budget is not a problem, why dont you consider CBR250 or else Karizma R which will match p220 for size, or else step down to RTR180 or any of the other bigger 150ccs or you can wait for kTM or the new pulsars, which will be revealed next month.

It is not just the engine power you need to consider. You also need to consider torque and the practicality of the bike. You need to consider seating posture and footpeg placement; does it suit you? Monosuspension or dual rear suspension? Monosuspension offers better handling and easy turnability. Dual rear suspension offers better comfort for both rider and pillion. Thats why cruisers like Harleys still come with dual rear suspension.

Styling aside, does the bike have the features you are looking for? Features like fuel-injection, monosuspension, kickstart, rear disk, faring, digital speedo, 6th gear overdrive, full/half chain case, pillion seat height/comfort, and even saree guard is required by many. Pick the one that has the features which are important to you.

@sparkot: Admirable use of your sig. Thumbs up.

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So, has anyone worked on their suspension? Front specifically? Experimented with fork oil level? Tried combinations of stiffness\softness in the front and rear suspnsions?

After my crash and repairing the fork bend, my front braking isnt as effective as it used to be and I run wide into corners because the bike just cant take sharp lines as well as it used to. Im unable to test things out at my SC due to lack of time. But I suspect my front suspension is set too stiff.

Any advice?

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@antonysg: Not necessarily. Short stroke motors are seen to be more durable than long stroke ones at the same rpm. Thats because the piston and associated moving parts of a short stroke motor needs to travel less stroke distance per revolution than in a longer stroke mill. This implies less frictional wear per stroke.

tyre-stabiliy problem

Has a near miss situation, as our roads r filled with idiots. i was going at around 50km/hr in a semi wet road and tyres and two ladies crossed the road underestimating my speed. i applied the rear brakes instantly (not even hard). the rear tyre locked up and moved sidewards and i could stop it without falling down.

But after that the rear tyre is not at all stable and it slipping on the road more often . it is going in a zig zag manner. i checked pressure it was normal. and there were no signs of wheel bend or excessive wear out.
the tyre is only 2500 km old .

so should i remove the tyre off rim and fix it again??

now i understand the disadvantage of a silent bike. people always underestimate that i m idling when i would be speeding and cross the road

Check if tire was fixed in reverse way

* Arrow Mark ====> on the tyre should face the tire normal rotating direction

@antonysg piston, bore rings are all in round shape but we call it as over square / square and under square

Commenting here after a long time...

@newfan:The tyre skidding issue that you mentioned here is common on all mrf zappers on wet roads.Its not actually the bike's problem.AFAIK many 150cc bikes have mrf zappers.

Don't panic if you happen to apply brakes under those situation.Then use both brakes effectively and it will stop in no time.Keep your body and hands firm while braking to avoid skidding.

Thank you antonysg for the detailed post.The fact is that i really like riding the p220 and like it's brisk acceleration and sporty riding posture.But my particular bike has been very problematic for me and add to that the hopeless bajaj service in my area.I feel that it has too many complicated parts and has more chances of components failing.I have been to the service center so many times to get things fixed for my 220 and i have owned several bikes before and none of them have given me so much trouble.May be my bike is a defective piece and i just got unlucky there.

I really like to have a bike with rear set foot pegs,monoshock and kick start lever which is a must for me(once had a bad experience when the 220's starter relay was damaged and was unable to start the bike and the bike was just months old then) but it seems only the Yamaha FZ has all these features but i have learned that it gives lesser fuel average and is not that great in performance.Since i have owned an apache before, the A180 is not on my list.So it seems that GS is the only option and i will try to live with the lesser power and lack of rear sets.Also the budget is a bit tight to consider bikes like r15 and CBR.

Is there any other bike that you guys can recommend me?.I will have to gather money from the sale of the 220 to buy my next bike and i am expecting 68-70k for the bike.It has run close to 7000 kms and was purchased in Dec 2010.Is the price reasonable?.

Honda UNICORN (not Dazzler)

Need not be over bothered about the power to weight (more HP to carry a specific weight) ratio as its main effect is on the acceleration of the vehicle. It is true that the bike with high power to weight ratio accelerates quickly but we are not using GS in racing tracks.

the tyres are fixed in a correct direction
but the problem is that its not at all stable while riding after that heavy lock up.

take a look @pulsar 135.it has great 4valve engine 13.5 bhp ...clipon handle bar... 12 v full dc headlight... sporty sitting ...kick start option...and all features you will miss when you part with your 220.closest will be pulsar 135 and it should be just what you are looking for.

Dazzler is closer to that most critical power to weight ratio line than the CB Unicorn. Let us await next revelation.


Slightly loosen the rear brake adjusting nut and apply both brakes simultaneously. While braking, try to keep the bike in a straight line.



All other 4 stroke bikes do have 3 valves!! Some are using candlestick as headlight.

The stock mrf tyres are the worst tyres for our GS. If riding in wet road or in slight gravel too , don't even think of applying rear brake or even the front bake. Metro work is going on in my city, and i have multiple terrible experiences falling off my bike due to gravel or semi wet roads. Front brakes in gravel road is an instant fall from the bike. I am planning for a tyre change after a while may be going to get ceat vertigo tubeless..

where is the XTP sticker? Its missing in the GS refresh or they have removed the throttle position sensor system itself?

Used Motorcycle Evaluation Guide

Motorcycle Repair Course

Also read about Piston rings; an extra piston ring doesn't make any sense;
it only means
1. bore has been changed and can't be handled with existing piston rings.. => nonsense
2. otherwise, there is problem with existing piston rings design, they're incomplete => nonsense