You can't see them? May be your office has blocked external image hosting websites.

@Vinal:
Q1. Whats the issue you are facing with saddle bags? Its fits and stays there pretty well on mine?

Q2. Why do you want to buy complete new shocks? I hope you have got the gas re-charged at every 10K kms?

Q3. I did not get the logic of the change in height of the tyre based upon its width.

AWESOME SIR! Gr8 to see 3 P220s. And the roads!!! WOW...you guys had some fun man!! Conmgrats

The way vinal has calculated is the way side-profile of the tire is calculated. So putting a 110/90 tire will raise the rear by a very small bit from a 120/80.

6000 Kms. Status.

The bike has completed 6000kms as of today. I did a small check of the bike plus a lovely wash . A small review of the P220 from my part. There are a few comparos in this review, but it is totally my personal view, and is not intended to influence anyone or change someone's opinion. I am sorry in advance if I hurt anyone's feelings towards their respective machines.

Now, how I got to decide to a P220? My options were P220, wait for the soon to be launched R15, and go for the trusty old ZMA. ZMA was never my cup of tea. It had a good engine, very smooth. It had a great seating position. The pulsar block will never be as silky smooth as the ZMA block. But it was getting too old. The engine didn't have the poke for a 223cc and would not feel hurried even if I twisted the throttle. It had this ever-relaxed feeling. I needed something that gave me that burst of speed instantly when I wanted it, and was subtle enough to putter around city traffic in low gears as well. This way, the P220 was a bit better in almost every department than a ZMA, just maybe the seats being better in the ZMA, seating position as well.

Yamaha had always made brilliantly smooth engines, and at that point, Gladiator, the best bike by Yamaha India had a very good mill. The R15, frankly, is a miniature sports bike. I had no doubts that this bike was going to be a fast, stunning bike loaded with technically superior features. I had already comprehensively read most reviews of the R125 and CBR 150, which are already very fast machines, and expected R15 to be faster. It hadn't released at the time, but going by the reviews of the bike, which was already tested in some mags at that point of time, I never felt it was the thing I was looking for. Skinny looking tires (though they work extremely well!), foolishly designed, stupid posterior which even R15 owners complain about, peaky engine, which has to be screamed for the horses to start galloping, were some of the negatives deterred me from buying it. It did have outstanding handling and went like stink past 6K rpm, but still was only as fast as a P220 on a straight line. I expected it to go much faster. It was "P220, lock kar diya jaye" after this.

Ever since I have laid my eyes on the P220, I have been a fan of its road presence. It has always been a great looking bike, but after looking at a co-member's silver/black combo 220, I went stark-raving mad. As soon as I completed the run-in period of the bike, with the help of a PBK person, I painted the silver aluminium parts black. I have never had a single overheating issue, oil leaking issue on the bike. Contrary to what most P220 users had complained about, I never had the squeaking rear disc pads.

I have been getting an average of 38 kmpl in the city with this bike. After the trip to Horseley Hills last week, I topped up fuel today, and this time it gave me a mileage of a whopping 45.xx kmpl!! Mighty impressive, if I may say so.

The lights of this bike is worth mentioning, because I had not realized it until the last trip to HH Hills. They provide brilliant illumination, noteworthy of saying the best in any Indian bike by far. Projectors are definitely the way ahead for biking scenario in India.

The FI system has never given any problems; it has been incident free since purchase. It also means a controlled fuel flow, extinction of cold start problems, and also a very good throttle response.

The tires are good, way better compared to a P150/180. They provide good traction. But the definition of good traction has changed, I guess, after the release of the R15 and those MRFs.

This pulsar was a completely different experience from the last pulsar (180 V2). The last one was more of a thrash'em bike. It begged to be ripped. This acts a bit differently. The throttle is much smoother, the exhaust note is a bit thumpier and heavier, and it wants to be treated with a bit of a subtlety. The power band is very linear and has a good, torquey feel. The engine vibes was still there, especially after 7K till limit, until I made the switch to fully synthetic 300V around 2K kms back. It is amazing sometimes when such a small switch can result in something which is clearly different. The engine definitely sounded more subtle after 7K than before. Also, the gears feel more lighter. Still a "thud" sound though while changing, but less effort required than before.

On a ride with John, krishna, reuterian (amit), Nithin, Mibhin and others, I had managed to reach top speed of 137 kmph speedo read on the NICE road stretch, but damn, the RVMs were unfolded. I am pretty sure I could have reached atleast 2 or 3 kmph more, maybe even 140 kmph on the speedo.

The parking lot scratches, trips to SP Road, National Market and outdoor parking has meant that I already have some small scratches here and there. Small trips to Khivraj for cleaning the air filter immediately after service because they didn't clean it properly, fairing vibration are small niggles that I think almost every P220 owner has faced. But besides that, there has been a couple of incidents with my bike that is worthy of sharing. The dreaded ECU 3.9 incident when the bike refused to start on the middle of Marathalli Road towards office. A loose battery connection resulted in this, and during that time, I didn't know what was wrong. Thankfully, Bajaj breakdown service, responded within an hour (I don't know how they managed to come so fast in that crazy traffic time on a Boxer!) and problem was solved. Another one was when I rode into a huge pothole. No wait. Make that a crater! Yeah, that's what it was. During the Back from the Dead G2G in Bangalore, on towards CCD, I managed to ride into this crater. Immediately, I realized the rim was bent, because the tire was flat immediately after that impact. The rear tire, swingarm was okay though. Thanks to xBhp members there, I was directed to Auto Service where I replaced the rim under warranty.

All in all, I am a very satisfied biker thanks to the P220...

Whew! I'm not used to writing such long stuff...I hope I did not miss anything

I have'nt used saddle bags extensively. Just did two rides on borrowed saddlebags. Dint face any issues, but can't do much of bending/leaning with them.
The paint was bound to have run off. When using saddlebags, you should have put scotch tape around the point-of-contacts.

AS doesnt have stock of the gas refills for quite sometime now, I've been waiting for it for more than 4K kms now.

I din't know that funda for the tyre sizes. Thanks!

I guess I'll stick with Vyde only then!


@Pranay: Nice ownership report there! See your engine response post the 10K kms service. The bike's a rocket after that, provided the svc guys don't screwup the tuning.

I wonder when I will write a ownership report!

@prafultripathy - I tried some tape when I did Yana ride, belive me, what I saw was both the Tape and the paint had gone.. The main issue is, on 220 the saddle bag sits a bit diff from others, the soft part dont come in contact.. Also the rear tier throws a lot of mud which is cought in between bag and the pannel.. Which grinds off the paint

So there is no other go .. I have to change the shocks

Hmm.. Its now VYOE or Sirac for me

No,it hasn't.
And by the way,quite a nice ride report.It has swayed my opinion towards P220 now.Let's see what I get.

Hold On! Wait for Honda's launch....if its either of CBR 125/150 you have a better machine in your hands!

I always put 3-4 layers of scotch tape (along with a muslin cloth on the rear seat) where the contact is the most and no problems at all.

I am sorry but I don't like the looks of the CBR150.However if Honda decides to upgrade the styling and it turns out to be a looker then maybe.As a Honda/Yamaha fan nothing would please me better.
In any case,I will be getting the bike in early 2009 so I think till then we will have better 200FI/220.Then there's some killer machine from TVS. Not to mention Yamaha may suddenly decide to do a Gladiator 165.
Lots of options for me.

P.S.: I am wishing to God,that Yamaha does a Gladiator 165. I will sell my kidneys to get her.

You like the styling of the 220 over the CBR!!!

Btw, the rumoured TVS menace is supposed to be coming out soon.

Yup.P220 looks better than this in my opinion.

Yes, I was prepared for difference in opinion. Well, I've ridden a gladiator, the new one. It was pretty smooth if you ask me. And I think every since the YBX, enticer, the Yamaha mills were very good, even with only four gears and 125 cee cees.

Well, I'm glad if my report helped you in any way.!

I definitely agree.

@Praful: Man, CBR 150cc looks hideous.!!! I think you meant the CBR 125. Now, that looks like a miniature fireblade. Also, it goes like stink (140 kmph) !!

CBR 125 top speed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ff0Rjo2J0

CBR 150 top speed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0IjoZCwotY