As predicted

As I see chances of this deal becoming a reality is more as the top players right now(in no order)
Hero, Bajaj, Honda, TVS have a tech partner or are in process of getting one. Only TVS is without one ergo BMW has to enter on its own or strike a deal with TVS.

I was with you till the bold part. TVS rtr chassis was good, not as great as r15 but the best after that. But no pulsar chassis till date comes close to the way an rtr corners inspite of its achilles heel (literally) - the tvs tyres.

if you want proof go to kari motorway or mmsc track, check out when the local race boys/mechs go out for their racing - you would hardly find a pulsar in a field dominated by apaches, fieros, unicorns and CBZs. I would be laughed out of the district if i told them to race a pulsar.

I am a TVS fan boy, but have always appreciated bajaj for being the leader when it came to providing the junta with the stuff. Alloy wheels, disc brakes as stadard, digital meters, backlit switches, nitrox suspension, oil cooler, led lights, projector lamps - its a terrific list!

That said, TVS has a lot to learn from BMW - LC engines, fi engines, new frames, monoshocks, USD forks etc and BMW can leverage on TVS' tight manufacturing processes, their minimal production losses and their experience on the indian track. Heck they also can make use of the Indonesian factory of TVS. Also a pretty strong dealership network.

For us all we think of is how fast a bike goes, how it corners, does it have an lcd tacho whatever. But only when we understand a bike development cycle - from the business need, to R&D, to testing, to personnel training, to production and continuous improvement to both machine and process can we fathom how incredible the machine we ride is. And this entire process is what is appreciated by another company - competitor or possible partner.

I would love to see 200 -300 cc tvs bikes with some fantastic tech inputs from bmw/husqvarna. But the exhaust should be handled only by the TVS boffins who simply create the best sounding 4 stroke exhausts (victor, centra, fiero, rtr fi)

cheers!
sai

Its an accpted fact that the 1st Gen Pulsars did not love cornering. But in 2012 the Pulsar 200NS with its Perimeter frame changes everything.. its an awesome handler. Even the Pulsar 135LS is a sweet handler.


Same here

That's the only puzzling part of this deal, coz BMW doesn't have any experience with small engines unlike KTM. So, it's really interesting to see what TVS gets & what BMW is looking for out of this deal.

As for Pulsar's handling, P135LS was the first product that changed it all. P200NS takes it to next level. I won't be surprised if P200NS comes out on top in a race with R15. Excellent handling coupled with extra power will certainly help P200NS exit each corner a lot faster than R15.

This is where Husqvarna comes in

I take my words back on the handling wrt to the 200 NS, I meant all pulsars produced till date (1st gen, dtsi, fear the black, 220fi, 220 carb) except the new NS. Also, I personally am not convinced about the 135LS.

cheers!
sai

Cool, so the tie-up would be with Husqvarna brand rather than BMW.

@Sai, may be you can ride one to convince yourself, it's a sharp handling bike (atleast for the city traffic).

Handling dont always means cornering...the cbr250 doesn't corner well so what it makes up in straight line stability... Pulsars always had an advantage over apache in highway cruising and high speed stability... Bajaj never made the pulsars for race track they perform best where they need to perform...ie city roads and cofortable cruising...pulsars are good offroaders too... Take a rtr over 110-120 and it tends to fly...horribly unstable.... Pulsars are cheap, very reliable, anywhere service and extreamely fuel efficient... A rtr160 gives same mileage that of a pulsar 180 and a rtr180 gives same mileage that of a 220... Yes rtr have a very good chasis..they are meant to be ridden at a track and they do it better than pulsars... Rtr perform better than pulsars of the same cc just because lighter weight and hard compound tires which doesn't grip and therefore very low rolling resistance... One more thing apaches have very short gearing which makes us feel that it is very powerful... People who say apaches ar fuel efficient are just hardcore apache fans... Even with 10 kilos lighter and gripless tires return poor fuel efficiency majority around 38...very rarely people get above 40...there are a lot of apaches returning 30kmpl... The pulsar 180 returns average of 42 and lowest of 39-40..riding sanely it goes upto 45 that too with very gud tires, which is soft compound, fatter and the bike 10 kilor heavier.... I simply wish if a pulsar 180 engine could be fitted on a rtr180 chasis...that thing could smoke a stock apache anyday... Put a 120/80 zapper c at the rear of a rtr and the bike simply becomes slow... So what i wanted to say is both bikes are different and should be treated the way they are meant to be... Recent pulsars have a robust engine...is very reliable and is an all rounder...pulsars itself are made to be allrounders unlike rtr, r15, duke which are purposebuilt...
The sale figure says it all man...
And tvs is trying to have just a tieup with bmw.... Hero made a tie-up with eric but what bajaj did is not a tieup... Bajaj OWNS ktm...
And no offence to anyone but apache and pulsars both perform best what they are meant to be...

I cannot agree more with you but I am not sure about what you said regarding fitting a Bajaj 180 engine to RTR chassis and it making wonders.
Ones who are more concerned about the fun of riding go for RTR
and the others who are highway tourers go for Pulsar's.

Seriously?? Dude,its clear that you are not a fan of Short Stroke motor.You are more fan of refined long stroke,cruiser type engines. But an honet request,please dont change the RTR characteristics(by replacing the A180 with P180 engine)... ..It was the only reason I bought my RTR.
And about milage,yes,you are right,my friend's P180 shows more milage than mine.(mine is around 40-42 and his is 43-45)and we rip our bikes almost alike...
And while talking about performance,you are forgetting the 0-60 and 0-100 timings...

hehe man that engine swap part was for fun... dont mind... I do love short stroke...i am a huge fan of the duke...actually i was talking about the overall practicality of the two engines.... And man the rtr accelerates that fast because of that 46 rear sprocket and i think 13 front....coupled with light weight, thinner and hard compound tyres ever try fitting a 14/39 sprocket combination on an rtr180... See how it goes... just the fact man... If the rtr was 10 kgs heavier like the p180 and had the same tyres and sprockets as the pulsars then it would have been a completely different story(other than cornering)... one thing i have experience of is riding a p180 ug4 of my friend who runs a 14/47 spocket with extra chain linkage....and i wont say the accelaration part...guess it yourself... He is a very irresponsible rider though

I Can Relate this to Nokia vs Sony Ericsson in late 10s & HTC vs Samsung in todays era



There are nothing Like which Brand produces better quality its always about Customers.... & yes if there are more user for a "X" brand that doesnt make it better brand too [Ex:- Hayabusa, BMW & Ninja's (Very Less no. of User Own this)]

From 2001 - 2012 Pulsar hasn't produced a Big Change in there Pulsar "Brand" (Except today's NS)... they are more or less just a few changover from 150 to 180, 180-200, so on.. But they were Cheap & completly towards General Indian Public where as Apache did lots of R&D & Personal Testings, they were focused towards Sporty, Modern Look with Latest different technologies...

What I always felt was "Pulsar is majorly for General Public as but Apache is majorly for Bike Enthusiastic "

Apache in hand of idiot is disguise

Self answered post ^ "IF" there

"If Sky was Red & Sun Was Blue" Alas its not bro

The only problem with the above comment is, "How does one define an Enthusiast?"

The RTR was an awesome product when it was launched in 2007.. but in 2012 there are a hell lot of excellent choices for the "enthusiast".

Completely agreed,

As I always say's all bikes are for purpose its about User!!! what is there requirement is, what type of style they get attracted towards & what they want from there bike...

and to add more on my last statement, I didnt meant RTR is only option for Enthusiastic...

There goes Price, Quality, Performance, Style & diff. Subjects, but the fact is you cannot have all in one "BIKE or in one BOX"