Since the MOD has allowed this post to stay, here is my response.

About reliability, I feel that Bajaj bikes somehow gets bashed and are branded as unreliable on these forums. I feel Bajaj bikes are ALMOST as reliable as other brands. Personally speaking, my 7 yrs old P150 has displayed solid reliability all these years.

Now, regarding the pleasure part, it is for the rider to determine. An example - while you may find the refined Unicorn immensely pleasurable, I find the Uni TOO refined while lacking grunt. In other words, P150 would be my choice anyday over the Uni. Similarly P220 over Zma.

So, not everyone prefers the same characteristics from a bike. I respect your choice. You should respect other's choice too. We buy Bajaj bikes not because it is a Bajaj, but because it offers us something pleasurable and superior compared to its competitors. Please understand that. Everyone has different priorities. And I would not like to respond further on this topic in this thread.

[B][I][COLOR=sienna]
Pulsar 220 dtsi for 70K ????
Sounds Ugly and mischivious....
The present onroad price of 180 pulsar is 73 k
n wwhats this 220 ex-showroom for 70K ???
this media guys doesn't have a better work to do or seriously bajaj needs a better popularity strategy "

Well said,and point made!

@inder.cool
yea i no its kinda strange but if i dont put that money on a bike then my brother would force me 2 buy me sm other bike wich is readily available, since he wouldnt want me to keep this lumsome amount wid myself..and regarding the bike, if suposingly the bike doesnt stand upto the mark then u can cancel the booking right? And r15 is always available and its also my 2nd favrite..
And also thanks to inflamable for encouraging me, o yea in this thread it waz only his post wich i use 2 read twice and word by word

Well the existing Pulsar 220 is as reliable as it should be "
have seen it many of my friends using it"
i like the musculine and agressive design of the bike "
have manning to unfold the super power "
watchout for the next "

Tell me guys, which company is hell bent on giving us performance at lower costs? Its certainly not Yamaha! Not Honda!
But Bajaj it is!
It is only because of Bajaj that other manufacturers are repeatedly shaken and coaxed into making better bikes!

you too have sadly assumed, that i am a unicorn fan and a bajaj/pulsar hater. too bad.

fwiw, i would anytime prefer the bajaj over the unicorn only for the simple reason that i find the unicorn very bland and unexciting. but that does not mean i am going to accept that both bikes are equal on an engineering level. i am not going to casually discount honda's engineering expertise. we need to be more objective than that. indian manufacturers, Bajaj AND TVS, have a long way to go yet. no kind of spin is going to deter from that fact. but they are improving rapidly and making great gains in the area and i'll be the first to acknowledge that as well.

which is why, i also feel that FI was a huge technological step forward for both TVS and Bajaj, and it'll be sad if they ditch it.

OT, Apart from classic CBZ, the first gen P180 is the only bike I have deep respect for. It was by an manufacturer unkown for fast bikes, whose first test rig engine had failed within a few minutes of first testing but was later perfected to born in classic P180 avatar. A bike oriented only for performance.

Not to fuel any war, I also give some facts:

(i) ZMA have one of the heaviest crankshaft, not suitable for performance;
(ii) Its stroke is one of the longest, even longer than many of 250cc bikes in the world and close to 450cc bikes;
(iii) the engine is primarily designed for dirt course use; only in India it is available as a raod machine;
(iv) Indian version is further detuned;
(v) Specific power output is medium; hence no need of LC or oil cooler;
(vi) Is a reliable, fuss-free fast commuter/tourer in India;
(vii) Reliable and fuss-free is also Maruti 800, though not fast;
(viii) Does Maruti 800 has contributed in any way to Car-ism in India in a way the original Maruti Zen, Ford Ikon 1.6 or Maruti Swift have done except giving access to lakhs and lakhs of population to car? No.
(ix) People still buying ZMA, are buying it either for its trait of fuss-freeness or their disinterest towards absence of any adreline-rushing behaviour?
(ix) draw your own conclusion reg. ZMA.

OTOH,
(a) P220 is the most upmarket performance-oriented Product;
(b) Is not that much fuss-free but a reliable bike which has no meaning for a fast commuter, and does not bother a true biker.
(c) Owned by either a true biker or a rash rougue hooligan (parden me ).
(d) With things like FI and digital displays etc. has some technology also, whether needed or not, is debatable?

PS: Nowadays, I also see el-cheapo kinda of persons riding ZMA and doing tripling or four-on-the-one sort of voyage.

And please no Brand war . I have not mentioned any brand name here except that of Maruti & Ford .

i believe points 1 and 2 are what make it an effortless cruiser / tourer. long stroke engines are basically suited for cruiser / tourer duties. low revving engine with decent grunt. If there are people in this country who believe its a "perfromance bike" and ride it as such, you can hardly fault the manufacturer for that.

Maruti 800 set the ball rolling in this country for the automobile revolution,or we would have still been on Premier Padminis and Ambassadors. The quality, manufacturing and service level revolution the MAruti 800 heralded was unprecedented. it brought a whole new paradigm into a stagnant industry and jumpstarted it. If you are stating that the 800 has not contributed to the 4 wheeler landscape of India as it is today, then thats the very first, and I believe, also the last time I have ever heard that.

i do not know if your opinion is because you were not around at the time the 800 hit india, or maybe you were too young at the time to realise its significance. if my assumption is wrong, i apologise in advance. your mention of the zen and the ikon 1.6 suggests so. while these are fantastic cars, no doubt, its incorrect to not give the 800 its rightful due.

Talk about component failures,being the 7th 200 to be booked in bangalore half of my bike was replaced new, none of them because of failures for me though. The silencer,suspension, starter motor, relay,switches for the starter and a few more.

The FI unit is pretty expensive, I would not be surprised to see a 10k cut in the 220 carb. Like payeng pointed out, 15k extra for Fi Stunner.

Read between the lines carefully.

Why cribbing and "Why so serious"?

A very pessimistic opinion though. Whom to blame, Indian businessmen, netas or people like us who continue to purchase whatever is served to us. Though recently, we showed a keen acute logical behaviour while first rejecting the Dual Fuel Civic and then lapping it up when price reduced drastically.

Some are here also on this forum also.

Ok you guys are going way off-topic now.I'm not touching any post which is already posted in this thread but from now on every OT post will see the door.

i doubt if the tone of my posts can be termed as "cribbing". serious, perhaps yes. i take a little time and thought before i post, so it may come off as serious. but all that is, is that i enjoy a clean healthy discussion.

i don't understand what it is you want me to look for between the lines. i was speaking of the Maruti 800, and its contribution to the indian automotive scene. i don't want to get into the Swift or other car models here.

i use no bad language, no taunts, no flaming, no smileys, no emoticons. i have succeeded in getting labelled as a bajaj hater, and now a cribber.

i was just having a decent discussion, or so i thought.

MODS:
this is my last post on that discussion. future posts will only be on new 220.

Dude its because of manufacturer's quoting we are crying aloud here, Have u never come across stickers on ZMA?? Premium sports???
Is an undersquare low revving detuned engine is what they categorise into premium sports segment??? why dont they put premium tourer sticker on it??

Coming to topic, when the free service camp of pulsar was here in last month, I spoke to the marketing head who was present there and he was telling that there will be an affordable Carbed 220 within next month, When asked about the performance figures he was tight lipped but he let out a word that it'll be a better performer compared to the present 220. So another 4 days to go, lets see what the Hardcore bajaj engineers have done for us

completely agree. lousy and probably misleading positioning. but then marketing wise, i have never expected any better from hero honda.

coming back to topic, is it possible to start a poll on how many believe that bajaj must retain the FI on the new 220 vs. how many are okay with a carbed 220 ?? i'm very curious to know how that pans out.