2009 Bajaj Pulsar 220 Discussion Thread - First Ride Impression at Post No. 514

[Rajat Bhanti]

I guess no one is getting my point.. I know good set of tire can make a difference.. What i intended was tyre change alone cant better the handling
Last post from my side regarding this.. going too much OT

You are right upto some extent but what i hv felled and what i have seen the article in the Magazines all of them hv also said this thing which i want to convey over here

[Rajat Bhanti]

While tyres do play an important part in handling, its not the be all and end all of it. Frame, suspension are the other important things that come into picture when talking about handling.

Tyres seem to have improved in the newer iteration of the 220 and hence offer much more confidence than before.

Suspension seems to have been tweaked and made stiffer and hence slight improvement even there.

Frame still remains the same and so the backbone of the handling department is still weak.

I agree with Mithun about the point that Mags are going overboard and constantly comparing it with the "Yamaha". To achieve what Yamaha has done with the handling of the R15 will still take Bajaj a few years to catch up (if it ever does!).

But, the fact remains that the newer iteration of the 220 handles a lot better than its older sibling, ofcourse it would be stupid to say it handles better than the 15. But, it has to be tested by people and not mags on the road and track to really feel if there has been any significant improvement.

My gut feeling says that, while there have been multi-level improvements from tyres, suspension to rake angle of the front forks which definitely are boosting one's confidence while taking a corner. The superior feel of the 15's around a corner is something that would not comeby with these minor changes.

You are right brother that the backbone of the handling of the P220 is still weak it all that soft compound tyre made some difference.

[a.umesh]

wow.. PBH ppl called me up to select the bike from a lot..
i went there.. didn select any..
cause mr.ramesh said me, first 15bikes will be inspected under the supervision of A PUNE ENGINEER..

they also said, i'l be gettin this beast by monday(99%)..
if not, the next day..


EDIT: will it be really inspected by them?? P220 DTS-Fi owners, please let me know..
and is it good ta take bike from service place??
or from go-down??

[rahuldevnath]

Bangalore Update: Khivraj doesn't even have the price yet! And there's an assumed delivery time of 25 days atleast! But BTW what's up with Maharashtra? In Nagpur, bike is being delivered and I have already taken test ride.

[~=hotwheelz>]

Hello every1 ,, is there any1 here from mumbai,, if yes ,is p220dtsi available for TEST RIDE in Borivali branch of bajaj,,,, 'coz here in Mira road bajaj ppl donot deal in p220,, n are charging xtra 3k if u want 2 get delivered from them.

[payeng]

Bangalore Update: Khivraj doesn't even have the price yet! And there's an assumed delivery time of 25 days atleast! But BTW what's up with Maharashtra? In Nagpur, bike is being delivered and I have already taken test ride.

How about a review of your test ride then?

[Samarth 619]

Bangalore Update: Khivraj doesn't even have the price yet! And there's an assumed delivery time of 25 days atleast! But BTW what's up with Maharashtra? In Nagpur, bike is being delivered and I have already taken test ride.

Were there vibrations around the tank pad/ groin area?? I felt them at around 3 krpm or so during my ride ... and couldn't believe that was happening!

Bars and Pegs were silent though ...

[DarthVeda]

Bangalore Update: Khivraj doesn't even have the price yet! And there's an assumed delivery time of 25 days atleast! But BTW what's up with Maharashtra? In Nagpur, bike is being delivered and I have already taken test ride.

RTO clearance expected monday, 4 black p220 are already there in showroom.

[antz.bin]

RTO clearance expected monday, 4 black p220 are already there in showroom.

for Maharashtra or Karnataka?

[manohar_manu]

Were there vibrations around the tank pad/ groin area?? I felt them at around 3 krpm or so during my ride ... and couldn't believe that was happening!

Bars and Pegs were silent though ...

when i test rode it. There was no vibration anywhere in the bike.

RTO clearance expected monday, 4 black p220 are already there in showroom.

they said me the same when i called them today
anyone know, how can i reduce interest on loans? any idea?
bajaj allianz interest rate is above 9%

[antz.bin]

Math that i worked out.

when i test rode it. There was no vibration anywhere in the bike.



they said me the same when i called them today
anyone know, how can i reduce interest on loans? any idea?
bajaj allianz interest rate is above 9%

I found out that if you have a Citibank Credit Card and go for a personal loan against credit card, they charge 1.9% (monthly) interest on reducing balance. So for 6/9 month loan, it is much cheaper. Also processing charges are also 1.9%(+tax) as compared to 5%(+tax) on Bajaj Finance(10.99% annual interest rate).

Actual Figures: on Loan Amount of 40k
Comaprison Field Bajaj Finance Citibank Personal Loan
Months 12 12
Processing Charges 2030 780
EMI 3700 3705
Total Payment after 12 months 46430 45240

If you go in for a shorter period on Citibank CC Loan, you save more on the interest(as it is monthly reducing balance) and for Bajaj Finance it is Fixed rate.

Also, With personal loan, the vehicle remains in your name all the time, not in bank/finance company's name.

P.S.: Other Credit Card Companies may also charge similar interest on Cash Credit. And Sorry for the bad Formatting. Tried Real hard but cant get that 1 right.

[arunmur]

RTO clearance expected monday, 4 black p220 are already there in showroom.

One thing i noticed with the bike in Bangalore showroom is that the bike did not have black decals on the handles or the grab rails. Is this black decal optional ?

Made my booking for a grey one and Kiviraj says they have 40 deliveries this week.

Also any idea if it has a 26mm or a 28mm carb?

[jasmeetsinghchawla]

Black decals are only for Black, remaining colours get rest of the black treatment.

[Praful]

Also any idea if it has a 26mm or a 28mm carb?

32 mm

The all black styling is available in the black variant!

Welcome back...

[arunmur]

Had a test drive on Friday evening after taking half a day off at work. Been out of the country for a while and wanted to complete my long pending bike purchase as soon as my claims are settled.. Too much has changed since i first started my search. The market has changed and even my requirements. I originally wanted to replace my aging bike but now i want it for leisure. I had a soft corner for only the biggest of the Pulsars and absolutely loved it when i drove Praful's Bike on the Yercaud trip, the last trip on my retiring F2.

First thing i noticed was that the gearbox and clutch has gone eons ahead of the Pulsar likes. The clutch was smooth, progressive and light and the gears were non glitchy. Some of the things i used to hate with the Pulsars were its clutch and the front brakes. Sadly the front brakes are still bad, acts more or less like i want to kill the pillion at every red light.

Kiviraj only gave me a short drive around the block which was very crowded so never went above 40kmph. The good thing about this kind of drive was that i was mostly using the engine below 2.5k rpm. Pulsars traditionally have very bad low end grunt but this guy with a 220cc engine has just enough grunt at the low end. For me, a good low end torque makes driving the bike a lot easier in tight situations. The FI was a bit twitchy but had a superb low end grunt. Without the FI the P220 felt calmed/relaxed, there is enough torque every where in the band. The bike finally feels very smooth and controllable. Apart from that there were a lot of vibrations in the body pannels in the bike i drove though the tank, the foot pegs and the handlers transfered none. Most of the vibes were at the fairing and the rear end of the bike.

On the handling front, i will say its not a city bike. It kind of requires a lot more input for turns compared to other bikes like the ZMA or the RTR. Since i intend to mainly use it for long drives its fine. But the bike was stable at very low speeds and dosn't require too much work to keep it straight, turning is another matter though. Didn't get to test the rubber but at no point in the low speed strut i felt any intentions of skidding from them.

The brakes were decent, all Pulsars have reduced bite on the rear end to avoid skidding which is ok for the beginners but i have got used to controlled braking so low back brakes just means less control in some situations. The suspensions were quite smooth no harsh jerks on the driver.

The bad parts were that the fairing still felt flimsy, i believe it now only because none of the existing P220 owners reported it falling off. Apart from that there were still wires running all across under the fairing. Some oraganization here will make the bike look a lot more neat may be a more safe especially when you use high pressure washing and harsh rides(no loose contacts as the wires will be sitting mainly on the panels not hanging by the connectors).

The wide torque band, big physique and handling charecteristics makes this the best Street bike in the country. I loved the bike though i have big doubts on the service Probiking Bangalore can provide. Decided to take the risk as i have other modes of transportation now. I wanted to buy a FI bike this time but thanks to our experienced bike makers i think i have to wait atleast 2-3 years before getting a decent FI bike.

The Bajaj sales men were very pushy in terms of booking. one claimed that they have 500 bookings while other claimed 45 bookings, i believe the final bookings are like 20-25. They initially told me i needed to pay Rs.1000 minimum for booking i told i will come the next day but then they took booking for Rs.500. They were also ready to book for Rs.200. I booked the grey colored one, black is too boring. Hoping my first Pulsar ownership experiance is fun and eagerly waiting for the bike.

Any one else booked the bikes here?

@Praful: Thanks. 32mm is awesome.