But heard of few bookings in chennai. do one thing try for different city in cheenai...

Looks Like our friend Joe Antony has still not decided on the Kind of Bike he would want to go With... Like buddy Somen said..first finalize your segment.... a Commuter?? a Street Bike??? a Cruisier ??? or an offroader ??
Once you have decided then go for the test drives..
You cant have a Cruiser in ur Mind and go for the KTM Duke test Drive...
Happy Hunting Anyways Brotha...

I have heard many people say "The duke is not a worthy investment"..
[its on the ownership thread too.]
The 200NS is the bike thats tailor made for you.

@ thread starter - You know bullet cant cut through traffic and in off roading it would be pain if it goes down or you take a fall due to its weight.

200 Ns - its a new bike and its not tried and tested as its totally new and lasting a decade i doubt as the bajaj frames are doubtful.

Impulse - best bet for you as it will support your tall frame, constantly improved from the day its launched and hero has put really good efforts and is a traffic cruncher too. Less in maintenance as compared to KTM. And the relaible unicorn engine which is the best in pack of air cooled engines.

KTM - no doubt good bike with good features but again ninja owners say a not good story about bajaj pro biking service, so choice is yours.

True

Thanks for the input Sri, your points all make sense. I also more inclined toward Impulse as its proven fatigue free ride for tall fellas like me. I am just waiting to TS the 200NS, unless and until it convince me a 'love at first sight' I will drop it and go for Impulse. In chennai 200ns is still not available even for display .

non FI engine are not likely to get any issues!! But still you can wait and watch!!

Consider and TD Duke

If your budget permits you should definitely consider a KTM. If city riding is your first preference with a pinch of weekend leisure tours then Duke should always be on your list.

Also, I would like to tell you that RE is a different genre and creed. They are not built for city riding through traffic. Impulse is good but lacks on the power front. It's plus point is it can handle offroading to some extent. Haven't tested the 200ns so can't comment. However, it shared lot from the Duke platform, so must be a fair bike.

Bro, I must say that thread is maintained well with true facts. I can summarize the thread content in this way - Duke is a pure street-fighter with small niggles like chain noise and slackness, engine heating(though not much after some 1000 - 1500 Kms), seat stiffness and pillion un-comfort (can be reduced by a good padded seat cover).

And only one guy out of all owners in that thread had expressed his wish to sell the bike(not sure whether he sold it afterwards). So that doesn't count.

take a TD and then decide.

Bro, Duke gives some 35 - 38 Kmpl on average(city + highway). That's not bad for a 25 bhp machine. And Duke is made in India with parts that doesn't dig holes in your pocket. I changed the clutch/brake levers for 90 bucks and front mudguard for 700 bucks. Now please exclude the WP suspensions from the list as they are from a world renowned company and not manufactured locally.

IMO maintenance wise it's not very costly for Duke.

I am a Duke owner and a frequent contributor to the Duke ownership thread as well as other bike forums. Never heard this thing. Rather I am proud that I have made a good investment.

Bro, are you sure FI engines are more prone to issues??? Because, I have three of my friends who own three different FI bikes - Karizma ZMR, Apache RTR 160 FI and Glamor FI. All these bikes are some 2 - 3 years old and never had any issues. Everything depends on how you ride and maintain your bike.

Read again my friend, Carb engines are not something new that trial n error are needed ?? o any testings ???

I myself own one of the best bike till date R15 from past more than 2yrs.

And i am a big supporter of Fi and new technology!!

After bajaj's issues with P220Fi people initially wait and see, But I was sure that 200NS would pass with flying colors, becuase it's a Carb engine with new tech 3 spark, Bajaj is already a master in carb.

My friend, Duke is no doubt a best bike, But people will pay more 30k over NS only if they need other features which are there! Else 200NS doesn all job perfectly!! Anyways Duke is Duke and NS is NS very soon NS will capture the market! And NS average is quite impressive than Duke with a difference of 2bhp.

Comments in BOLD.

200ns TDed

Hi,

Finally I got my hands on 200ns. I would say it was a very different biking experience. I could feel the technical refinement in this bike.

from TD

+ves

1. Braking - Fabulous, fantasting, spot on, I have never ridden any other disc brake enabled vehicles better than this.
2. Engine - Smooth, responsive and no vibes ( I couldnt take it beyond 60 though ), sounds immaculate ( you will love that sound, its not like any other pulsar or even the Duke, its different and very pleasant)
3. Handling - Initially when I sat on inside the show room I thought it wouldnt be easier to handle, but when I rode it was simply superb, this machine is made for one purpsose 'Cornering'. You will love to corner and even turning in low speeds manuering in traffic is simply fantastic.

-ves

1. Ergonomics - handle bars are causing a bit of stiffness in wrist, but no issues with neck or back, foot peck - brake lever geometry is big let down. The foot peck goes way behind your back but the brake pedal is almost horizontally parallel to it, this means you would get a 25-30 degree angle between your ankle and foot, this causes serious pain in the ankle ( I am 6' 1", my buddy who is tad shorter) felt it just ok.

2. Overall comfort - in this area 200ns looses to 220f by and and large, I did a TD 200f alongside to compare, 220f was way better in comfort but handling was better in 200ns.


I am more inclined towards removing 200ns from my list after my TD, though I liked everything about the bike, someone who is a sucker for comfort, I started feeling its not my cup of tea.

Agree to every point you have mentioned.
To add to that, the quality of the plastic (the switches, self-start,etc.) and those of the pilion's foot - rest is very very cheap!

Very true, missed that point. It was not looking good as in videos on in pictures, you have got cheap plastics all over it as a matter of fact 200f also was the same . I went to the show room with a open mind but the products really shut it.

I am reading in 200ns threads here that some people do book without even seeing it personally, this might be disaster, you have to go touch, feel and ride it to see the actuall quality of it. Though I could feel the bike was technically ahead I was not convinced to book it though I had the money in hand. I think bajaj will definetly come up with a faired / improved version of this bike, all we can do is wait and watch.

But world says that Bajaj has used nice quality parts and bike is absolute different from other pulsars. If not then only engine is good ?? or entire bike is good ???

Well, I could feel 200ns was tad better in terms of quality of fittings than the 200f, but they were very closer. But at 200ns, build, engine, tyres and brakes are of different league altogether, they are ahead of any indian bike to date, ahead of any other pulsar.

I think they could have increased the budget a little more and made it immaculate with all quality fittings and cosmetics. I will hopefully wait they will do it soon in their next upgrade.

May be you should take a look at CBR150 and see for yourself how much of quality switch gear is used for a 1.4 lakh OTR bike in Bangalore and then compare that to P200NS, which is about 1 lakh OTR in Bangalore. Atleast you are getting engine kill switch & pass light switch in P200NS.