Thread Approved

Both are good

The bikes you have mentioned are best in their own segments among Indian bikes. Performance wise Pulsar 200ns is way ahead than r15 v2.0, say it low, mid or top end. But r15 offers better handling, better high-speed stability for its full-fairing, and better refinement. R15 has a bent and sporty seating posture, which is tiresome and pain-offering in long rides, while pulsar ns offers an upright and comfortable posture, suits for long rides. The tire provided in r15 provides better road-grip. The speedo-metre and the rear-part finishing of r15 v2 is much sexier than pulsar. As r15 has fuel-injection, it has no issues like cold-stard problem. But pulsar may have that problem. R15 is almost 30 thousands rupees costlier than pulsar, it comes at rs 1.33 lakhs on-road. Mileage of both bikes are almost same. Bajajs parts are easily available compared to yamaha's. Finally, my personal choice is pulsar ns, based on my needs. Consider your needs and choose.

I agree with arnab. Nearly all of the points are spot on. Added a few points based on my ownership of the NS for 3 month/6500km and a few short rides on the R15.
* R15 has a front leaning seating position, NS is more upright - take a test drive and see which feels more comfortable
* R15 has FI while NS has a carb - No issues with cold starts on the NS (till now)
* In my opinion, the pillion seat on the NS is more accessible and comfortable as compared to the R15 - This could be a factor if you plan to have a pillion most of the time.
* I found the NS more comfortable for city driving, while the fairing on the R15 offers protection against the wind blast at high speeds

Both bikes in your list are extremely fun to drive, but just a word of caution - both bikes offer more than enough power for Indian roads and both have dual discs.
Use restraint with the throttle for the first 2k km and get used to the bike.
Drive safe and always wear a helmet.

Thank you for your advice. you've mentioned that performance wise the pulsar 200NS is better, I'd like to know if the difference in performance is really significant or if its just a little bit.

Both are rev happy machines which hate you if you lug them at lower rpms.

The NS has 23 odd bhp on tap compared to R15's 17, that means you always have an advantage here. You can't expect either of them to fly right from idle state as a P220/Karizma does, because they're designed that way. Keep the tacho above 5k and enjoy. Holds true for both.

You need to keep both the bikes in their powerband to extract the fun out of them.

Now, coming to real world scenarios:-

The Yamaha is fun in hills (read corners) and NS is close to that if not the same. The Eurogrip on the NS does a decent job but you can always swap that rear with a Pirelli Sport Demon 130/70. Then, the tire will grip like leech. Retails for about 5.3k IIRC.
NS being a 200cc mill will be less stressed in the highways and of course you'll have 6 extra horses to ride on, but its the Yamaha quality that blows me away. (Not that Bajaj has bad quality)

You shall see both of them doing 130+ clicks on the highway but here Yamaha wins hands down for a very nicely designed fairing. Look at the ZMR, man that fairing is mainly to aid the looks, riders still face wind-blast post 100. The NS is stable upto 115 clicks post which you'll face heavy winds on the face and chest.

Decide for yourself. City - NS and highway - either of these. Better to go with NS and use the remaining 20-25k for safety gear.
P.S - Brakes and suspension are awesome on both bikes. Both sport a perimeter frame, so expect the handling to be awesome too.

True.. Be prepared for loads of gear changes in traffic..

Thats what I did..
Bike - 95k
Helmet - 3k
Gloves + knee pads - 3k
Jacket - 6k
This still adds up to less than what the r15 will cost..

The price of the NS is a very important factor, but i chose the NS over the r15 since most of my driving is in the city.

you should consider ZMR too

For styling & handling = R15
For Performance & Value for Money = P200 NS

I'd like to throw in a suggestion : You are looking in such a wide range of performance criteria. Narrow down to what your riding style is. Both the Machines are torque-y. They need a lot of revs. They will drive you nuts in heavy traffic. The R15 is very very race centered. It is at the peak of stock biking performance. The 200NS on the other hand is a plain highway hog.

What are you? A racer or a highway guy? Or are you in between?

Bikes like the P220 are all rounders. They'll keep you happy everywhere. So please think.

Completely contradictory statements.
Both machines are low on torque in initial gears. That is why they need to be revved. Machines like P220/Karizma/RE are torque-y.
You need not rev them high to take to high speeds and they can potter around in B2B traffic in as low as 1st gear.

Yes

Yes, the difference in performance is significant. But if you prefer R15, you can go for it, as it has enough power to satisfy youon Indian roads. But except power, consider other points also, like comfort and all.

In between. But I want a bike that looks good, thats the reason why i like the R15

Re: Which bike should I get ?

My mistake. Since I post from phone I make mistakes sometimes. The not before torque-y was missed. I'm sorry about that.

Oh. Well.. Don't go only by looks. Look for good performance first. After narrowing down the bikes that perform to your liking, choose the one that looks the best.

Personally I would pick 200 NS over R15 as its more powerful, better pillion comfort, even FE is better than the R15 (I think, not 100% sure). But if you want a fully faired bike with a sporty riding position, pick the R15. It depends on your own comfort though. Like someone said above, take a test ride to make a better decision.