Hi all,

This is Prakash from Madurai, TN. Long time reader, seldom poster. Do have some patience in reading my post as it will be a just a tad long.

I will be coming to my place in India for a few weeks about two to three months now and plan to have a bike ready for me as soon as I get out of the air plane. I plan to complete all the formalities with the help of my dad and friends from where I am right now.

I had a P220 two years ago and toured on it a lot, and the things I liked were the torque, the head lamps, the cheap maintenance, reliable engine (not a single issue in the first 10000 km), the best VFM you could get (at that point in time)

The things I disliked were the vibrations (that remained in my body for like 10 minutes after I got off a 200km ride averaging 100 kmph), the inability to cruise comfortably at speeds above 110 kmph (not sure if this was just my bike, although it had a joeled engine head in it), the bad suspension (well, worse than the cbr of course, not the worst)

I was dead set on getting the cbr 250r ABS (standard is not an option for me) this time, but then decided against it as i will be using the bike for only three weeks and then it will not be ridden (although it can be started up and kept idling as often as possible), and spending 2.3 lakhs on a bike for three weeks is not a good idea for me. Really liked its suspension (when I had a test ride two years ago), smooth engine, and the fact that it should be able to hold 120 kmph all day long (from what I read in the ownership thread), and that all the major issues in the initial lot of bikes seems to be taken care of now.

For the above reasons, I decided to get the P220 again (sure that they still sell it, I think, it is still listed on the bajaj website). But I am having this feeling lately that maybe there is a better option out there for a little more money. I believe the only other option is the pulsar 200 NS (the duke 200 seems to be a bit short geared, and I don't like that; the duke 390 is overkill for me, the ninja and the hyosung over priced and out of reach logistically too; not a fan of the bullet family; suzuki inazuma is out of the question; the hastur will be an untested bike on the road even if available at that time; the pulsar 400s are again, overkill for me).

So in summary folks, what I have narrowed down as my choices are the P220 and the P200NS:

1) P220 over the NS:
a) simple to maintain by even my mechanic (read carburettor vs FI)
b) driveability at night (love the projector/ellipsoidal setup)
c)I know the bike from the past
d)wont go to absolute ruin if unridden for a year
e) looks more macho than the NS (HUGE ly personal opinion, this one)
f) The fairing (not sure if the 200 NS is comfortable for touring at all, with regards to the wind blast factor)

2) P200NS over the P220:
a) lighter
b) guessing the 6th gear and the liquid cooling makes the engine less stressful at cruising speeds
c) lesser vibrations (from hearsay of course)
d) spares might be easier to locate (again, based on the fact that the P220 looks like it might be discontinued soon, judging from the lack of upgrades after the speed lines edition)
e)better suspension (pretty sure it is monoshock)


I guess it all boils down to these two factors:

1) Is the 200 NS bad for cruising at 100-120 for extended periods of time (read all day), from a perspective of an engine screaming for mercy at those speeds and that of the wind blast at those speeds and the night time visibility
2) Does the city driving of the 200NS involve a lot of gear shift? (please compare to the 220 in your mind and not the duke 200)


If you have made it to this part of my rant, kudos to you and thanks.

Please guys, help me out in selecting the better of the two, and I am very very open for other suggestions that I have not mentioned in my post too .

Thanks in advance.