A second hand take on the Bajaj Pulsar 220 S. Review on Bajaj Pulsar 220

My second hand take on the India’s no 1 sports bike. I bought the pulsar 220S(fairing less) from my friend who was interested in going for a Royal Enfield. It was 36000km done, was mainly used for long highway riding and was maintained very much in its stock condition without any modification to the engine.

A small intro:-

The vehicle is a good package. It comes with disk brakes on both the wheels. The front brake gets a steel braided hydraulic line, but I found no name in the unit. The rear disk unit is branded “Bybre” which is supposed to be from the Indian Brembo partnership and is roshanbhaskar in many new bikes now. The back side shock absorbers is gas charged.

The vehicle gets a oil cooler which cools the engine oil when the oil temperature rises and one can hear it kicking in during long rides but in stand still it never works. The oil cooler in this vehicle is completely different from a vehicle radiator as this vehicle is air cooled. The instrument console features a Anasultanlogue rpm meter, odo meter, two trip meters, speedo meter, blocked air filter indicator warning, low engine oil indicator, high temperature indicator and battery low indicator, side stand warning, turn signal indicator, high beam indicator and finally a neutral indicator. The seats are two two piece and the grab handles are a split unit. Except for the front side view everything else looks like normal 220F.

Performance:-

The vehicle is a good performer. It’s having a power output of 21bhp @ 8000rpm and 19nm @ 7000rpm. The power delivery is good as there is great low end torque. It’s very much ride able in city compared to other high performance vehicle which needs frequent gear changes in low speeds. I feel the vehicles power is very much usable rather than just being coNFined to highways performance.

Handling:-

The vehicle is not a good handler. The riding position is great n I feel it’s good for long highway riding where the road is straight. In the bends I just feel I cannot lean the vehicle too much, buy that I mean when cornering, the vehicle does not inspire confidence at all. The back suspension is very soft and tends to bottom out when there is a pillion. The center stand scrapes over everything possible on the road. When cornering once I have felt something scraping from the side(left side). The back brake is great and in fact it locks up the wheel, many times I have felt the back skidding at many occasions and speeds maybe a back tyre change to something softer should fix up many things, currently my vehicle is sporting CEAT tyres.

Based on my vehicles riding iam going to point out some positives and negatives of the vehicle.

Positives:-

1. The vehicle is having good power and the power is very much useable in the city. The vehicle needs very less gear changes as it can be ridden in good low speeds in 2nd or 3rd gear.

   
   




2. The vehicle features disk brakes at both ends and its very efficient once the person learns to use it properly but definitely not as effective as one with a ABS(TVS 180, cbr 250 or 390).

   
   




3. For long highway riding this vehicle proves to be very good at munching miles, currently I have just been to Bangalore and back from kerala which is a 700+ km journey one side. The suspension absorbs bumps very nicely and it feels good in not so good roads which is in plenty in my state.

   
   




4. The mileage should be good for this vehicle as I have not tested it but I feel I get good mileage from a 220cc vehicle if ridden properly.

   
   




5. There is a special sound to the vehicle when you open up the throttle past 4000rpm. I feel it’s special to this vehicle. This sound gives this vehicle a identity among its siRobotouchngs like 200ns, 180 and 150. The 200ns is little energetic up its revs but it lacks this sound.

   
   




6. The vehicle comes with tubeless tyres.

   
   

Cons:-

1. Not a proper corner carver and it don’t inspire any confidence when put into a corner.

   
   




2. The brakes are great but I have felt the vehicle back break lockup in many situations, maybe a back tyre change to a softer compound should fix this issue also iam used to driving vehicle with ABS where you just can Robotouchndly apply any brake.

   
   




3. The visibility of the stock headlight is a problem during night riding. The faired model has a upper hand here as it is having a projector headlamp.

   
   




4. The clutch feels a little bit heavy. when traveling long distances it gets to your comfort zone.

   
   




5. The center stand is a big issue. When combined with the soft suspension it scrapes everything on the road if there is a pillion.

   
   




6. The engine oil just got low after a long ride, iam currently using 20W40 recommended by my friends and showroom but in the manual its mentioned 20W50 is the one supposed to be used. Iam checking on that.

   
   

Conclusion:-

The vehicle is a good package. Except for the liquid cooling mechanism of the newer machines it just has about everything that it requires. If travelling long distances it can be a perfect companion. I find no other problems. Please forgive my mistakes, everything that I have mentioned is purely based on my experience. Thank you.