Oct 27, 2015 06:49 PM
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First up, the looks. After having seen the bike out in broad daylight, it unquestionably stands out like no other in its class – the large fairing up front that encases the entire engine, the LED lights with projector lamps, the nice informative instrument cluster, the split seats, the can exhaust, floating split LED tail lamps at the back that certainly lend the new Pulsar an air of floridity.
But again, its styling isn’t for everyone. We think perhaps the guys in charge of plastering all those stickers all over the fairing were a little too enthusiastic. That, and the funky taillamp has the capability of instantly souring fresh milk. But then, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Moving on.
Now, the real question you’re asking is, how is what Bajaj claims to be the ‘fastest pulsar ever’ to ride? The answer – it’s quite pleasant. Ok, now you’re trying to figure out how the ‘fastest pulsar ever’ can be ‘pleasant’, but yes, that’s just what it is.
The new Pulsar is very refined for one. In fact, NVH levels are low enough for us to proclaim that the RS200 is by far the most refined Pulsar we’ve ever ridden. But that’s not to say that the RS200 falls short of exuding the quality that the brand'Pulsar' has been associated with – performance.
Power delivery is linear, but you really need to wring the throttle and make sure the needle on the analogue tacho passes the 9500rpm redline through all six cogs if you want to build up serious speed, fast. In doing so, we touched an indicated speed of 146kph out on the track, but this figure isn’t error-free. When shortshifting through the gears we found the performance to be a little too relaxed, and not as sprightly as we’d expected.
Besides simply putting some more meat on the 200NS’s bones, what Bajaj have done with the RS200 is alter the centre of gravity and shorten the wheelbase a tad. The result is a Pulsar that's now actually capable of taking on a quick succession of corners, although not being the best at it. Okay, the 200NS didn’t take to corners that badly either, but this one’s even better.
The new Pulsar RS200 comes across as a decent package that balances performance and practicality well with a welcome touch of refinement
The RS200 packs a nice punch, ergonomic frugality, and a decent amount of features. Overall, a good package given its pricing.
