Dec 15, 2004 05:14 PM
4013 Views
(Updated Dec 31, 2004 09:32 PM)
I should have written this review atleast 1 month back, immediately after I got my Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi. My previous review was on the Honda Unicorn.
When I decided to sell my Suzuki Samurai, I had no concrete decision on what to buy, so I wandered around the marketplace to find the bike I need. My first choice was the Honda Unicorn. No one had it, so I would have something new. Went there and did a test drive of the Unicorn. Even though it was good, it was not good enough.
May be my expectation from Honda were too high. Its a good bike, they promise a nice mileage and also new. The styling was not so satisfactory and it?s not a sports bike, as designed. Very smooth and the shock absorbers are a dream come true. All said and done, I was not satisfied with the bike even after 2 test drives. No one knew how much the spares would cost and how many people would be there for service.
Then the next obvious choice was the Hero Honda CBZ. Now it?s called the CBZ Star. Went to the showroom and as usual, Hero Honda people have the best customer service. Actually I wanted to go in for a Hero Honda bike only for the service. Went and watched the CBZ Star. Yuck!!! What color is that? I guess the Hero Honda people want to get the CBZ out of the mind and the market. Stupid coloring (except for one Blue) and the performance of the bike is also not as stunning as the earlier models of the same. May be they are trying to push the Karizma more.
They have recently reduced the prices for the same also. I was in the test drive with two of my friends, and both of them own a CBZ (1999 Model - The year CBZ was released). They were more dissatisfied with the new model than me. Some how none of us liked the Karizma. It looks good, but the headlight fitted to the frame and some more features make the bike look stupid. Its performance as I have seen is very good, but has a real poor mileage. Acceleration is good, but priced too high.
Then I had no choice but a Pulsar. My friend already has a Pulsar 180 ES and that is one of the main reasons why I never wanted to buy a pulsar. I have never had a positive opinion about the service of Bajaj. And many of whom I asked, we against me buying a pulsar and gave me reasons like the head is heavy, it has a half handle bar, mileage is very low, gear has a problem, and so on. I went for a test drive. I never wanted to buy a Pulsar 150 DTSi for sure.
I drove one, just for the heck of it. And it was really good. Unbelievably smooth drive. Then one drive on the Pulsar 180 DTSi. It was full of power and was pulling me forward, was smooth but not as smooth as the 150. I really enjoyed both the drives. I also was pretty happy about the Indian Engineering, which made this bike. Booked the Pulsar 180 DTSi.
Today I am a proud owner of the Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTSi. Electric start, very good pickup and this is the bike, which has the fastest accelerating time on Indian roads even better than the Karizma. Top speed of 129 Kmph and a stunning mileage for a 179.8cc and 16 BHP. I used to tell my friend that I will one-day race against him like the way they show in the Pulsar DTSi introductory ad. Now, that I have this bike, I am waiting for the occasion.
A very nice bike indeed. When you drive, you feel very comfortable, no back pain, etc and the bike is pretty heavy because of which it is very stable and the drive is easier. Negotiating on the road was not as tough as described by my friends. It?s just 1 month old now. Hope I would give it for first service this weekend.
