Nov 19, 2005 12:16 AM
2733 Views
(Updated Nov 19, 2005 12:22 AM)
After a long time, I'm back here. This time writing about my new bike.
When I wrote review on Honda Unicorn, I was still not decided on which bike to buy. After thinking a lot, I had short-listed 3: Unicorn, Fiero & Pulsar 150 DTSi.
I chose against unicorn because of 2 reasons:
My friend had a unicorn and he told me not to go for it as its seat was not very comfortable, especially for pillion rider. Since I have to travel a long distance to reach my work place, seating comfort was high on my preferences. And how could I let my girlfriend sit on an uncomfortable seat? ;-)
Second reason is that unicorn was still very new in market and no one really knew what was the rub in buying it. Since I was buying a bike for the first time, I didn't want to take a chance.
I always had a thing for fiero, and when I saw fiero fx, I fell in love with it. But alas, it was a bit too tall for me. I'm just a 5'6'' guy... And driving long distances daily, that too on pune roads, I had to be comfortable with the bike's handling. Also, its tyre grip and shock absorbers were of concern, as pointed out by some fellow MS member.
So looking at every aspect, I decided to go with P150 DTSi; it had looks, handling, comfortable for my height, decent engine, tyres and shockers also proven... All in all, a trustworthy package.
I never wanted to rrrrev up whatever bike I bought... I didn't want power or pickup, but neither did I want it to be purely mileage bike. I wanted it to give the speed when I really need it. So I was aware that pulsar 150 is not as powerful as unicorn or fiero, at least with regards to pickup... I had tasted it myself... But I had no qualms about it. If I were a speed and power freak, I'd have certainly gone in for Yam RX 100 or 135 or P180 DTSi. But I wanted a smooth peaceful bike...
I rode it smoothly for the first few days. In fact until 2nd servicing, I never crossed 60kmph.
Until 2nd servicing it gave me 60kmpl. But after that it strangely dropped, down to almost 50kmpl. But the real culprit was incorrect idle setting. Fixed that and mileage was right up again.
Things went smooth until almost 3rd servicing. But just a week before giving for 3rd serv., the clutch wire broke... that was strangely too soon... I had no option at that time but to replace it from nearby mechanic.
Brake light started giving problems too. Pulling the disk won't light up the brake-light... :-(
Got it fixed during 3rd servicing. The guy said some switch near hand brake was bad, so they replaced it. Of course free of cost (still in warranty).
And since then, it's been a merry ride!!! I've been speeding to 70s regularly, and driving in city (read shitty) traffic everyday, and its giving me 70kmpl consistently!!! I'm not exaggerating...
But the brake-light problem has cropped up again, and this time it's worse, applying either of the brake doesn't light up the brake-light.
Another new problem has cropped up: sometimes when I start the bike after 4-5 hours, it runs for about 5 mins and then behaves as if it's out of fuel!!! This is despite the tank having about 6L of petrol AND the fuel knob was ON... It has happened only thrice, but still a matter of concern for me. I hope to get it sorted out next week when I give it in for 4th servicing.
And I forgot to mention, the horn went mum after a ride through really really heavy rain and 1 foot high water... but it lasted the whole monsoon, which was terrible here in maharashtra this year... so I'm not complaining much...
All in all, there are a few quirks, but nothing spectacular. I'm pretty happy with it. And the sort of mileage I'm getting, I certainly did not expect at all!!!
Bottomline: I'm happy and it's worth the money...
I'd recommend it if you want a well balanced bike. Speed when you need it, but mileage too otherwise! On the other hand, if you're a speed freak and are going to revvv it up all the time, don't even look at P150, it won't last much... get yourself RX135. :-)
Cheers!
