update: pls rate & comment!
It began with the hobby I have.. Wandering to places, alone ;)
I wanted a bike which will satisfy all my needs of good fuel efficiency, comfort and power. My father had denied that he would ever buy a bike for me. That was in my FYJC. So I had decided, I am on my own in this. I had to buy a bike which was the best in terms of all above and plus give me a great endurance level + low/zero maintenance. I wanted to make no mistakes since it will be the only bike I will ever buy in this category!
I was closely watching the market in those times. There were splendour, passion, ambition, CBZ, Fiero, Eliminator, YBX, Rx135, caliber and so on..
If I had to buy it in those times, I would have gone for Passion.
Not splendour because passion seems better,
Not ambition because low sales figure,
Not CBZ because not worth it,
Not Fiero because of bad firing,
Not YBX because of low sales figure,
Not caliber because of its firing
and so on...
By now you must have got the picture about what I want??
After working in a software firm for about a year I had enough money to buy a good bike.. But unfortunately a bigger part of my savings were spent :)
Here was the market scenario during this time..
Yamahas was removed from my list.
Pulsars were in market for 2.0 yrs and I think Pulsar DTSi was 1 year old.
CBZ - I cannot even think of it when HH did nothing when the Pulsar came and snatched away the crown.
FieroF2 - I did not want to take a risk!
Ambition, splendour - all were out.
Honda unicorn - the wait list was very big.. Also I still do not see the hondas settle in india except for Activa. No risk!
Karizma - was not in budget at that time.
My pick here was the pulsar.
I waited for 3 months more since I don't prefer or recommend buying a 2 wheeler on loan. I have a lot of patience... and I wanted the best too!!
Finally near my birthday, all was set. My father was suprised, since he had challenged me literally.
He said, do not buy a bike. Its ''Paush Mahina''. :( Man My birthday was gone! I could not even book a bike in that month.
Here was the market scenario,
All the competitors were out except:
P150,180DTSi old and upgrade with mag wheels
Unicorn
Karizma
FieroF2
And here is how I made my choice,
FieroF2 - I did not like the looks as compared to all the rest!
Karizma - It fitted in my budget but did not meet my expectation on any front. The front portion looks too sad to me. The engine does not sport any great features for a 225cc engine. It would have been very dissapointing for me to get a bike who can get beaten both on the pickup as well as fuel efficiency front by an engine which is 50 cc smaller, P180 i.e. Also taken into account the long term costs, this bike failed me.
Pulsar 180 DTSi old/new - There were only 2 things which made me drop out this great bike from my mind. Low sales figures and the price difference between P150 and P180 seemed too much for me for 28cc extra.
Unicorn - There was a tough choice here. Unicorn was cheaper than Pulsar at that time. Well I did not want to take a risk, yet! Pulsar still beats the unicorn on looks front and sales figure too.
Unicorn did not have good wheels too. Now too, it has only new stickering! Pulsar is all the time, HOT!
Finally I chose the P150! Silver was the color I wanted (since its known that silver does not fade)
I opted for my trusted sub-dealer. He gave me a wise tip. The mag-wheels and silver wont suit! True!
I was thinking about black and red color. Black loses its shine soon and Red becomes dull! He showed me the red P150 in his stock and immediately I stopped thinkg about Silver.
So finally I settled for red, and its HOT. The color is as is yet after 11 months!
Just a day after I made the payment, I returned from my office and went DIRECTLY to the dealer. He had kept the bike ready. I got hold of the keys.
Whfrooom...Whfrooom...
Welcome to the world of power bikes it said.
For 2000 kms I rode it with utmost care with engine rpm NOT exceeding 5500 rpm and not below 2700 rpm while in gear.
Worst average figure in the 1st liter - 35kmpl in first and second gear.
Next figure 2nd liter of refueling - Whopping 63 kmpl!!
Still I am amazed at the average figures! Splendour, Passion, etc are NOWHERE near!
It was getting really difficult taming this bike and controlling myself to open the throttle.. Near about 1200 kms I was getting an average of 64-67kmpl!!
2000kms were done in mere 2 months and finally I opened the throttle for above 5k
5k,6k,7k,8k,9k this bike goes in a flash to the red line after 6k rpm
Wraaaaangggg wroooommmmm. Even today I do not find any bikes' firing so pure than the pulsars. In both the economy mode (constant rpm 3.5k) and power mode, its firing beats of any bike in India at the time of writing.
The pick up of the bike is very refined and the engine never struggles to reach the red line.
Comfort -
Thanks to the air shocks in the rear, the suspension get automatically adjusted to rough terrain or bumpy roads or a shocking small pot holes. The suspension is improved 150% than the old DTSi one.
No vibration from the engine. I am still amazed that there is virtually NO vibration at any rpm level! I faced a bit of vibration @ 3000 kms at 5000rpm but since the next service, all the vibration is gone!
A lot of people complain about back pain on the Pulsar, But I dont :)
instead my wrists pain..
Cruising in 5th gear @ 45-55 kmphr gives the best feel. The engine does not at all seem to be Indian! The sound is incredible,clear and theres a lot of metal in it. ZZzzzzzhhhhh...
Reliability - I would give full 10 points here. The balance of the machine is great! The weight is centered low and at the front. I did not feel any loss of grip even at 115kmph.
The brakes are terrific and always in your control.
Stoppies are very easy and the rear tyre does not come in the front. Only when you hit the brakes very hard, the rear tyre skids, but straight! The front tyre has never locked up for me.
Engine Endurance - When my bike was 5600kms old, it gave me the top average figure. Any guesses here???
74.4kmpl!
The bike is still as new, except there is a bit of corrosion near the engine. There is no performance loss and no fuel efficiency loss. I can still get 64-67kmpl with ease.
I have just done my 1st paid service; the bike is clocked @ 9400kms and it has given me 70.1km/1.05lit
Thats Rs.50 worth of fuel here, it comes to 67.43kmpl!
All my average figures are city riding conditions. On highways I get about 60-62 only.
I prefer constant speed/throttle in 5th gear between 3.5k to 4.5k rpm. 50 kmphr seems the best.
There is not point in describing power mode in the Pulsars. If the rpm is above 6000 (any), grab the bike tight to avoid being thrown off :)
Contd in comments
