Review of Pulsar 200ns

Well the bike which has had the most amount of hype and controversy behind it and its the latest offering from one of the most selling trademark product lines of India the "PULSAR" series. Bajaj auto has finally decided to make a radical change after selling pulsar for more than a decade. They have teamed up with KTM to manufacture a 200cc naked bike with more power than any other pulsar till date. It is clear that the pulsar 200ns has taken heavy inspiration from the Duke. Similarities apart both bikes are quite different the first ride on the duke would tell you it loves to be revved hard and the engine hardly shows any sign of strain till it hits the rev limiter at 10.5k rpm but the 200ns is a more tamed beast it tries to be silent and though it too revs freely it feels best at lower rpms. Then comes the price difference of 50k which gives it the highest value for money. But has everything else been compromised let us see.


Looks, Ride and Ergonomics

The pulsar 200ns is well designed and has a great build quality too and the front is just fabulous with sharp edges the rear end is spoiled by the old pulsar tail lamps. Overall its one of the good looking bikes with the huge tank up in front. The build quality is great and the plastics are of good quality as well and the blue backlight switches do add a nice touch. The console is adequate with a big easily read tacho and a digital speedo with tripmeter and clock but its still no where near the duke's which gives almost every parameter of the bike! The Pulsar is a tall bike so all riders below 5 feet 8" must check the seating position. It comes with a split seat with good back rest for the rider the pillion seat too is comfortable considering its a sports bike. The bike is smooth and the gear shifts with ease and use of alloy pedals, levers and inserts adds a nice touch to the the bike as well.

Performance and Engine
The duke comes with a 200cc, fuel injected, single cylinder, single spark engine putting out 25 bhp whilst the pulsar comes with a 200cc, carbeureted engine with three spark plugs! It makes do with just 23.5 bhp and the duke is also 10kgs lighter and comes with better aerodynamics so it is a bit puzzling when 200ns owners claiming that their bike is indeed faster but it can be easily traced to the highly optimistic speedo ( some vids show 200ns at over 150kmph!) while the official top speed by bajaj is 136kmph and the bike would max out at approximately the same speed. It is slower than duke in acceleration but low end performance is better in 200ns than duke because of  carbeurated engine and hence it is better in traffic while the duke feels happy only beyond 3k rpm.



Handling, Suspension and Tires
The duke is only second to R15 in terms of handling it feels rock solid in corners and the bike is always under your control with good feedback from the suspension which is hard while the 200ns comes with relatively softer suspension and the handling is not as sharp as the duke. Further the ns is let down by the tires which are very hard and narrow while the soft zappers on duke practically stick onto the road but on the brighter side the ns should have better tire life! The ns too corners well but it takes more time to set in than the duke and having softer suspension set up is always a better thing for longer distances.



Braking

It is my opinion that the brakes are one of the most essential parts of any motorcycle and the most important in any performance bike, the pulsar 200ns comes with a 2 pot calliper and petal discs on the front in the rear with a single pot calliper. The braking on the NS is sharp and i dont feel much difference between in normal braking between the ns and duke but under hard braking the duke copes better in ns the tires are a let down and lock up before duke not something you would want on an bike without ABS!




Mileage
The pulsar no doubt is a winner in this segment while the duke gives 35kmpl at its best you can expect pulsar to deliver >45kmpl . But in normal cirumstances 40-45 kmpl should be the target. The ns delivers optimum fuel economy under sedate driving while on rash driving the fuel economy  is the same as duke.

Verdict
The pulsar 200ns was indeed a pleasant surprise it has the right elements required for a performance bike and the cost cutting is not very evident and it performs good and has the best value for money but somehow you dont get as much joy of riding in the 200ns as the duke is just mesmerising it has a mind of its own and puts a wide grin on your face. So it is my opinion too that ns is the best option in its price range but if you could afford duke is worth the extra 50k.

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