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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KTM Duke 200 vs CBR 250r

This is the biggest dilemma for all the bike buyers who have 1.5 lakh burning a hole in their pocket to trade for some outright raw horsepower. To buy the aggressive duke or the faster and calmer CBR by pushing their budget a little. Although they both produce the same 25bhp they are two completely different bikes altogether one is a mental machine which seems to be happiest when revved hard and shows little strain at high revs and loves to scream the other is a calmer machine which build up power as the revs build up and feels anchored at speed.

Chennai-Mahabalipuram Trip

Just like everyone else 4 months ago even i was in the same dilemma but i had experience of the duke as one of my friend had bought it and on the first ride i had my doubts about using it regularly as a commuter with all its screaming plus wanted something for the long rides as well so i jumped in for the CBR. Another main reason being that since he already owned a ktm i didnt want one anymore as its exclusivity was already lost.

So as soon as i my bike delivered we wanted to make a ride and we didnt want to go far so we decided to hit off to mahabalipuram which is a ride of around 200kms in total and in the onward journey we wanted to stick to our bikes and push them a little we dared not to open them up into a head to head race as enroute we saw a lot of cops who were waiting on a lazy saturday afternoon to spoil the mood of the commuters who were on the lighter side of law.
The cbr was at home and felt comfortable cruising at wide range of speeds and with the help of synthetic oil and speed petrol it barely had any vibrations and it was a relaxing experience and it clearly showed its characteristics as a sports tourer. Also i found out that the duke is no match for the cbr in straight line performance after 100kmph the bike steadily loses ground and when the duke hits its rev limiter at 136-138 kmph the cbr just cruises by.
Once we had reached the destination we decided to do some burnouts on the beach to save some tread on tires as both bikes were still quite new and on the return i hopped on to the duke and although i was in no mood to ride fast the bike seduces you to speed and paying no heed to the low fuel warning i ripped the vehicle and pushed the vehicle to 10,500rpm and also weight of the rider does make a difference under same conditions my friend could not push it above 125kmph. Also duke is much more suited for short runs as there is no bound to your joy as you start off but as the ride progresses you feel irritated more and more in CBR its opposite as the ride goes on you feel like riding as much as possible.

Performance

The duke with its short gearing and blitzing acceleration with a loud engine feels most comfortable in city and although no doubt it is capable of doing long runs CBR would be a more preferred choice both produce 25 bhp but the CBR produces 22.9 NM of torque which is even more than the ninja while the duke because of its short stroke engine makes do with only 19 NM of torque. I feel it can do much more but because of its rev limiter its limited to 138 which it achieves in a reasonable time with the CBR too although it has torque advantage it heavier weight allows the bike to accelerate to 135 from where on it takes time to achieve its top speed of around 160kmph (indicated).

Handling

The duke handles much better thanks to its weight advantage and stickier nylogrips and in traffic its nimble on its feet and can squeeze through with ease and can achieve incredible angles of lean which i realised the hard way from the pillion seat and is as good as an R15 the bike which set the benchmark for handling in Indian bike market. The CBR on the other hand feels lazy and because of the fairing and at 169kgs its even heavier than a royal enfield classic!! it shows and is not easy in traffic combined with the lean forward position does make it uncomfortable while getting stuck in traffic but on the highway it feels much more weighed down and stable compared to the duke which starts to vibrate post 120kmph.

Both bikes return post 30kmpl and depend on the rider and if pitted against each other i feel the duke provides more fuel efficiency and also it has a console which provides with all the information you need and some you dont. As far as the looks are concerned its a personal choice while one looks like a full bred sports bike the duke is a naked bike. In terms of build quality and equipment i feel duke is better Ex. duke gets braided stainless steel brake lines as a standard, also the finishing is superb the honda which is also commendable could be better for the price.

Its my opinion that both the bikes are totally different and cater to people with different characters and this is the best duo which showcase with similar power output how different can two bikes get. If you are looking more for city commuting the duke is better and CBR is more comfortable for touring. Both the bikes have the pros an cons but they are insanely fun to ride and at the end of the day that is why you buy them so its better to choose the bike which puts the widest smile on your face and sincerely neither can be stated as a clear winner.

Credits- Jayadev Somasundaran for pictures and the bike :-)