Vishal has submitted this review in our Ownership Review Contest No 13, ensuring himself an assured prize. The contest also offers a chance to win Riding Jacket, Helmet and more.. You can submit your review to us as well. Here are all the details.
Hello guys my name is Vishal Sharma I am a student of BCA final year in Delhi. This is my first review at BikeAdvice although I am a great fan of this site since a long time. Okay, enough of intro, without wasting any time, let’s start the review. I have tried to make my review short and simple and taken only that points which are worth considering.
Decision making
Frankly speaking NS is only option available in Rs 1 lakh in India. There are many other bikes like KTM Duke 200, CBR150R, CBR250R and Yamaha R15 but they all cross the one lakh budget and there are other options as well like Pulsar 220 and Karizma but they are just old bulls now after the entry of 200NS.
Coming to the buying part; I bought this bike on Feb 25 2013. Taken the delivery at the same time. I went with the yellow colour as it shows the detailing quite well. But for those who want to modify the bike like changing the colour of the wheel, using some custom written name on fuel tank or at the rear of the bike. I will prefer to go with the black colour as it will provide you more custom options to apply and they look pretty well. This is my first bike. And after some great reviews given to this bike. I decided to go for it.
Character of the bike
NS is a 199.8 cc (200 cc approx) 4 valve single cylinder liquid cooled beast from Bajaj. It shares most of its technical detail with KTM but trust me the character of both the bikes are truly different. NS has got longer gear ratios and the seat of the rider is pretty comfortable as well. But I can’t say the same for the rear seat it is just okay but for the long rides the rear seat is just shit. It’s got 3 spark plug the first of its kind but they don’t have such impact that we should talk about it. Performance wise I don’t think it matters much but I think it increases the economy of the bike a little bit (not much).
Neither the riding experience, nor the looks of the bike is same like its older brothers in fact, you would have to look on the tank to tell its a Bajaj bike.
NS has got the rear mono shock absorber (finally) which works pretty fine. My advice to people who have bad road condition they can make it little softer as, by default it is good but at very bad road condition you should make them a little softer. But in default setting they work absolutely fine.
NS got the Bybre brakes (Brembo operations in India) petal disk with floating callipers. Let me tell you the best brakes I ever have in any bike. Brakes work absolutely majestic and perform superb in every condition which at last give you confident to break hard without worrying about the result.
Perimeter frame is also the new thing that is introduced by Bajaj on this new pulsar and trust me its a well needed thing. The stability of the bike is quite good in high speeds as well as in corners because of the frame, weight is also well maintained (no vibrations at all). Front forks are thick and work just fine as they are telescopic not the upside down forks like duke 200.
Lighting of the bike is quite good as it is DC connected. It doesn’t flicker at all. And the light performs well in low beam as well in high beam. The henolix h4 55/60 bulb gives great visibility at night but off course the projector headlamps outperform them. But I advice you not to waste too much money on projector headlamp as stock lamps works fine. Yes there is one thing you can change – the bulb light from yellow to white ( just personal recommendation as white light looks better and advance).
Liquid cooling also works great under pressure you can ride bike all day at redline without thinking of the engine temperature. It’s also a new thing used by Bajaj as earlier oil cooling was used which is not that efficient. The liquid cooling is far better than oil cooling. Basic difference between them is that in oil cooling the engine oil goes in to radiator to cool down by air and in the liquid cooling the coolant is used to keep the temperature down which finally goes in to the radiator to cool down.
Underbelly Exhaust
The underbelly exhaust is good as it works in knee deep water pretty well and doesn’t give any trouble to user. It’s also helps the bike to keep its weight at the center which finally helps the bike in stability and comfort in corners. You can also start or stop the engine in knee deep water (no problem at all), but because of this the height of the bike is bit high.
Styling of the Bike
From a distance its look like pulsar 135 but when you gonna come near you will find the thing with muscular styling , clean rear (because of monoshock absorber), and wide rear tyre. On the side you will find the parimeter frame mounted engine which looks absolutely packed. From the front you will see headlight with transformers style with two pilot lamp in the bottom of headlight. Brakes also look good on bike.
The Good About 200NS:
- Brakes are absolutely fantastic
- Power delivery is smooth
- Flicker free lamp
- Rider position is good and for touring
- Instrument cluster is quite clean (analog & digital)
- Handling is smooth
- Capacity wise the mileage is quite good
- Led backlit switches are good
- Under 1 lakh price tag
- Perfect Value For Money bike
- Easily available parts
- Perimeter frame – cornering
- 130/70 rear tyres – looks and grip
- 23.5 BHP and 18.3 Nm torque – top speed and quick pickups
- Engine smoothness and refinement – thanks to ktm
- 6th gear – much needed for this bike
- Aggressive street fighter looks – eye candy
- Mono shocks – finally
- 60W headlamps – better visibility
- Long ride suitable – 200cc with liquid cooling
The Bad About 200NS:
- Only side stand (but main stand available as an accessory)
- Height of the bike (difficult to handle when you are standing or in the parking)
- Tyres are not good for the stunts but for normal commuters they work just fine
- Downshifting gears is bit clumsy at some time when you downshift quickly
- Fuel meter (not accurate at all)
- Fuel cock is also quite tight
- Rear seat for long journeys
- Quality of plastic parts are not that great except the switches that are on handlebar
- Only left side handle lock (no big deal)
- Stock horn is weak ( very weak for this kind of bike)
Journey
I completed almost 5000 km and second service is done. Generally I ride in city only as my college is not very far from my home only 12km. But I made two long journeys on this bike. I travelled Delhi to my home town Himachal Pradesh almost 600 kms from my home in Delhi.
Bike performed absolutely fantastic on highway’s it just converts its character. The journey is absolutely fantastic as bike performs superb on highways. There is no issue regarding engine or the comfort. The bike is very good for long journeys. I didn’t get tired at all on bike. Overtaking is not a problem at all. Let me tell you the best journey I have. Actually as you know this is my first bike. I didn’t have a bike earlier so it’s great for me.
Mileage
In city I get almost 39 to 40 kmpl constantly. But on the highways at the speed of around 80 to 90kmph under 6k rpm I got the mileage of 51kmpl. On an average it will give you around 35 to 36kmpl if you ride hard. I mean really hard. And in terms of efficiency you will not depress. In every gear its goes smooth.
Experience:
As an Indian we are never satisfied with a product so am I. I think the gear box could be little better as this is a sports bike so it should be good at downshifting as well as in upshifting the gears. But overall there is no issue regarding the performance or comfort of the bike as I told earlier tyers could be a little bit better and I think there should be more colours available to users. Gearbox is good and every gear works great (you can even ride the bike in 6th gear at speed of 30kmph). But the downshifting of gears is not great. Sometimes when you have to break hard, it’s very uneasy to downshift the gears
Looks:
As we all know the bike is designed by the Edgar Heinrich who was the designer of BMW bikes. He has done his job pretty well. Bike looks muscular and sharp at the same time the fuel tank is the centre of attraction. Many people said that the rear of the bike could be better but I feel it is not that bad but at the same time innovations are invited.
I don’t know why they give the red color to the mono cross shocker which doesn’t match at all. Instrument cluster is well maintained as it is easy to see every detail of bike very easily.
In centre there is big analoy rpm meter in right of RPM meter, there is speedometer, odo meter, 2 trip meters, a digital clock, and some warning icons. Icons include, service reminder, low oil, high temperature, and low battery indicator. On the left side there is side stand indicator, high beam indicator, a Bajaj logo, neutral indicator, and turn indicator lights. There are two switches at the bottom of the RPM meter. Mode and Set buttons which are used for resetting trip meters.
Some users want to remove the tyre huger. I advise you to keep it like that as it is useful and looks good if you remove it the rear tyre look pretty thin. There is one thing you can remove, the saree guard as it is off no use.
Handling and corning
This is one aspect where Bajaj has improved a lot and we can easily say it the next generation in this compartment. Its handles like dream especially in India it’s a big deal. Where you encounter with the most of the traffic. You can beat every corner with this machine. It won’t disappoint you at all. Its handling gives you great confident to ride hard. Most of it because of some factors like the monoshock absorber, underbelly exhaust and the center of gravity
Some maintains tips
- Regularly lubricate the chain after every 700 km
- Follow all service schedules
- Use company genuine parts
- Use Motul engine oil after 5000 km as it is better than Bajaj oil
Some technical details
- Type: Type SOHC – 4V – Liquid Cooled
- Combustion system: Triple spark
- Ignition system: Independent spark control through ECU
- Crankshaft Type: Integral
- Max Power: 23.52 PS @ 9500
- Max Torque: 18.3 Nm @ 8000
- Bore: 72 mm
- Stroke: 49 mm
- Displacement: 199.5 cc
- Fuel system: Carburetor, UCD 33
- Air filter: Paper element
- Exhaust system: Exhaust TEC enhanced centrally mounted
- Frame Type: Pressed steel Perimeter Frame
- Wheel Base: 1363 mm
- Length x height x width: 2017 mm x 1195 mm x 804 mm
- Seat height-Rider: 805 mm
- Ground Clearance: 167 mm
- Vehicle Kerb weight: 145 kg
- FAW/RAW: 72/73 kg
- Fuel Tank capacity: 12 L
Some key points:
- Power is smooth not raw like 220 but it easily beats Pulsar 220
- Grip of the bike is good for common users but for the enthusiast it’s not
- Height of bike is good so a person should be tall enough to handle (I’m 5 11)
- Quality of switches are good except the fuel cock
- Seats are comfortable
- Seating position is good
- Coolant leak and cold start issue raised by some user but in my case there is no problem with that
Conclusion/verdict:
Guys as you all know the new faired version of Bajaj Pulsar 200NS (Check spyshots here) gonna come very soon with no changes in engine just the looks. So wait for that and till then the beast is there for you. It’s totally worth the money you spend on it. Under one lakh the best option you can have. Go for it. You will not regret.
Enjoy riding but ride safe. Always wear a helmet
Thanks,
Vishal Sharma
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