Bike RPM Bike Industry News and Reviews

Bajaj Pulsar 200 to grow up

At the beginning of 2009, Bajaj Auto announced that they will launch a new bike every month for the first six months of the year. However, after the January debut of the XCD135, no motorcycle was launched in February. We were quite disappointed with this no-show since rumours of the company introducing a new 250cc bike were floating around.

Nonetheless, Bajaj did unveil three variants of the Pulsar 200 at a Probiking showroom in Pune. The bikes were displayed for the enthusiasts to choose the best option among the three. This was done as the company planned to finalize the facelifted version of the Pulsar 200 based on this survey.

All three variants sported the engine from the current Pulsar 200 DTS-i, however according to our sources, the motor was tuned to produce a maximum power of 19PS as against 17PS on offer in the current model. Apart from the slight increase of power on paper, the bikes had a lot of visual variation.

The first bike we saw was fitted with clip-on handlebars, a rear disc brake and bigger front forks - all borrowed from its elder sibling, the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. This upgrade definitely looked promising with the street fighter character of the bike being upped with some really useful bits. The second variant was a ditto copy of the P220 except that this one sported an all-black engine and alloys.

The bike sported the P220's fairing as an addition apart from the front forks, rear disc and clip-on handlebars. This variant of the Pulsar 200 didn't appeal to us a lot as we felt it will take the character away from the 200. The quarter fairing provided on the bike seemed to kill the urban fighter image of the P200. The third variant was similar to the second sans the rear disc brake.

Apart from the Pulsar 200, the showroom guys also said that a facelifted version of the P180 will hit the market which will sport the looks of the current P200. The Pulsar 220 is expected to be launched with a better tuned engine and a slight increase in power plus an all-black treatment to the engine and the alloys.

Survey officials said that Bajaj was planning a price tag of Rs 77,000 (approx. OTR, Pune) for the first P200 variant we have talked about. The variant which was an exact copy of the P220 may debut at a price of Rs 79,000 (approx. OTR, Pune). Although these upgrades aren't what enthusiasts have been looking forward, the visual changes to the Pulsar family are welcome nonetheless.

[Via: BIKE]