Pulsar 220 - Not male enough

Reviewed by Jiljith C.P

And, I was away - on the 220 with a pillon. The bike feels big, more like the Karizma, but not so laid-back as the latter. The seating was slightly different from the 200; not as crouchy as the 200, a little more relaxed.

The clip-ons seemed to keep my hands closer than usual. The mirrors looked funny peeking out of the head section directly. The mini front-fairing looks gaudy and over-sized from most angles; there is one particular angle somewhere though where it does manage to blend in with the rest of the bike: probably the designer got stuck in that angle.

Bajaj seemed to be experimenting on new things with this bike. Somehow all these upgrades from the Pulsar 200 didn't seem very well placed, not as well as the R15.
The trapezoidal headlights looked nice, big and complicated. It was daytime so I couldn't test it out. Pulsar always had better lighting compared to their Hero-Honda competitors, or so I thought, so I did not pay much attention.

The suspensions are nice, though; it gives the bike a more comfortable feel than the 200. Yes, the bike overall is more comfortable than the 200, and would be preferable for long rides.

The Pulsar 200 had bad rear brakes, the worst I've ever seen, and I thought the rear disc-brake on this would probably make up for that. But it was just as bad as the rear drum brakes on the 200. I somehow didn't seem surprised, I guess my expectations were low; after all the P200 and P220 were released close to each other.

People, don't replace your P200 drum brakes with the rear disc of the P220 [if that was possible]: you're wasting your money.

The bike didn't seem very heavy though for a 150kg bike: it was manageable even for a small guy like me.

We came to our first curve. It being in the 'premier' class of bikes, I went into the corner with all confidence, when suddenly I realised I wouldn't be able to make it out successfully! I immediately pulled-up partially, braked, and negotiated the turn. I was left wondering if the bikes in India have really gotten ahead of me? Perhaps I need to upgrade my skill to negotiate turns with this bike - even at such low speed?

Later I read in one of the bike magazines that the Pulsar 220 does indeed have bad handling, especially while coming out of curves! And one of the test riders had commented saying that he was more confident on the track with the 200 than 220 in terms of handling. Bang! That was exactly what I felt. Needless to say, I felt greatly comforted.

The handling otherwise though was quite good; and for a bike of this size it was quite nimble, even in my hands.

Finally the best part - the fuel injection (or so I suppose) has really made a big difference. Bajaj has come good on one technology atleast at low rpms. The power delivery as we open throttle is strong, thick, linear; and though not as responsive as the R15, it was awesome. At one time I thought I was riding a 2-stroke bike! Never rode a 4-stroke that felt this way. Not even the R15 feels this good at low RPMs. A definite thumbs-up for this; I was completely blown away.

All said and done, the only good thing about this bike is the Fuel injection. The rest somehow didn't seem to matter much. So is it worth the extra 16k you have to pay over the Pulsar 200? I don't think so. If you want an upgrade from the old-story, then you should be thinking R15 - which is, of course, 17k more than the P220; but lies in a league of its own.

The tight pricing of the 200 and the release of the R15 has made the need for this bike redundant. It sits in ghost territory - at the end of the 'Indian-bike technology' spectrum. We fear it's days of glory have ended. It did once bask as being the best - but that was before the R15 ran away with the crown; and there is no retrieving it. The premium segment has expanded beyond the capabilites of the Indian manufacturers, and Bajaj cannot catch-up anymore. In retrospect, perhaps the Pulsar 200 represents the last great bike of this era which began with the CBZ, definitely Bajaj's crowning achievement over the past 7 years.