[islero]

I just want to have a go at writing reviews, so this is my impression after driving two examples of the 150 DTSi for decent periods of time.

Looks:
Sure, there are LOTS of them on our roads, but it still is rather a stunning looking thing, especially with those tasty alloys. The fuel tank and fairing are well designed, and the bike gives has loads of presence.

Build Quality:
I was not very happy with the switchgear quality. It was decent, nothing more. Some of the switches were good quality, some were not very good quality.

Performance:
This engine is an absolute gem as far as performance riding is concerned.
At low revs, there are hardly any vibrations of speak of. But as the revs rise, the vibrations beyond 7k rpm are pretty harsh and spoil the experience a little. One might quote the 'defenitely male' line here, but still, they are irritating.
The performance is pretty good, but more than the performance, its the way the bike responds to the throttle at medium and high revs, and the way the gear ratios are selected for in-city red line shifting that is so much fun. The first 4 gears are dispensed with in no time, and getting the bike to indecent speeds dosent take that long. It is a quick bike, not amazingly quick, but quick nevertheless.
The bike does not have very good response at lower revs, but then, if youve bought this bike, youve bought it to ride quickly, and so you wont be at low revs for long periods.
The gearbox was slightly recalcritant on the example I drove, taking a bit of patience to come back to neutral, and not having a smooth feeling when shifting gears. I do not know if this was an isolated problem or occurs on all bikes.
The clutch, too, was a bit irritating and had a bit of 'bite' (I do not know the correct term), so one cannot always get a smooth getaway, which might get irritating in heavy traffic.
But one tends to forget the complaints about gearbox, clutch and vibrations when ripping down a gap in traffic. The engine noise and response are truly intoxicating, and would make a hooligan out of anyone.

Fuel Efficiency:
Most people whom I asked said it delivers between 40 and 45 kmpl, which certainly isnt a very good figure, and this was with normal driving, with a maniac driving style, it might go down slightly below even that.

Ride and Handling:
The ride quality is decent, and soaks up most bumps withotu too much ado.
I did not have much oppurtunity to test the handling, but I can say that at most in-city circumstances, it is more than adequate and is stable and confidence-inspiring, although one must be conscious about the weight of the machine, and must not go too far from where relatively small-built people cannot recover the bike.

Comfort:
The riding position is very good indeed, college goers will certainly not find any problem with the riding position, slightly sporty one.

Sum Up:
The bike with electtric start comes in at around 59k OTR Chennai. Anyone wanting a good decently fast sports bike to do some fooling about in, this is the perfect vehicle for them. It takes some getting used to, and requires a bit of patience for a beginner to pilot in traffic, but its all a matter of getting used to the bike. Its not very beginner friendly. Then there is the issue of fuel efficiency, what with fuel prices soaring, would be a bit of a problem.
I loved the bike, was a little irritated by some aspects, but love it for the fact that it has so much CHARACTER, something that is missing in most of the bikes in the market today.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by islero

Build Quality:
I was not very happy with the switchgear quality. It was decent, nothing more. Some of the switches were good quality, some were not very good quality.

agree ,but it works solidly .

Originally Posted by islero

But as the revs rise, the vibrations beyond 7k rpm are pretty harsh and spoil the experience a little. One might quote the 'defenitely male' line here, but still, they are irritating.

I guess you are riding a test/demo bike ,it will have been pretty abused and the vibrations will iron out after a couple off thousand kms .

Originally Posted by islero

The clutch, too, was a bit irritating and had a bit of 'bite' (I do not know the correct term), so one cannot always get a smooth getaway, which might get irritating in heavy traffic.

Same will need adjustment and few thousand kms on it to settle well.
But if the shifiting is hard it has to addressed ASAP.

Originally Posted by islero

between 40 and 45 kmpl, which certainly isnt a very good figure, and this was with normal driving, with a maniac driving style, it might go down slightly below even that.

This is not true , i have 180 dtsi and gives 40 + in insane driving and 150 will give atleast 55 +

overall great bike

[islero]

Originally Posted by black12rr

I guess you are riding a test/demo bike ,it will have been pretty abused and the vibrations will iron out after a couple off thousand kms .

Well no, this was my freinds bike, only a few months old, which had defenitely crossed the running in period. It is a well maintained bike and has not been abused.

[BlowingInDaWind]

Have you riden the TVS Apache? If yes, how would you rate it compared to the Pulsar?

[turbo_v12]

Here's one more review of 150 v2:

Looks: 7/10
Though I am not a big fan of the Pulsar, I must say that it was the best looking 150cc bike, until the Apache came along. The alloys give a character to the bike and so do the rear view mirrors also. The rear view mirrors also provide excesllent visibility which is an additional jewel in it's crown.

Engine and Gearbox: 5/10
The gearbox of the Pulsar has always been notchy, and this v2 is no different. The whole world comes to know and even sleeping people would wake up when I change a gear (just kidding). The gear ratios, however, are well set.

The only problem as far as the gear ratios are concerned comes up due to the engine. It feels unbelievebly slushy until 3000 revs where the power decides to kick in and the bike starts to come into it's own. Because of this, I had to keep shifting though the gears in corners and city riding so as to stay in the comfort zone. This is exactly opposite to that of the Apache's where I could ride comfortably in single gears wherever I was. The revs did not feel harsh above 7k rpm, but quite the contrary. The bike starts to smoothen down and feel comfortable as the tacho reaches and crosses the 5k mark.
Except for the snatchy gearbox and jarry engine feel 3ooo revs, the feel is really good.

Ride and Handling: 6/10
The bike has got a good seating position, along with the footpegs and handle bar placement, which makes you feel that it give you good control. The control, however, is only in a straight line. Tha Apache on the contrary will eat corners a lot more easily.
The front brakes have a nice progressive feel to them (and I tend to use the discs a lot more than the rears), and wont falter until you brake hard and sudden. The long wheelbase and weight tend to give it awesome stright line stability, but you would have to fight a little more to get into corners.
The Zappers aren't the most comfortable tyres and only feel griffy when fresh (which is until say 3-4 months), but trying to make th bike highside out of a corner is also no mean feat, which is good.
The schocks tend to absorb bumps with ease, though I have heard the gas ones of the v2 tend to cavitate...something I know Bajaj will sort out.
Overall a very very good city bike. Pushing the engine and gearbox a little closer towards the steering would have made the handling even better.

Conclusion: 6.5/10
No wonder so many people buy the Pulsar, it is a great bike, but has quite a few shortcomings, which people would generally overlook, but tend to cause me discomfort. The bike is a true VFM, and can only get better. The DTS-i engine, though, in more hype than help, since a friend of mine rode his bike with 1 blown up CDi for quite a while even without knowing it. This tech would help only in 250-300+ cc engines.
But a very good bike to sum up.

I would have loved to post the test ride of the Apache here but it would be O.T...Maybe some other time.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by islero

At low revs, there are hardly any vibrations of speak of. But as the revs rise, the vibrations beyond 7k rpm are pretty harsh and spoil the experience a little.

I completely agree. I have been using a 150DTSi V2 for the past 8000KMs and the initial vibrations have gone, but they still make their presence felt after 7000rpm. I dislike them, hence I usually keep my bike (well)below that.

Originally Posted by islero

The bike does not have very good response at lower revs, but then, if youve bought this bike, youve bought it to ride quickly, and so you wont be at low revs for long periods.

.
It has improved considerably with the introduction of V2 DTSi.

Originally Posted by islero

The gearbox was slightly recalcritant on the example I drove, taking a bit of patience to come back to neutral, and not having a smooth feeling when shifting gears. I do not know if this was an isolated problem or occurs on all bikes.

Occurs on most bikes, including mine. You get used to it though..

Originally Posted by islero

The engine noise and response are truly intoxicating, and would make a hooligan out of anyone.

Agree completely. I was a sedate rider/road user before, but on the Pulsar, I rev her sometimes just to hear the lovely engine note .

Originally Posted by islero

Most people whom I asked said it delivers between 40 and 45 kmpl, which certainly isnt a very good figure, and this was with normal driving, with a maniac driving style, it might go down slightly below even that.

Mine returns a consistent 52-55kmpl. It stays the same on the highway too, for some unknown reason.

Originally Posted by islero

The ride quality is decent, and soaks up most bumps withotu too much ado.

Try offroading/very bad roads with a pillion aboard, it is just marvelous then!

Your review was great though. You planning to buy it anytime soon?

[BlowingInDaWind]

Originally Posted by turbo_v12

I would have loved to post the test ride of the Apache here but it would be O.T...Maybe some other time.

dude, do post ur test ride of the Apache. we would love to see it. u can do it on the tvs apache thread that already exists.

loooking forward to it...

[alen]

My pulsar DTSi v2 gives me around 52 kmpl. Pretty happy with that.

Although it needs some improvement in ride quality (read better seats) and vibrations at around 6000 rpm

[anjan_c2007]

Clicked this Pulsar today. It's fuel tank is rainwater proofed temporarily. The owner said it's a common complaint with Pulsars. Water leaks, mixes with the fuel and the resulting problems.

I told him we pay Rs 70,000 plus for these bikes and such is the Bajaj Auto quality control.

He pleaded helplessness.

[payeng]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Clicked this Pulsar today. It's fuel tank is rainwater proofed temporarily.

The owner said it's a common complaint with Pulsars. Water leaks, mixes with the fuel and the resulting problems.

Don't agree.

Never ever happened with the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi that I owned for 4 years

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by payeng

Don't agree.

Never ever happened with the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi that I owned for 4 years

The one featured in this picture and under reference is a second generation Pulsar 150 DTSi. Upon verification, I am told that this is quite a problem with the older Pulsars.

Yours is a comparatively new bike from 2012. I am glad that they have resolved this issue lately and hence I thanked you.

[payeng]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The one featured in this picture and under reference is a second generation Pulsar 150 DTSi. Upon verification, I am told that this is quite a problem with the older Pulsars.

Yours is a comparatively new bike from 2012. I am glad that they have resolved this issue lately and hence I thanked you.

Mine was a 2007 model that was with me till 2011.

Which means even if it was an issue it was a pre historic one

[aargee]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

and such is the Bajaj Auto quality control.

Yes, I tend to agree with you a great extent; the saga continued with other models as well, not sure if its applicable today though. For instance, the front fork oil leaks & alloy wheel breaks on KTM. But one good thing is they (and Mahindra) aren't arrogant as some of the Japs, they do take customer's complaints seriously & improvise.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Clicked this Pulsar today. It's fuel tank is rainwater proofed temporarily. The owner said it's a common complaint with Pulsars. Water leaks, mixes with the fuel and the resulting problems.

I told him we pay Rs 70,000 plus for these bikes and such is the Bajaj Auto quality control.

He pleaded helplessness.

Attachment 1531130

I have owned a 2004 150 DTSi for 8 yrs, 44k kms and a 2012 180 for 3 yrs, 18k kms in the past. I faced this problem on the 150 and as a result, the fuel tank was corroded. The fault detected was a choked drain pipe present near the fuel tank opening and a leaking rubber seal on the tank lock. Once these were rectified, I never faced the problem again (even with the 180). I used to get the drain pipe cleaned once in few months with pressurized air to prevent blockage.

OT: When we removed the 150's tank, we found 1 litre of water in there along with petrol. Almost a fistful of sludge/muck was settled on the tank floor. We even found significant traces of the same muck in the fuel tap and the carb. Even after all these 'running conditions', the bike was running smoothly, was very peppy, had a top speed beyond 110 and returned 55/65 kmpl (city/highway) consistently. If I hadn't noticed the corrosion outside the tank, I wouldn't have got it cleaned or discovered all these things.

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Clicked this Pulsar today. It's fuel tank is rainwater proofed temporarily. The owner said it's a common complaint with Pulsars. Water leaks, mixes with the fuel and the resulting problems.

I told him we pay Rs 70,000 plus for these bikes and such is the Bajaj Auto quality control.

He pleaded helplessness.

Never happened with my 2006 P150 DTSi... ~90k (if I remember the last odo reading correctly). The only issues that happened to me in almost 7 years of ownership were replacement of left side switches due to some wiring fault at the switch end. The pistons were redone once for almost Rs5k, including the consumables in service.

On top of it there were no rattles or cracks whatsoever, as compared to my TVS & HH (those days!). TVS had better 150cc engine though... FTD!.

There is another bike with one of my subordinates with 100k+ on odo & running well.

If somebody fails to maintains an old bike problems are bound to occur... but few issues are gross exaggerated in forums leading to general opinion that way... guess only Indian manufacturers (Bajaj, TVS, Tata & M&M) are at the receiving end.