My 2024 Bajaj Pulsar NS200: Long-term ownership review

decided to visit Bajaj showroom to check RS200 in person when I saw the new NS200 and the moment I saw that bike, I finalised it. I checked out the colour options, Wine Red seemed very exotic and appealing

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This is my first thread on the website, so I will ask you all to excuse me for any misses and am certainly seeking feedback on how I can write better. All the opinions expressed in this write-up are my own and personal and will certainly differ from reader to reader. Apologies in advance for such a long thread.

A little about myself - My love for automotives started when I was a child, and my sister gifted me the first-ever Hot Wheels car and its launcher. Since then, throughout my childhood, I collected a lot of Hot Wheels cars and sets. Then I got my bicycle, which I used to roam around on for hours daily, regardless of the weather. Then I moved to Dehradun and got myself my first bike, Pulsar 135 LS. Fast forward 13 years, I've purchased the Pulsar NS200 2024 and wanted to share my experience so far.

I currently have 3 vehicles in my stable of horses:
1. Honda Brio 2013 VX Automatic (Preworshipped) - My first personal car. I really love this amazing car and gets amazed by how wonderful the Japs have made this machine.

2. Pulsar 135 LS - My first bike, and this machine is still the best in class. The only machine that's better than this still is Duke 125, but nothing else.

3. Pulsar NS200 2024 face-lift - Going to talk about it a bit below in this thread.

The need for a new bike - this year onwards, the organisation I work for has resumed mandatory work from office one day a week. My workplace is in Gurugram and is about 55 km from where I stay in Noida. The ideal choice is the metro, but even reaching the metro station from my home takes about 20 minutes of time, and the closest metro station has a very limited parking space. I commuted to the office once a month entire last year on my Pulsar 135 and found that it saves a lot of time and money. Yes, I agree that it's a hassle to ride in Delhi NCR traffic but the petrol head in me feels satisfied and I'm probably the happiest when I'm riding. Pulsar 135 LS, as good as it is, it's an old machine with less power than I would like and eventually I started to feel that braking power isn't enough per my riding style and the frame started to feel a little less stable. The mods that Pulsar 135 has are K&N freeflow air filter with carburettor jetted, Michelin Pilot Sports as the rubber, and LiquiMoly semi-synthetics 15w20 engine oil. The bike really is at its limit and I guess my riding has outgrown what the bike has to offer. I still love this bike very much - it's fast, nimble, flickable, and very easy to manoeuvre in traffic with easy availability of spares and low service cost. Almost feels like a toy.

Anyway, I decided to buy a new and more powerful bike to silence the performance bug that I have in me and to get myself something that is also more stable and confidence-inspiring.

My driving and riding style has always been pedal to the metal, I prefer speed and performance over anything else. During my commutes to the office thus far, I've pushed 135 to higher double digits and turn the accelerator fully open whenever I get even the slightest of chances. I don't ride rash, it's just fast.

In my shortlisting of bikes, I had my eyes on two bikes only -

1. 2023 KTM Duke 390 - I was sold on this bike since the launch back in 2013 and the facelift almost made me finalise this bike, but getting one with only 500 km running in a month didn't make sense.

2. 2023 TVS Apache RTR 310 - This was very hard to rule out, it was full of tech and exciting features, but again, less running got the better of me.

I did not really know for a while which bike to go for. But as they say, the show must go on. I started to look for other options and had to be budget-conscious this time around. I reduced my budget to almost half, the Duke 200 was the first contender, but I really didn't want to buy it because of the dated console, and if I were ever to settle for a KTM it'll at least be Duke 390.

The other options were Karizma XMR - felt very dead in terms of engine power delivery. Yamaha R15 and MT 1.5 - I didn't want to settle for 150cc, although VVA gives these bikes a compelling case, Honda CB 300 series bikes - the engine just didn't have enough oomph. TVS Apache RTR 200 4V was the one I had finalised earlier because I found it exciting enough.

Accidentally, I decided to visit Bajaj showroom to check RS200 in person when I saw the new NS200 and the moment I saw that bike, I finalised it. I checked out the colour options, Wine Red seemed very exotic and appealing. Spoke with almost all the dealerships for the red colour, but only one dealership in Noida was able to get me the wine red Pulsar NS200 on a notice of one day. Apparently, it seems that it was the only red bike in the entire Delhi NCR because all the other dealerships informed me that the waiting time was 15 to 20 days.

Got the bike delivered in April 2024 and am enjoying it to the core. The characteristics of this iteration are very similar to 135, just better in all senses.

Here are my observations about the bike:

1. Engine - 200CC making 24.5 PS is a very powerful unit and is more than sufficient for city commute. The engine likes to rev and likes to ooze out power. It's smooth and very fuel efficient too. I am getting mileage of 36KM/L at the moment. I'm really excited about the performance though and can easily be pulled to more than 130 on open wide roads. One of the reason why I chose this bike is because of instant familiarity and engine making more power. Engine is very tractable too, can do speeds of 20 to 30 in fourth gear and still can pull cleanly without much drama.

2. Gearbox - it's an assist and slipper clutch with 6 speeds. I find gearbox to be responsive and easy to shift gears in. Finding N is also easy and being an assist and slip, clutch feels light to operate.

3. Brakes - Brakes are where this machine outshines, the braking is very sharp and bike is amazing and is a dual channel ABS. ABS is not too intrusive but one can feel ABS kicking in. Didn't face any trouble thus far. This unit is by Grimece unlike ByBre in almost all the bikes these days. I am happy with braking the most.

4. Frame - This is a perimeter frame, I'm less versed with frames so cannot be detailed but so far frame feels stable and maneuverable.

5. Seats - My biggest gripe. The seats are hard and are uncomfortable during long rides, period. And both the seats are of same foam.

6. Exhaust - The exhaust note is very pulsary, it's very similar but I really love it. The right balance of bassy and throaty. The best part is the exhaust is underbelly! I am a sucker for underbelly exhausts.

7. Tires - TVS Eurogrip does the job. I will be soon changing to something grippier.

8. Rear View Mirrors - The problem with naked sports bike is that usual RVMs are placed too much near you. I like the RVMs to be placed a bit away from me.

9. Headlights and Lights - What Suzuki offers in the car - unmatched LED headlight experience is what Bajaj is offering. The shape of headlight is an amalgamation of that of Dominar 400 and old NS200. It has Shazam's (DC Superhero) symbol like DRL which looks captivating. The throw on offer is easily the best out there. I have been commuting in night using just the DRLs, it's so bright. Lowbeam and highbeam really suffices for even highway use. Indicators are LED just the same as KTM. Tail light is also the carry forward from old gens.

10. Design and Handlebar - A usual naked sport design but being seated gives you the feel of a big bike. Handlebar are a bit wide for my liking. Having said that, the bike is sucker for curves and is one of the best handler out there.

11. Vibrations and Heat Management - Surprisingly vibrations are very less. Lesser than KTM. And can be compared to its Japanese competitions. I'm really happy about it but boy the bike does heats up. I mean it's not that hot that it becomes unbearable but it's hot.

12. Suspensions - While the front suspensions are softer compared to rears, overall setup is on the stiffer side and that's why bike handles well. The units are from Endurance, front ones are Upside down and rears are monoshock with preload adjustment (have set it to 2 points to the right).

13. Fuel Tank, locks, and Stands - Fuel tank is 12L and the keys are of wavy pattern. Easy to operate locks. This bike gets both the stands with side stand sensor and engine cutoff. If bike has sidestand down and is in gear engine is cut off by ECU.

14. Horn, Cooling System, and Ground Clearance - it's a puny single horn, gonna change it for sure. This is a liquid-cooled unit and radiator is wide enough. Ground clearance is 168mm, it's okay.

15. Console - The another highlight is the console. This comes with Bluetooth connectivity, maps are provided by Maples through Bajaj ride connect app, nifty feature, works fine.

All and all I was happy. I was. Here comes the twist - the only reason I did not buy Duke 390 was low running, I will be starting with weekend classes for a course I joined that'll increase my running substantially and now I'm split whether to keep this bike or once and for all get a 2025 updated Duke 390 in black color with cruise control. The urge in me is too strong but before I take this step just want to gather opinions of fellow petrolheads.

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