Pulsar 220 The Fastest Indian - STILL IS IT???

This is not about any normal Pulsar, but this is all about the bike which owned the title of  "The Fastest India". It was all started back in the year 2007 when Bajaj launched the first Pulsar 220 FI. It was one of the first faired motorcycle in India except the Hero Honda Karizma R. I still remember the day, when I first saw the advertise of Pulsar 220 on the television. The looks of this bike were phenomenal and some features like first in class digital speedometer, back-lit switch gears and LED tail-lamp were like out from the world in 2007. Plus this was bike equipped with the projector headlamp, I don't remember even any car was having projector headlamp back in 2007. So all in all, it was a completely futuristic bike.

LED Taillamp, Digital Speedo and Backlit Switchgear - Most attractive Features

But it was the engine which made it the fastest Indian. The first generation of pulsar 220 was launched with the single cylinder 220 cc oil cooled fuel injected engine. Which was churning out almost 19.5 horses of power. The engine was super smooth and agile because of Bajaj's DTSi technology. DTSi stands for Digital Twin Spark Ignition, it contains two spark plugs above the cylinder and the ignition system was completely mapped by the digital ECU which was also controlling the valve time and fueling. Later on, in 2010 Bajaj launched a carburated version of Pulsar 220 which bumped up the power figures by 21 bhp and this engine was able to achieve the top speed of 141 kmph. The fairing on this bike was really helping in save the rider from the wind blast at high speed. Bajaj also launched a naked version of Pulser which they called Pulser 220S (street fighter) in 2010, which was looking almost similar to its younger sibling the 180 except the exhaust and wide fat rear wheel. It was equipped with front and rear disc brakes to stop the bike on the dime.

It was grabbing the attention of all Indian youngsters because it was a good tourer and also nice city rider. The seating position on this bike is not much leaned nor much upright, it is the fusion of both which gives the rider best riding experience. Year after year, Bajaj and other market contenders kept launching different bikes in this segment. Recently Bajaj launched Pulsar 220F laser edge with new graphics decals and with blue back-lit digital speedometer. The engine is still the same carburated as before with almost same performance figures.

New Laser Edged Collection 2017

In 2012 Bajaj launched 200 cc Pulsars named Pulser 200NS and later on RS200 in 2014. 200NS was designed by bajaj's lead designer  Edgar Heinrich, who left the Bajaj to become the design head of BMW Motorrad. This 200 cc lower capacity Pulsars were came out even faster than Pulsar 220. But as per sales figures of May - 2017 from Motorbeam.com Pulsar 220 was still on 4th Rank in under 400 cc category.

Verdict

The reason why people still loves the Pulser 220, because it is cheaper than new 200 cc Pulsars. The maintenance cost is also low and spare parts are easily available at reasonable price. Bikes from same segment from contenders like Yamaha and Honda are 2 times more costlier than the Pulsar 220. This bike easily gives the mileage of 38 - 40 kmpl. I think these are the reasons why Bajaj is still continuing the Pulsar 220. No matter how much new rides comes in this segment, but Pulsar 220 is still gonna rule the heart of Indians for long time ahead.