Retired!

To all the blog readers out there.. thank you for your kind support for the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi Owners club blog. Unfortunately, I'm retiring this blog, but its contents will be archived here for the sake of new and old visitors.

check the Archive on the right hand side ->

I would now redirect you all to a more active group whom I associate with, The Bike Nomads.

Many thanks and ride safe,
Aditya Bhelke

Created with flickr slideshow.

Member Report: P220 wiring/electrical issues

Mailed in by Rohit H, an issue he faced with the ECU and fuel pump, diagnosed to find bad wiring:

At the second day after buying the vehicle there was disappointment that continued for one month, there was a fuel pump malfunction, this was replaced by service engineers, after couple of days the vehicle use to shut of without any reason that to in heavy traffic, since i have background knowledge of electronics, i thought that cause could be some breakdown in wiring or some circuit. This was the usual procedure that i was doing when the vehicle did not respond "opened back seat, shake some wires and try again " most of the times it worked. i had complain to service engineer by name majid, he failed to notice that problem even after through check up for 4th time and one fine day vehicle did not started and was late to my office at electronic city. i was frustrated with this problem, i escalated to higher authorities including regional manager and asked him for vehicle replacement, then regional service manager by name balakrishna came to help. They took the vehicle from my house and they called Delphi engineer who suppled ECU and fuel pump kits to bajaj, after his second attempt he found the problem. " It was with sockets one of the pin in the socked was not locked internally there by creating lots of trouble "

Before the trouble shooting Mr balakrishna had raised an issue to assembly section engineer in Pune. he visited to Bangalore on 29 and checked my vehicle, he had brought some bypass circuits which will avoid breakdown and stops oil malfunction indicator popping up frequently. there was lots of conservation between him and balakrishna, they regained my confidence over the bike. now i did not face any problem till now, thought i haven't took my bike to long ride.

As u said in ur post wiring quality of the vehicle is very poor.
-Rohit H, Bajaj Pulsar DTS-Fi 220 owner from Bangalore.

Post Incident Review - Pulsar 220 break down

Here is a Post Incident Review of my last weeks 'mis'-adventure with the Pulsar 220 breaking down on a long ride.

Anlysis of incident:
-Bajaj Service swung into action and mobilized resources as soon as they were made aware of the situation. Of course Venkat Shyam of Auto Service Bangalore did more than what I had expected. I'm sure he must be responsible for pressurizing Bajaj Service to respond to the situation. So no doubt, Venkat saved the day!

Now the question is, why did Bajaj go out of the way and offer assistance like accommodation and such? Was it to keep the situation from blowing out of proportion, or was it genuine concern for a Bajaj loyalist? Were they trying to cover up for a faulty product by offering great service?

Whatever the answers, I'm more confident about Bajaj Auto as a brand than before. The reason is simple, they just exceed my expectations.

Problems that I identified, probable solutions, and learning...

-Low quality wiring: According to my analysis the whole incident happened because a wire got loose, shorted and blew a fuse. I'm shocked that even after so many years of R&D, there is not a fool proof socket to hold a wire intact under intense vibrations and other 'industrial condition' stresses. Or is it just a case of low quality materials in the socket assembly?

In continuation to the above, the overall wiring quality looks very shady. Its just a lot of black electrical tape holding a bunch of wires. I have seen the wiring on foreign bikes, and even cars; its way better and concealed (not in electrical tape).

-Bajaj Service ill-equipped for remote support: No one seemed to know about the fuse under the rear seat. Or even if they did, they might have never imagined that a blown fuse could prevent the engine from igniting. Of course this being the P220 EMS itself as misleading, and a prime suspect. Of course I cant blame any one, as the troubleshooting was incident based and a best effort.

Solution: Perhaps Bajaj Service is not even equipped or has trained its personnel to troubleshoot over the phone. Time for Bajaj Service to get a 1800 toll free service/break down help hot line with technically qualified personnel to help? Or at least quick escalations to engineering team who can expedite troubleshooting.

Solution: Perhaps Bajaj Auto should provide better self help documents or step by step troubleshooting guides to end users. At least for Pro bikes. One will be amazed to find what all foreign bike manufacturers provide as self help manuals; using these one could rebuild a bike.

-Insufficient tools: The tool kit provided with the bike is insufficient for such self help situations. I had to borrow more tools (pliers, small screw driver) from nearby farmers. I have now upgraded my kit with more tools. I'm not expecting Bajaj to provide them, just informing riders to be ready.

-Land line rocks! : My mobile network of choice is Airtel, and it generally hever lets me down. But at the place where I was, the network was extremly weak, and I could not do any kind of voice callling. SMS worked fine. Solution, carry a lot of 1Re coins, and find the nearest STD-PCO land line.

Conclusion:
The whole incident shook my confidence on the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi as a long distance cruiser bike. I had major doubts on its reliability. But after then next days riding, and cool headed analysis, I can say yes in spite of this incident, the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi is a dependable bike. Period. BTW, I just came back from a 900Km solo ride to the east coast (Pondicherry).

Thanks to Bajaj Service. Many more thanks to Venkat Shyam for all his help. Venkat, U R THE MAN!

Pulsar 220 broke down, wasted a day.

Just last week, I had planned a solo ride to Sravanbelagola and Belur Halebid. I started my ride at a relaxed 10.30Am, and hit the Bangalore-Pune NH4. Everything was going as per schedule. I had a lunch stop over at Hassan, at 1.30Pm, 200Km away from Bangalore. Soon after lunch I hit the highway at 3Pm, to go to my first destination of the day which was Belur, 35Km ahead.

The road was very good, which allowed me to cruise at a comfortable 120Kmph. I was 9Km ahead of Hassan, and suddenly the red warning light came on. This has randomly happened before whenever the Pulsar 220 goes above 120Kmph (no one at Bajaj Service is sure why this happens). The only way to make that light go away is to do a full reboot of the bike. Since I was at a high speed already, and the road was clear, I decided not to stop for the reboot. I came down to 2nd gear to reduce speed, and turned off the engine while pressing the clutch. It normally takes an approximate 15 secs to reboot and finish priming the fuel pump, after which I start the engine. This time the engine did not start after the boot up was complete. I rebooted again, still in motion, and even then the engine did not start!

Now I was worried, as this has never happened before. As a last attempt, I rebooted again, and this time tried to start the engine by engaging the gear. Nothing happened, it just would not start. Finally I came to a halt, pulled the bike on center stand and tried starting multiple times. Each time I rebooted, the fuel pump priming sounded normal, the starter motor would run normally, but there was just no ignition. The engine would sound as if it had run out fuel (there was at least 10L of petrol as I had tanked up earlier), and the starter would just run. Finally the battery low indicator started flashing on the LCD console.

I was 9Km ahead of Hassan, the only place to get decent shelter and help for the Pulsar 220. I checked my mobile, there was just one bar on my Nokia indicating weak network strength. There were a few huts in sight a few hundred meters away. I tried calling Bajaj Service Bangalore, but all I got was 'call could not be completed' message on my Nokia. Now I was panicking, and tried hard to think. I took off the Cramster Colt of the bike, and all other luggage, opened the side panels and checked for any visible clues; none were found.

An aged villager saw that I had stopped and has dome problem with my bike. He came and offered help. But due to language problems, all I could make out was that there was a STD-PCO pay-phone a few hundred meters near the next settlement. Since that was my only option, I put back the bike and all the luggage, and pushed the bike. And boy, it was heavy. This was the first time I realized that the Pulsar 220 is a huge bike with a kerb weight of 150Kg's! By the time I had reached the pay phone, I was sweating like a pig.

I immediately opened up the bike again, and made my first call to Venkats Auto Service, asking to speak to the supervisor. I was put on to Babu, who knew me and my bike as he was the one who I would interact with for all my servicing and other issues. He calmly instructed me what all to do, what all to check. Here is all that was done..

-Open petrol tank lid, check if fuel was visible, shake the bike with lid open, try starting (this step I guess comes from an old line of thought that the fuel tank may generate -ve pressure, preventing easy fuel flow)
-Open the fuel flow pipes, and check if there was proper flow. I had a hard time doing this as I had the bare minimum tools (default provided by bike). Finally I found that the fuel flew perfectly and in volume as the fuel pump primed.
-Remove both the spark plugs, and check for burning, smelling or residual/wet fuel on them. Both looked (dirty black, which is normal) and smelled fine.

All the above took more than an hour, as I had to go forth between the pay-phone and the bike a few meters away. In the meanwhile I had discovered that I could send and receive SMS's. I messaged Venkat, the big boss at Auto Service. As soon as he came to know about the situation, he swung into action, and took over from Babu. He did another round of troubleshooting, and asked me to check the wiring thoroughly. He indicated that its could be an ECU or an EM issue. In the mean while he informed me that he is escalating the situation to Bajaj Service.

I got back to checking the wiring and to my surprise found a wire which had come out of a socket. Putting it back did not help, so perhaps it was not an important one. In the mean while I got an SMS and a call from a Bajaj Service official by the name of Balakrishna. He informed me that they are doing their best to handle the situation, and sounded very concerned. Venkat informed me that a Bajaj dealer from Hasan is being called to check the bike. Balakrishna told me that if the Hassan dealer was not able to help, he would take care of transporting the bike and accommodation for the night (who was going to pay was not clear, but the offer was very comforting).

I continued checking the wiring, and came to small black box under the rear seat. I popped it open, and I was shocked to see that it had a fuse in it which had blown out!! There was also a replacement fuse there, which I quickly replaced, crossed my fingers and booted up.

The engine started with its reassuring note, and came to life. Just then the Bajaj dealer from Hassan arrived with 2 engineers. Although the engine had started, I explained everything to the engineers. They gave the bike a through check, including the wiring. They found out another loose wire, which was dangerously hanging under the battery compartment. It had come off, and was centimeters away from bare metal. He explained that this could have shorted the fuse. He put the wiring securely in place, and did a small test ride. Everything was fine now, and they returned back to Hassan.

This info was relayed back to Venkat and Balakrishna, who again asked me to call him any time in case of further issues. I thanked them all for their patience and help. Since my confidence was all shaken up, and it was almost after sunset, I decided to spend the night at Hassan. First thing I did was I bought replacement fuses.

After staying for the night, I continued my ride the next day. I had to cram up 2 days worth of riding and visits in 1 day. The next day was uneventful, and although a bit shaken up, I finished my ride on schedule.

Honda keeping an eye on the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi ?

I was just going through the visitor logs, and was sweetly shocked to find the following visitors.. and that to frequently... Below are the log extracts..

-(Honda R&d Co. Ltd. Wako R&d Center) Japan, 13 returning visits; links here and here.
-(Shell Information Technology International) Netherlands, 6 returning visits.

Now thats hot right.. biggies like Honda keeping an eye on Bajaj...

Q & A - Oil leakage, Engine heating up, Rear brakes

Answers to a few questions asked by a visitor..

Q: I faced a peculiar problem of oil leakage from the engine( front - where silencer starts off ) and the oil was spilling on silencer, burning black and smelling , fuming. after 4 visits to khivraj its somehow solved but i still doubt coz i still feel the oil burning smell after i do 10 km.
A: Oil leakage! This should not be happening. I had a very small quantity of oil leakage noticeable at the joint of the engine and the pipes going to the radiator. Do keep an eye on the Oil indicator in the digital console, and also check (via glass view port on right side) if the engine oil level reduces rapidly.

Q: The engine gets over heated. its just 500kms old and this problem surface. is this engine heating common? it gets very hot for just 5 km ride and i can feel the heat on my legs.
A: Yes, the engine will heat up a lot when its new. Or rather you can feel the heat radiating a lot. From my experience, the heat radiating kind of reduced slowly after 1000Km.

Q: The rear brake is somehow not free i feel coz when i keep the bike off and rotate the rear tyre it doesn't happen freely. i felt the disc is held up somehow.
A: Yes, the rear disk brake has known issue; it drags/sticks a bit. Side effect is excessive disk heating, less free movement, squeaking noise, and perhaps a small reduction in mileage!

For all the above, I recommend paying a visit to Auto Service if in Bangalore.

Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi Poll Results

The poll conducted on the site to find out if visitors would go for the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi, knowing the problems owners are facing. The results look very positive, and in favor of Bajaj...

For 72 polling participants, the results are as below...
Yes, sure! 44 (61%)
Maybe.. 13 (18%)
No way! 15 (20%)

Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi Target High Speed Achieved

An update on the high speed issues..
After the high speed disappointments from my P220, I got an appointment with Mr.Venkat Shyam at his Auto-Service, Bangalore.

At the service center the BIG BOSS instructed his crew to do the following, and even did some tests himself:

1] Check if disk brakes stuck. The disks were cooled to ambient temperature by wiping them with a wet cloth. Their temperature was measured. Then a 2Km test ride with pillion, and normal traffic was conducted. The temperature was measured post this ride. The results were shocking!!

-The front disk heated up to under acceptable levels (luke warm to touch).

-The rear disk brake was burning hot... an astounding 140'C !! (could not even touch it)

-Conclusion: The rear disk still sticks !!

2] Next the bike was tested on the roller bench. Acceleration (0-60Kmph) and top speeds were measured, and best figures were considered.

3] Next the rear disk brake was removed, and tests conducted again.

4] Next the rear disk pads were cleaned, the chain was adjusted and a re test was done.

The end results in brief:
The acceleration came to 3.1 sec from 3.7 sec.
The top speed marginally improved hence not worth mentioning. But top speed on roller once reached 142Kmph.

Some other issues noticed during all these roller tests were..
-The rpm warning indicator lights up at 9000 rpm as designed.
-The fuel pump / malfunction indicator lights up after exceeding 9500K rpm. (On my last on road speed trials, it even lit at 8200rpm, max throttle). It stays lit up even if the rpm reduces. As I have noticed this earlier, there is no other way then to reboot the bike to reset this indicator. I was told later that this lamp lights is responsible for the EMS (engine management system). So I guess its a function of rpm/throttle and other factors.
-There is an engine kill feature which starts governing the rpm near the end of rpm-red line. not sure when this happens, as it happened only once when we really exceeded the rpm (perhaps beyond 11K).

+Now some really good news... After leaving your service center, I went for a speed test run near office. Electronics City - Bannergattha road.

One way, I clocked 120Kmph in a crouching position. It was windy and the bike had a lot of resistance. The rpm this time was between 8500 and 9000. Not sure how much, as the faring and both my helmet were vibrating due to all the wind turbulence.

The other way (return), I clocked 130Kmph in a crouching position. Perhaps the wind helped, or rather it was not creating so much turbulence this time. The rpm this time was approx 9200. Even then I had a lot of throttle left. When I stopped crouching, the speed marginally dropped to 128Kmph. But the P220 just ploughed through at that speed till the end of the road.

On this return run, I felt as if I was doing it just as if it were on the roller bench, and not on real roads... it was way stable!

So here is my learning..To attain the magic number of 130+ .. ( one will need not only a good straight road ) but more..
-There should be minimum cross winds or at least less enough to cause unnecessary turbulence.
-Once sufficient rpm was build up, and there is not much change in terrain conditions, the bike will more or less maintain the high speed
-I need a tight fitting helmet which will not vibrate so as to maintain proper vision.
-The rear brakes need some major technological overlook, as that's the only changed factor in the bike since my last high speed ride.

So thanks to the BOSS!! Mr.Venkat you made my day..

Videos of the roller tests here ..

Second free servicing

This is an update on the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi second free servicing. I came to know that there is another PRO outlet Auto Service, besides Khivraj in Bangalore, which is also authorized for the P220 servicing.

The Auto Service is not just a great environmentally friendly facility, but the technicians and engineers are very knowledgeable about what they do. 2 of the staff have been trained on the Pulsar 220 platform. The proprietor Venkat Shyam is a very passionate person about bikes and the Indian automobile industry as a whole. The best part is he is a vetran biker and owns the Bajaj Avenger and now the P220.

The bike was serviced with a lot of precision and cared for like a baby. Will post a few pics later.

Rear Disk Brake Issues - Resolved

Finally, the rear disk brake issue has been resolved. Khivraj Service Bangalore received a new brake kit from Pune. The new kit is of the same make (KBX, Kalyani). The rear disk looks different, and it does not have a grove ring the previous one had. Also the ventilation holes pattern is same as the front disk. The old kit was removed after taking off the side panels. The rear wheel had to be taken off to replace the disk.

On the first run after the new kit was installed, the brakes did not work well even after pressing the brake lever down hard. And the disk got very very hot. The engineers then took the bike in again, and did rear wheel alignment. The logic here was that if the wheel is not aligned correctly, the disk (which is mounted directly on the wheel) would cause excessive friction with the brake pads, which are mounted separately. This idea worked, and on the 2nd run, the brakes worked perfectly.

I did another 150Km, a wet ride to Nandi Hills on the next day, and the rear brakes work like a charm. My only complaint is that the disk pad assembly is not covered from the top. That may allow guk and mud to go in and damage the assembly. Not sure why Bajaj did not put a simple rubber cap to cover it.

Thanks to prompt Bajaj service, for resolving this brake issue.

First ride in the rain

It's been raining here in Bangalore since a couple of days now. The roads are wet n muddy, just the way the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi likes them. After a 15 km rain ride on the Hosur road highway to Electronics city, I came to know more about the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi than before. The Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi not only loves the rain, but also loves to get dirty in the mud, just like a small kid while mommy is looking away.

Get dirty in the mud? Literally! After 15 Km of good highway (no pot holes, no un-even road surfaces making water puddles), the bike was covered in dirt and mud all over. The guk is all over the lower parts of the engine, the lower parts of the front faring, and even some on the seats. And I'm not talking about my dirty jeans yet.

The front wheel threading efficiently keep the water away from the wheel, but all over the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. I find this different from the P180, and even the good-ol' Caliber.

Besides the dirt-all-over-the-bike issue, the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi is very very stable in mud/water/guk. I rode at almost 75Kmph, and had no stability or handling problems at all. One new thing I noticed was I could control the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi by working on the front disks, and sliding the rear wheel in whichever direction I wanted. But obviously at low speeds of <10kmph.

Rear disk brake issues - some good news

The rear brake is back to being bad. Its not sticking, but the efficiency is badly hit. It feels like its a drum brake, with badly worn out brake pads.

Good news: Received an email from Khivraj Bangalore, saying that Bajaj Pune has dispatched a new rear disk kit for my Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi. I would be informed once it arrives here. Phew.. some relief after all this rear brake stress! Thanks Bajaj Auto :)

Rear disk brake issues - Update

Took my Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi again back to Khivraj service as the rear disk brake is going bad. The engineers there then worked on the disk system. They opened it, and concluded that the brake pads need to be cleaned. So sand papered the asbestos pads, and even the rear disk. Although the rear brake assembly is different from the front one, they gave it a shot at fixing it (reverse engineered it). They put back everything in the sequence it was taken off. Some more brake oil was lost, but was not topped up today.

After this exercise, the brakes are definitely better, but I would say only 50% efficiency as the original ones. Lets see how it goes now..

BTW, no email update from Bajaj service. Sent a reminder again. My Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi sadly waits for parts..

Rear disk brake issues.

Some more developments on my Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi .. w.r.t. the rear disk brakes.

First some history:
-The rear disk brake got stuck one day after approx 250Km. The whole rear disk brake assembly was replaced promptly by Shirode Auto Pune by a newer kit. There was slight heating up of the rear disk during normal running (even when rear disk was not used at all). Engineers at Shirode Auto Pune told me that this is normal in the beginning and I should not worry much about it.

-After that my Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi was serviced (1st free) at Shirode Auto Pune at 583Km. The brake was still sticking slightly and heating up negligibly (even if rear brake was not applied) after this service.

-After this servicing, I took my Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi to Bangalore. I soon noticed that the rear disk brake was sticking and heating up much more than before. The free running of the wheel had reduced (checked in neutral, engine Off and bike up on main stand). There was also audible noise of the rear disk sticking. To resolve this issue, I took the P220 (at 1122Km) to Khivraj Motors Service division, Kasturba Road, Bangalore, who are authorized Pro Biking service center in Bangalore.

-The engineers concluded that the rear disk is bent by visually inspecting the disk. I requested them to replace the part, as
according to me its a part defect. But as they did not have the spares and neither any knowledge of what to do.., to solve the problem they hammered the disk after removing the brake pad assembly. After much hard work, the disk appeared to be better then before. The engineers had difficulties putting back the brake pad assembly, and a lot of brake oil was lost, which of course they topped up.

-Now, the problem with the disk sticking has definitely reduced. The audible sound is also gone now. The heating is reduced, but it still does heat up (although lesser then before) even if the rear brake is not used in normal riding even after a run of 10Km. But the rear brake response is reduced a lot, and I have to press really hard down to make it work even a bit (something like a worn out disk pads on a drum brake). The rear brake is almost useless now.

- I was charged a fee of Rs.100 + tax for the disk brake problem by Khivraj Motors, Bangalore. The person in charge with whom I have interacted with (Service Adviser) says that the disk is not covered in warranty, as its normal wear and tear. Isn't the rear disk bend a defect, which should be covered under warranty? Any idea guys ?

-I have now written a email to all concerned bajaj email id's, with no response yet. I again called up Bajaj Pune Pro, asked for their email and forwarded the mail to them. No response yet.

What do you think about the issues...
1] disk brake sticking, and heating.. is it normal ?
2] disk's do bend and have to be hammered back to normalcy ?
2] should this be covered under warranty ?

Will the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi be ridden with such issues, or are they just teething issues?

Report - 1000 Km done

My Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi was serviced for the first time (after ~550Km) in Pune, and then got it here in Bangalore. I had a chance to do ~400Km this Sunday from Bangalore to Shivasamudram (water falls) off Mysore Road, and back in a day. The road is a 4 lane expressway quality road, except a few Km near the falls.

Ride Comfort: The Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi is very comfortable for long rides. Only issue noticed was pain in the legs due to the bent position and driving for long stretches. Even the better half was happy with the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi'soverall. One major problem I faced was pain in the left hand the next day. The left thumb and palms are aching badly due to the hard clutch. But I soon realized that I held the handle in a wrong way and constantly stressed on the palms, holding the thumbs down hard. Now after correcting my hand position, the hand is good to go.

Ride quality: The wide profile and tubeless tires and nitrox shock absorbers are a boon on dirt roads or going off track. I had a chance to do some off-roading on the way for around 3 Km. The road was dug out and had rocks all over. I could comfortably keep a speed of 45-50 in 4th gear. This even surprised my wife when we easily over took others safely and painlessly on that terrain. The tread of the tires is good enough to provide sufficient traction and control in mud/sand and wet 'kichad'.

Engine Response: The engine is very responsive even in 5th gears, and overtaking and highway handling is great. One issue noticed was as the speed increases, the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi feels a bit lighter in weight. After the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi did 1000Km, I tried running at a speed of 100Kmph for around 1 Km distance, just to test it out. It achieved that speed of 100Kmph from my normal cruising speed of 65Kmph easily. But the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi felt very light weighted at that speed. I don't know if thats good or bad. I tried increasing speed further over 100, but the response was reduced at that point, and I could feel the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi starting to strain after 105. I reduced the speed back to 65 after a distance of 1Km. I'm sure the engine will do better after the second servicing. But the vibrations and stability was very good at the high speed.

Issues: Another issue, which has been troubling me since day 1, is the rear disk brake sticking slightly. Already replaced once, the rear disk brake has started making audiable noise on applying the brake. It also heats up due to friction, even in normal running and not application of the brakes. Need to consult Bajaj Pro soon.

Initial owner report - 500 Km done.

The Bajaj Pulsar 220 is a very very refined machine. With well designed gear ratios, it easily picks up even in top gear (5th). It just wants to go faster, but I did not exceed 70 (recommended was 60-65) before 1st servicing. I guess the limit should have been on RPM (4000?) than on speed.

The control-handling is a bit different because its definitely heavy. I did speed trials on the Taljai-Bhutbangala (Pune) hill roads. Handling is initially a bit tough on sharp turns at high speeds. I almost went off track, only once out of 6 runs (@60Kmph, 4th gear), on a narrow 90 degree sharp left turn. But got scared of falling off the hills after that and stopped :) . The bikes weight comes in play here, and it gave me a feel of loosing control due to that. I have good enough experience of falling of on a variety of bikes :P

Initial issues (cribs) noticed..

-The mirrors are for aesthetic purpose only. Although I'm 5-10, I can see only 30% of the rear in riding position, compared to 90% of the P150/180. But, the mirrors can be folded back from the base, giving it a very sexy aerodynamic look. Also, the mirrors themselves vibrate a lot, as they are mounted on a fiber front faring, which helps transmit the vibrations to the ends (tuning fork theory).

-The pillion sitting position is not very comfortable (according to wife, and compared with my old Caliber and P150), perhaps some getting used to is needed.

-The split seat is a good feature for the rider. But if you have your GF behind you, forget body surface contact (unless you brake hard on the front disks ;). That's because the normal rider position is leaning ahead, and the pillion is straight up. So guys will hate this, and girls who ask for lift's will love this.

-The oil cooled engine heats up very soon (even after 2-3Km) (obviously, its 220 cc's) and you can feel the heat even through thick jeans while waiting at signals. While riding, its a non issue. I think the oil cooler is only useful in such waiting situations. Otherwise the standard air cooling while riding must be sufficient. BTW, the oil cooler is just an 'oil only' cooler, to maintain viscosity of the oil, marginally stabilizing performance of the engine even after long hours of riding. It does not seem to have an active role in engine cooling. Judging by its size and design, I would say a meager 5-10% of engine temperature reduction over normal. I'm planning to install a active air cooling DC brush less fan system as a mod to the oil cooler radiator block. Design ideas are welcome..

-The front faring is not so efficient in creating a low air pressure envelope at high speeds (@70Kmph) for the rider. The air hits just below the helmet and above the chest in the neck area. This forces the air under the helmet and into the eyes, causing difficulty in vision at high speeds. Don't know if water will also rush in, in the same way under heavy rain-wind-speed combinations. That would be bad! Solution: Eye protection gear.. enclosed type.

-Rear disk brakes jammed up one fine day, after 250Km. Suddenly after driving for 8Km, they just froze up. Calling the PRO's, they sent a mechanic duo under 15 min, who removed the rear disk assembly on the road. They drove the bike and me back to the garage. 10 min after calling Bajaj main office, they decided to replace the whole assembly. A new one was put (design looks different, even materials look different). The rear disks although don't feel different. Now I have a fear of a re-occurrence in mind while doing a long trip. Problem - If Bajaj knew about the issue, they should have pro actively called 220 customers and replaced rather than wait for incidents.

-On day 2, the front wheel started making funny noises .. something like qui-qui-qui. Got scared and ran to PRO. They removed the wheel, and greased the wheel, speedo sensor assembly and center rod (axle ?). The noise reoccurred after 10 days. They put grease like crazy, and the noise is gone for ever. No recurrence yet.

-You can't see the front wheel at all, so its visually difficult, but easy to get used to.

-Digital fuel indicator is funny. I topped up the tank, the indicator shows two marks till full. Later, while the tank was say 30-40% used, the digital fuel indicator started fluctuating like crazy for a few min scaring me. I guess fuzzy-logic went fuzzy then? or a badly designed threshold. No issues after that incident.

-The side stand is in a really silly position. You just cant do a smooth cowboy like side-stand-&-walk-away like on a caliber or P150. I had to search for it visually every time, and the space to boot-in the stand is so very narrow. Also no side stand down indicator on this baby.

-The bike 'boots' up. So there is a waiting time of a few seconds for the Fuel-Injection pump to get started. It makes a nice sound reminding me of the 1.2"/1.44" floppy disk drives making a sound at PC boot up.

-The silencer cylinder has a nice shiny polish. The manual recommends that it should not come in contact with oil/grease to avoid permanent marks. Also the silencer tube is turning chromatic gold in color near the engine side due to heating. Manual says this is OK. PRO guys say this is good, as the bike looks nice with the gold shades... and it does.

-The bike it toooo fast for city driving; you are at 60Kmph under 6-7 secs casually. Good? No! BAD... the wife (pillion) is scared soon, and that affects incentives/benefits at home ;) So new rule for me - keep under 3000 rpm when with wife and riding in the city. Also the females (pillion) will tend to be jealous of the bike due to extra attention showered on the bike, by owner as well as 'public'.

-The rear split grab rail is just a big show off. It is very unpractical and difficult to hold on to, while pulling the heavy (140Kg gross) bike on the main stand. Also the pillion rider cant hold it as effectively.

Initial '+' points noticed..

-Lights are tooo good. The low beam (projection) has a very sharp cut off, comparable to any C class sedan one...! The high beam is a bit high (off target by 1/2 feet vertically, over a 15 feet horizontal ahead), and perhaps needs adjustment. I also wish both the lamps could be turned on for highway riding, may be a patch/loop can do it. The front parking (fox eye) lamps are white-light 5W each.

-Main lights turn on for a few sec even when the bike is not running. Good feature, although it will drain battery.

-Indicators auto cancel after a successful turn, or time out.

-PRO bike mechanics are technically competent, who understand what they do. They passed my 'tests' on all occasions. I guess they have been trained to reply in Hindi, although most seem to be Marathi speaking natives, and do occasionally speak in English too.

-Thankfully the rear disk brake has a lesser bite than the front, but enough to give a crisp disk feel whenever needed.

-The firing sound is a WOW at low and cruise RPM's. No need of shouting to speak with pillion. At high RPM's the sound of the wind keeps the firing sound muffled. The vibrations are also less giving the bike a smooth and refined feel.

-The user manual is pretty good, emphasizing biking safety everywhere. Technically well documented too, with only 1 or 2 non-factual errors.

-Finding neutral is a no-brainer, and the gear shifting is smooth 'n nice.

-The bike is a looker, and every one (even Skoda and Audi walas :) stare.. Common questions .. Is it modified? Whats the price? Mileage? Does it go fast? (Duh !?!)

-Virtually no engine knocking even in higher gears and low RPM's, thanks to good ECU maps.

-Engine equipped with an 8 bit microprocessor ECU core, so chance of hacking/flashing the ECP maps using over-the-shelf kits and understanding of ECU MAP's. (May void warranty). Good discussion on P220 and ECU here.

-Sensors galore. There are just too many sensors to list them all here. An unheard one is 'engine kill on bike fall'.

-Its a lot of electronics underneath. Lots of wires every, going into sturdy black enclosures. The 'missing' carburetor (so no choke too) gives the underneath a strange but futuristic look. Disadvantage - road side mechanics can be useless or worst.. my end up damaging something.

-The bike which is electric start only (no kick), even starts in any gear with a clutch pull. Not sure if electric start will work reliably on chilling cold Pune winter mornings (also Leh). PRO says it will, on second or third crank. But it also dhakka/push starts easily (ya I tried to be sure), of course fuel pump must be on and bike must have booted up. So a dead battery, and you go nowhere!

-Descent mileage of 35Kmph and 36Kmph on 1st and 2nd runs, before 1st servicing. But then I use BPCL Speed (Octane 93). Then manual even recommends Petrol with an Octane rating of 87 and above. FYI.. Higher Octane only means lesser knocking, and a cleaner fuel system, highly recommended for fuel injections systems as they have pumps involved.

-Fuel injection, means better efficiency of burning fuel, hence a lean engine. So less loss wasted fuel, better emission control, so a less polluted planet :) .

-Broader tubeless tires give the bike an overall good grip on the road. The rear tyre has a soft rubber feel, and wears off easily after skidding or hard rear braking. The broader tyre also allows a steeper lean angle. Although I did not exceed my current caliber/pulsar 150 angles.

-Front forks are pretty strong. The design is reinforced with circular ring-cylinder designs. It is looks way stronger then the P200's fork. So in spite of looking at the scary pics of broken 200 forks, these ones only inspire confidence.

Thats it for now. More reporting after 2nd servicing. Please do leave any comments/ questions/ advise.

Pulsar 220 | Features and general stuff..

Only 50 bikes have been released till date by Bajaj, only in Pune, and I got hold of one.

Whats new in this bike..
-Rear disk brake
-Fuel Injection with ECU
-Front extended faring
-Dual lamp with projection lamp system
-Split seat
-Wide tubeless tires
-220 cc engine, 20Bhp, 135 Kmph max speed