Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 Ride Review

 By: Pranit    02:09  3 comments

The RS 200 the latest flagship from Bajaj is out and we're here to give you deep review about  character and features, one should note that review is mostly based on bike's performance. I couldn't able to take much of pictures as I was alone at the time testing bike so little bad luck, So here we go...

Without playing too much with word puzzles I would like to say that Pulsar RS 200 is most neutral and all rounder Pulsar  I have ridden till the date. The way this bike build is really impressive and the purpose is the bike which can be ridden by anyone literally.  Either with commuterish fashion or like weekend twisty rider bike will do what you asking for!  Bike is good for person who wants to purchase their first sports bike, That much easy is Pulsar RS 200 is to operate Just be ready to maneuver that hefty weight while engine is off.

Riding Dynamics

Okay so Bajaj claims RS 200 as fastest Pulsar to the date! But then why they don't claim as dynamically richest Pulsar to the date ? Simply because it's not, like we have suggested earlier even before launch.  Pulsar Rs 200 got same Perimeter frame as 200 NS but still bike doesn't inspirer's front end confidence same as 200 NS, while I was approaching at corner entries I was getting Déjà vu feel of Pulsar 220 F not because of hefty fairing weight but because of tallish handle bars, the front end feel is almost like numb compare to NS in twisty sections. Now someone may shouting out there the 200 NS got tall handle bar too ! yeah absolutely right but on NS handle bars are slight wider which doesn't bothers handling,  because when you have wider handle bar you can apply torque over steering with more precise manner you can imagine this concept by this way, take two sticks one of shorter and one slight longer and try to break them am sure you'll able to break longer stick with more ease. So in this case imagine RS 200 handlebar as short stick and 200 NS handle bar as longer stick.

Cleverly Bajaj have shortened  wheelbase from 1363 mm to 1355 mm and that's good because it's evident even from inexperienced eyes that RS 200 is shorter than 200 NS but when you get's going on twist' n turn tarmac that's where real story get's reveals, though RS 200 can turn from side to side,  the transition feels much heavy which is exactly opposite of what I  was expecting from RS 200. I am even ready to forgive extra 20 kg  for this problem but as we speculated in pre release words, Bajaj haven't bother to change steering geometry of chassis from 200 NS.  The stiffer rake could really make boring ride into suddenly exciting one to attack corners. Look at RC 200, the trellis frame of RC 200 is tweaked version of Duke 200's frame, rear up and stiffer front so end result rider get's more front end grip and feel. I wasn't expecting such radical geometry but slight change was expected from first fully faired bike, If you look RS 200 from side view you'll see almost parallel flow in bike respect to ground that's one visual hint that chassis isn't tweak over 200 NS.

One thing I really like about RS 200 is bike now comes with MRF tires which provides excellent amount of grip levels on tarmac. Heck RS 200 don't do rear end drifts easily like most of people use to do with loose level grip from Eurogrips on 200 NS. The high speed straightline  stability is great thanks to fairing and 20 kg extra bulk, Windshield is tall enough to tuck behind.

The suspension setup on RS 200 is carried from 200 NS, but beware if you're getting RS 200 ask showroom guys to set rear shock at slight stiffer than stock level because what I felt while shooting out of corner is slight amount of compression in rear end. I think stock shock setting can't perform upto mark while power shooting out of corners. You feel like bike is slight compressing her rear end Section in blink of eyes, that is hilarious feeling while you're in lean position on the bike which tips  weight of 165 kg to be precise. 

Power Plant
 
RS 200 is getting head to toe ditto motor as 200 NS, That is  199.5 cc epic triple spark technology with bore and stoke of  72.0 x 49.0  which gives it very short stroke nature, produces 24.5 bhp at very high 9750 rpm and peak torque of 18.6 Nm at 8000 rpm. The moment I pushed the thumb, I could clearly sense smoothness in motor. Engine sets in idle with slight roar in initial. The magic of smoothness comes from fuel injection system and better exhaust system on RS 200,  the side slung exhaust system have surprising amount of roar and I think that's because it flows exhaust gasses with more streamline manner thus also removes much of vibrations that was occurring on 200 NS due to under slung exhaust setup.

Once set to motion you could really feel smoothness of this fuel Injected motor, No fancy ride by wire electronics are here but still throttle modulation was real smooth at any given twist level, there is zero level of snatchiness and lagging  in engine character which you could feel slightly in naked 200 NS at low range of power band. So Except fuel Injected setup and low NVH levels every other character of RS 200 engine is same as 200 NS.  Initially you really couldn't feel that one extra punch of power in fact bike feels slight underpowered compare to 200 NS but once crossing 6000 rpm mark motor pulls with such insane surge that you never wish to drop throttle down and motor feels literally fisting thousand punches past to 9000 rpm mark that's where extra bhp comes into real play the top end band is so strong that you could overtake most of four wheelers on highways and people in cars looks at you with awe inspiring vision because that roar of exhaust is really loud and sounds proper raarrrrarr racy in character.

Surprisingly on 0 to 100 sprint, I feel RS 200 isn't pulling with performance spirit of 200 NS and that's because it's cool extra 20 kg obviously . I didn't really able to measure 0 to 100 time because I was alone while assessing the bike but I guess it's somewhere between 10 to 11 sec. Bajaj claims this bike is fastest Pulsar and could reach 141 kmph till her last breath and that is well evident but I decided not to use every single inch of rev limiter as bike have covered barely 10 km on her odometer still I couldn't resist myself and took RS till 135 kmph on speedometer at NH8 highway, culprit was enthusiastic exhaust note that you never gets bored to hear, and I could feel engine still having grunts for its top end show.

Interestingly as speculated in our early words over RS 200's riding dynamic's , RS 200 proven to be real pain in traffic , I was constantly fighting with clutch, shifter and accelerator while in heavy traffic also somewhere in my mind I had pressure not to scratch brand new motorcycle. Believe me you can't zip through traffic on this Pulsar like you could on Duke 200 or even with 200 NS.  First of all motor is short stroke nature produces power at very high rpm then there is tall gearing of gearbox and last but most crucial the wicked weight of RS 200 . RS 200 the most relax Pulsar to date becomes suddenly most demanding Pulsar both mentally and physically in heavy traffic. So if you're the person who use to travel through bumper to bumper traffic frequently then you should  truly consider the consequences you going to face with such heavy bike. You should simply buy different bike or put bigger aftermarket rear sprocket.   

Hardware


The twin projected headlamp setup at front provides incredible luminous intensity as well as pilot lamps also works as daytime running lights and looks apart. The instrument cluster is same from 200 NS but with blue backlight , The bike got too much sharp lines all over body sometimes seems overdone. The rear tail lamp is radical as it looks, Bajaj calls it as Twin crystal something   bla bla  (honestly I don't remember) but that tail lamp is overkill and does add useless weight , Bajaj should understand the fact that there are many ways to make tail lamp fancy. As always plastic quality isn't upto mark and once again that makes me wonder is it something Bajaj can't improve upon newer generations ? The rear tire fender is first thing to be strip away. fuel ejected setup is really brave move and makes lightening difference in throttle response , ABS adds another safety bracket something which even RC 200 don't provides , I couldn't put words over RS 200's single channel ABS setup at the moment because my bike wasn't ABS version, but question is why to provide single channel abs instead of duel channel (after all this isn't supermoto bike), front 300 mm disk have excellent feel and initial grab, rear one is 230mm.  Using these disks in perfect blend you'll face no problem to haul down 165 kg machine.

Bottom line:-  In true sense RS 200 isn't all new platform , don't believe us? ask any expert and he'll point out same. RS 200 is faired version 200 NS. It's like modified 200 NS, heck you can even convert your old 200 NS into 200 RS ! just one or two welding at front to hold fairings and new pair of clip on and purchase aftermarket fuel injection kit, bang you have your RS 200! maybe not so easy but not impossible as well , If you wants to buy all new bike with better hardware and quality then close your eyes and get KTM's Duke200 or even RC 200. Our suggestion? we would like to say go and purchase YZF R15 2.0 and install some 200 cc big bore kit because every money spent on R15 is absolute worth that much impressive that bike is.

But there is always someone Pulsar fan boy who dreams about his Pulsar at night riding miles and miles even in deep sleep state that much fan following Pulsar having and if you don't care about quality hardware much and wants all riding capabilities such as touring , sport riding ,commuting ,road racing  in perfect blend RS 200 is best bike you could buy in  price bracket.

Side note:- The side slung exhaust on RS 200 can be fitted to 200 NS if anyone is interested. I have confirm fitting by myself as well as from workshop manager.
 
ON ROAD PRICE OF TESTED BIKE: 1.32 LAKH

Goods.
Top end rush
Racy exhaust note
Most balance pulsar
Twin projector
Optional ABS
Bads
Heavy weight champ
Overdone elements
Poor front end feel
Unfair operation in traffic