Now that one and a half years have passed since I posted my first impressions about the Pulsar 220 its time to post my impressions about how this bike holds up after 4000 K.M. in 18 months. As you can gather the bike hasn't been used a lot (what can I do, my office is close to my house) but the amount of problems seems to be disproportionately high.
I've been changing the engine oil at almost every service and all the services till now have been completed according to schedule. I've made a couple of extra trips to the service center for the rear brake screeching but other than that the bike was running okay.
At the first paid service I changed the spark plug, air filter as well as the engine oil. Now after a couple of weeks the bike started giving starting problems, the RPM meter used to get stuck sometimes and the rear brake was screeching again. I went to the service center again and they replaced the fuel filter this time and cleaned the rear brake. The bike seemed to be working okay there so I took it back home.
That evening the troubles started again, the starting problem had gotten even worse when the bike has been parked for a while so I have to keep pumping the throttle in neutral to keep it above 2000 RPM otherwise the engine shuts down. The rear brake started screeching within a week and the bike's average nosedived as well. A new problem that cropped up is that the fuel meter displays empty when the bike starts and it takes around 3-4 KM traveling to get it to report the correct amount of fuel left.
Now I don't know if all Bajaj Pulsar 220 bikes are terrible quality or I am being robbed by Bajaj's Pro Biking service center but one thing is certain - this is my last Bajaj two wheeler.
Oh and I didn't want to post a picture of the piece of crap Pulsar 220 so I posted an image of a bike that isn't.
2 comments:
It’s been more than 10 years since I have been riding bikes (approx. all bikes – Hero Honda, Yamaha, Bajaj, Kawasaki, Enfield, Honda, etc.) and must have covered more than 1 Lac kilometers.
There are a few recommendations to keep your bike healthy:
1. Engine Shut Down Problem: The service centre folks have disturbed your bike tuning, that is why when the bike goes below 2000 RPM the engine shuts down. Go to a local mechanic and ask him to tune the bike for you. This will not only solve your engine shutting down problem but would also increase the mileage of your bike.
2. RPM Problem & Fuel Meter Problem: This is one of the most common problem with new bikes and straight away 2K hit on the pocket, because most of the service center folks would change the RPM meter & the fuel pump but that would not help. The problem is in the cable which is connecting the RPM Meter & Fuel Meter with your onboard display. Get that changed for 60 bucks and save your 1940 bucks for a weekend party.
3. Rear Brake Problem: This is also a common problem with most of the bikes since decades. As rear brakes are the most common brakes used while driving. Before giving the bike for servicing do make sure from where the screeching sound is coming, is it the disc or is it because of locking of tyres, if its disc then get the discs cleaned and greased properly and its coming because of locking of tyres then get your brake oil checked. Sometimes because of less brake oil the brakes do not apply properly and when hit a little hard, jam the disc generating a screeching sound.
4. When on straight/empty roads, drive at a constant speed. Every bike has an optimum speed at which it would give the best average. Its not necessary to ride the bike at 60 Kms to get the best average. Depending on the CC of the bike the optimum speed varies. In your case (220 cc), I suppose 80 Kms must be the optimum speed on which you sould drive the bike on straight/empty roads. Don’t try to speed up more than 120 Kms for more than 1 to 2 mins, as it overheats the engine, which leads to huge consumption of fuel.
5. Keep a check on the quality of fuel you are getting filled. If you think that your bike is behaving erratically after getting fuel filled in from a particular place. Don’t get it filled from there. Also, whenever you get your bike refilled, get the full tank filled. It would reduce your trips to the fuel station.
Keep these small things in mind and your bike would be as loyal to you as your pet.
What 80Kmph are you talking about? Have you seen the roads here, I'm lucky if I can get above 50 and into 5th gear.
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