My Pulsar RS200

RYP · 3rd May 2016, 21:42

Its been a year since the RS200 came into my life, so thought of writing up a quick brief about the it. I have religiously tracked each and every expense from fuel fill up to oil filter change in a detailed Excel for the past one year, and recently came across an awesome app called Drivvo, which really helped me figure out accurate mileage and other stuff with various charts and graphs. I'll also be attaching those charts at the end of this.

First and foremost thing is the performance, there is literally no bike out there which can match its performance nos in this price bracket (200NS and AS200 are brothers anyway and Duke 200 is a distant cousin). RS200 can easily do 120 km/h all day without breaking a sweat and a little twist is all required to gain another 20km/h to do some unavoidable overtakings, which i would never suggest to anyone in a two wheeler. Redline starts at a rather sleepy 120k's and engine roars all the way to 11k where the limiter cuts in, but not before you are in north of 140's. These are just the numbers one must know what RS200 is capable of, not an invitation to do rash riding

5k-7k rpm is where the sweet spot lies, this 5k push is much similar to Swift's turbo charge surge. 80's and 90's are the new 50's and 60's, yes this the confidence the bike gives to you when you ride. Excellent brakes on both ends, powerful engine braking are very much assuring at all times.

One the cons end, the slight buzz from the fairing between 4k-5k rpm is the most annoying thing and this started after a powerful water wash using a jet very recently. Headlights are quite good for OEM standards but still i would suggest upgrading to better one, only if you travel much in the night and that too in the outskirts of a city. Within city it has more than enough power.

My Best shot yet

Apart from periodical oil and filter change everything else is touchwood. But because of a small mishandling within the service center during my second service, lower part of the fairing on the right side developed a healthy crack. I feared the worst, but after consulting with the rep i was assured that the bottom quarter part of the fairing is a separate trim part and it costs around just Rs.200/- to replace (Perks of owning a Bajaj)

Here goes the charts from the data i've monitored in my 1 year of ownership

My Pulsar RS200-screenshot_20160501184304.png

My Pulsar RS200-screenshot_20160501184312.png

My Pulsar RS200-screenshot_20160501184358.png

My Pulsar RS200-screenshot_20160501184443.png

My Pulsar RS200-screenshot_20160501184548.png

RYP · 13th December 2018, 19:09

It's been 3.5 years since i got my RS200 and so much has happened, been to overseas, tried new ventures, brought my first car (Panda a.k.a Swift) got married, moved to a new place so and so, in other words, Life happened. But only thing which remained a constant was my RS200. To be honest i've to agree that i'm unable to ride much apart from the regular commute to and fro from office as all other commutes are taken over by our sweet Panda, it's just practical, comfortable and safe to travel with your better half this way.

There is no major expenses till date apart from regular engine oil, new air filter, new oil filter, coolant fill ups, brake pads were replaced once and front fork seal twice, once due to wear and second due to shoddy job by the A.S.S while replacing the first which in-turn made the replacement seal go kaput in a month damaging the fork assembly altogether. I lashed on to the A.S.S guys and they replaced the damaged fork free of labour costs and i paid only for the part. All was well after that.

At 20k on odo, have done the regular periodic service yesterday, (lost the count, maybe i think 6th or 7th), apart from regulars like the Engine oil and filters, the Accelerator cable, clutch cable were replaced as well as complete coolant replacement. All things included Bill was INR 2410 (Hats off Bajaj!)

But been experiencing the bike switching off at random times (no its not the damned aloof battery terminals issue) and tough to start after a water wash or in rains (which reminded me of the good old TVS XL days of my early teens). Told this issue to the service advisor and his first answer was to replace the valve assembly and do engine decarbonization which would cost anywhere around 15k. After some haggling from my end to look closer into the issue, he took a look and said a spark plug clean must fix the issue. And voila it fixed the issue for now. But i'm skeptical, and lets see where it leads.

I'll update this thread, if i find a reason worthy enough to share with you guys. Until then ciao.

ashwinprakas · 13th December 2018, 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by RYP

his first answer was to replace the valve assembly and do engine decarbonization which would cost anywhere around 15k.

That's a scam.

1. Decarbonization is not needed for any modern petrol engine provided all the consumables are replaced religiously and the motor is ridden sensibly i.e seen every nook and corner of the RPM scale.

2. You're to replace the valves only if you face issues pertaining to the valves, otherwise let them be as they are.

Quote:

After some haggling from my end to look closer into the issue, he took a look and said a spark plug clean must fix the issue. And voila it fixed the issue for now. But i'm skeptical, and lets see where it leads.

Cleaning the sparkplug should be avoided, rather they should be replaced as per the recommended change interval.

RYP · 14th December 2018, 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

That's a scam.

1. Decarbonization is not needed for any modern petrol engine provided all the consumables are replaced religiously and the motor is ridden sensibly i.e seen every nook and corner of the RPM scale.

Yes i too felt the same, the classic pulsars often go under decarb, but this is a modern engine developed with KTM, i hardly doubt the requirement to decarb and i don't think KTM will recommend anything like this. I'm a sane rider and don't believe in rash driving, but have ridden fast and responsible on open highways time and again and have replaced the fluids periodically.

Quote:

Cleaning the sparkplug should be avoided, rather they should be replaced as per the recommended change interval.

Noted!

Do you think the faulty sparkplug is the one to blame for the starting trouble in Rains or after water wash? If so, how water will affect a sparkplug performance unless fastening is not proper?

ashwinprakas · 14th December 2018, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by RYP

Yes i too felt the same, the classic pulsars often go under decarb, but this is a modern engine developed with KTM, i hardly doubt the requirement to decarb and i don't think KTM will recommend anything like this. I'm a sane rider and don't believe in rash driving, but have ridden fast and responsible on open highways time and again and have replaced the fluids periodically.

Even the Honda Cub motor developed way before OHC 4T's hit the Indian shore is modern enough that it doesn't need to go through decarbonization.

Even the classic Pulsar's do not need it, its just another scam like engine flushing/additives that the SVC tries to push on to unsuspecting customers to increase their profits.

Even on a mellow ridden machine all you need to do to get the carbon deposits out is give it a good hard ride and you'll be good to go.

Quote:

Do you think the faulty sparkplug is the one to blame for the starting trouble in Rains or after water wash? If so, how water will affect a sparkplug performance unless fastening is not proper?

Well that depends because I have no clue about the history of your motorcycle.

Ideally when a spark-plug has enough miles on it the ground electrode wears down and the gap increases, there would also be inadequate firing that would result in more carbon build-up(smoke from exhaust, which the SVC shows the customer to convince them that they need to go for a decarb or rebuild) and also result in the motorcycle facing less than ideal throttle response and hesitant starts when cold.

As for water, that has more to do with the distributor cap which is also another component that needs to be replaced with time, as it tends to get hard and forms a less than ideal seal that can result in water getting in and shorting causing the motorcycle to give hick-ups while starting and riding.

RYP · 14th December 2018, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Even the Honda Cub motor developed way before OHC 4T's hit the Indian shore is modern enough that it doesn't need to go through decarbonization.
Even the classic Pulsar's do not need it, its just another scam like engine flushing/additives that the SVC tries to push on to unsuspecting customers to increase their profits.

God save the customers. Few years back I met a friend of friend who has done decarb on his 220, twice

Quote:

Even on a mellow ridden machine all you need to do to get the carbon deposits out is give it a good hard ride and you'll be good to go.

Yes, now i get it. There was this period of 6 months in this year, where hardly i went past 70. Courtship days with my wife per se.

It's time to Release the Kraken!

Quote:

Ideally when a spark-plug has enough miles on it the ground electrode wears down and the gap increases, there would also be inadequate firing that would result in more carbon build-up(smoke from exhaust, which the SVC shows the customer to convince them that they need to go for a decarb or rebuild) and also result in the motorcycle facing less than ideal throttle response and hesitant starts when cold.

OMG! That's exactly what happened with the SVC guy, "Saar, see black smoke", glad i din't take the bite. Gap's increasing due to electrode wear, wow that's new information to me, a good food for thought. Being a Mechanical Engineer myself, now feeling like a potato. Jokes apart, now i can see a baseline picture of where the issues might've cropped up from.

Quote:

As for water, that has more to do with the distributor cap which is also another component that needs to be replaced with time, as it tends to get hard and forms a less than ideal seal that can result in water getting in and shorting causing the motorcycle to give hick-ups while starting and riding.

This is logically more likely, Bajaj for reasons best known to them has blessed RS200 with 3 spark plugs, which is for sure a overkill for a Fuel Injected system and Distributor Cap of any of the three might've gone kaput causing the troubles. Will now get it sorted.
And very thanks for sharing some intricate knowledge on the inner workings of a spark plug and looks like an educated guess about the distributor cap.

RYP · 10th December 2019, 15:01

Can't believe its already been 4.5 years with this sweet machine. To be fair it had held up pretty well over the years without any major fuss. Petty niggles are always part and parcel of any machine. As Life happened, i've been riding less and less now, maybe a paltry ~200 Kms a month on an average. Performance is still top notch though and the issue with the ignition / idling had its climax.

A little history of the issue:
After one of the regular periodic service, a new sort of issue cropped up. The bike won't hold onto ignition, yes it simply wont idle when let go of throttle. Due to extreme home & work commitments and the fact that my riding has gone down significantly i didn't pay much heed to the issue and simply hustled until next service.

Rectifier:
I informed the advisor of this idling issue and left from SC. Afternoon i got a call from him informing me that the issue is still not rectified and they themselves are trying one option after the other. Then at late evening he called me again and confirmed me that the issue has been resolved and the culprit was a sensor. (Engine Coil Sensor was the term used by him). I don't know whats wrong with these engine coils even my last bike had issue with the engine coil. At 23k kms on the odo, the chain sprocket was making khatak-khatak noise, this too was replaced since 20k kms itself is the average life of chain sprockets for NS200, Duke200 & RS200 range of bikes.

Took delivery of the bike the next day, since figuring out the idling issue took them a whole day and next day buffer is to do the 'regular' service work blueprint. I was surprised, the issue totally went away and the bike was feeling more refined. I insisted on bringing my own oil this time instead of Bajaj 20W50 and SA readily obliged. Though Motul 7100 20w50 is a better option, i opted for Castrol Power 1 Cruise 20w50 since my running is extremely low and sedate. Commonsense i suppose! Other options considered are Motul 3100 and Motul 5100. Motul 3100 20w50 was as good as the Bajaj 20w50 if not better & Motul 5100 would've been idle, but it came only in 15w50. I didn't wan't to risk changing oil grades. Castrol ticked all the boxes and was clearly the practical option. So far it has held up pretty well and gear shifts are definitely smoother and better engine refinement compared to Bajaj oil.

Total Service Cost : 5k
Sprocket : 2.5k
Sensor : 0.5k
Lower fairing : 0.3k
Misc : 1k
Labour : 0.7k

Nowadays i start thinking about Electric vehicles and my RS200 may well be the last IC Engine equipped two wheeler i'll ever own. All thanks to Ather. We can't predict what the future holds. Ciao until the next update!

RYP · 8th February 2023, 16:02

7.5 Year update:

"We can't predict what the future holds" - This is how I ended the last update in 2019. Boy the year that followed was stranger than fiction. A full-blown pandemic, lockdowns, WFH and what not. Since March 2020 till now, i've ridden for about a grand total of 200kms. Yes you've read that right - two hundred kms. The only time i'm riding the vehicle is when I take it to a petrol pump to check air pressure once a month or once in two months. It absolutely has zero use-case as of now. It was my primary commuter to office and ever since the pandemic i'm among the lucky few who are at 100% WFH, hence the bike has been stationary in the basement. I last visited office sometime in 2021 for a couple of hours that too not for work but to meet an old friend. Also the fact that I bought my first car in 2018 had added upto the less mileage on the RS200. I've done about 25k kms in the car same time that I did 200 kms on the RS200. I had the itch to sell it many times and got decent offers, but to purchase the RS200 was always the Heart's decision. Hence couldn't follow through. I'm convincing myself by saying, WFH might end and I may be required to travel to office sometime in the future and car will be cumbersome in Bangalore traffic for everyday commute.

Coming to the bike itself, nothing much had changed except the OG battery which had gone kaput during the first lockdown as I din't touch the bike for like 6-7 months. Post the battery change it runs absolutely smooth. The odo reading is at 25k and i've consciously been avoiding servicing as per regular intervals as my running is extremely low. I've done about 2 services since 2019. Maybe i'll hold on to it much longer. Until then ciao

RYP · 18th June 2024, 16:34

9 Year update:

This is going to be the final update.

My RS200 has found a new home with another passionate soul. It had served me extremely well all these years and it was me who couldn't use the machine to its truest potential post covid. Everything was completely stock and odo was at 27k odd. I've posted in TeamBhp classifieds and found the buyer in barely 10 minutes. We agreed upon a price and though i got couple of better offers (marginally), i wasn't willing to part except for the Team-Bhp buyer. Everything fell in place one fine day and the deed was done just like that. Bidding adieu was hard. Signed the things, handed over the keys and documents and I just walked away without ever looking back. I know if I look back either my heart will change or I may cry, such were the emotions. Thank you for the memories RS200

Parting shot:

3rd May 2016, 21:42	#46
RYP BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bangalore Posts: 116 Thanked: 544 Times	1 Year Ownership update Its been a year since the RS200 came into my life, so thought of writing up a quick brief about the it. I have religiously tracked each and every expense from fuel fill up to oil filter change in a detailed Excel for the past one year, and recently came across an awesome app called Drivvo, which really helped me figure out accurate mileage and other stuff with various charts and graphs. I'll also be attaching those charts at the end of this. First and foremost thing is the performance, there is literally no bike out there which can match its performance nos in this price bracket (200NS and AS200 are brothers anyway and Duke 200 is a distant cousin). RS200 can easily do 120 km/h all day without breaking a sweat and a little twist is all required to gain another 20km/h to do some unavoidable overtakings, which i would never suggest to anyone in a two wheeler. Redline starts at a rather sleepy 120k's and engine roars all the way to 11k where the limiter cuts in, but not before you are in north of 140's. These are just the numbers one must know what RS200 is capable of, not an invitation to do rash riding 5k-7k rpm is where the sweet spot lies, this 5k push is much similar to Swift's turbo charge surge. 80's and 90's are the new 50's and 60's, yes this the confidence the bike gives to you when you ride. Excellent brakes on both ends, powerful engine braking are very much assuring at all times. One the cons end, the slight buzz from the fairing between 4k-5k rpm is the most annoying thing and this started after a powerful water wash using a jet very recently. Headlights are quite good for OEM standards but still i would suggest upgrading to better one, only if you travel much in the night and that too in the outskirts of a city. Within city it has more than enough power. My Best shot yet Apart from periodical oil and filter change everything else is touchwood. But because of a small mishandling within the service center during my second service, lower part of the fairing on the right side developed a healthy crack. I feared the worst, but after consulting with the rep i was assured that the bottom quarter part of the fairing is a separate trim part and it costs around just Rs.200/- to replace (Perks of owning a Bajaj) Here goes the charts from the data i've monitored in my 1 year of ownership
	(2) Thanks

13th December 2018, 19:09	#47
RYP BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bangalore Posts: 116 Thanked: 544 Times	Re: My Pulsar RS200 It's been 3.5 years since i got my RS200 and so much has happened, been to overseas, tried new ventures, brought my first car (Panda a.k.a Swift) got married, moved to a new place so and so, in other words, Life happened. But only thing which remained a constant was my RS200. To be honest i've to agree that i'm unable to ride much apart from the regular commute to and fro from office as all other commutes are taken over by our sweet Panda, it's just practical, comfortable and safe to travel with your better half this way. There is no major expenses till date apart from regular engine oil, new air filter, new oil filter, coolant fill ups, brake pads were replaced once and front fork seal twice, once due to wear and second due to shoddy job by the A.S.S while replacing the first which in-turn made the replacement seal go kaput in a month damaging the fork assembly altogether. I lashed on to the A.S.S guys and they replaced the damaged fork free of labour costs and i paid only for the part. All was well after that. At 20k on odo, have done the regular periodic service yesterday, (lost the count, maybe i think 6th or 7th), apart from regulars like the Engine oil and filters, the Accelerator cable, clutch cable were replaced as well as complete coolant replacement. All things included Bill was INR 2410 (Hats off Bajaj!) But been experiencing the bike switching off at random times (no its not the damned aloof battery terminals issue) and tough to start after a water wash or in rains (which reminded me of the good old TVS XL days of my early teens). Told this issue to the service advisor and his first answer was to replace the valve assembly and do engine decarbonization which would cost anywhere around 15k. After some haggling from my end to look closer into the issue, he took a look and said a spark plug clean must fix the issue. And voila it fixed the issue for now. But i'm skeptical, and lets see where it leads. I'll update this thread, if i find a reason worthy enough to share with you guys. Until then ciao.
	() Thanks

10th December 2019, 15:01	#52
RYP BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bangalore Posts: 116 Thanked: 544 Times	Re: My Pulsar RS200 Can't believe its already been 4.5 years with this sweet machine. To be fair it had held up pretty well over the years without any major fuss. Petty niggles are always part and parcel of any machine. As Life happened, i've been riding less and less now, maybe a paltry ~200 Kms a month on an average. Performance is still top notch though and the issue with the ignition / idling had its climax. A little history of the issue: After one of the regular periodic service, a new sort of issue cropped up. The bike won't hold onto ignition, yes it simply wont idle when let go of throttle. Due to extreme home & work commitments and the fact that my riding has gone down significantly i didn't pay much heed to the issue and simply hustled until next service. Rectifier: I informed the advisor of this idling issue and left from SC. Afternoon i got a call from him informing me that the issue is still not rectified and they themselves are trying one option after the other. Then at late evening he called me again and confirmed me that the issue has been resolved and the culprit was a sensor. (Engine Coil Sensor was the term used by him). I don't know whats wrong with these engine coils even my last bike had issue with the engine coil. At 23k kms on the odo, the chain sprocket was making khatak-khatak noise, this too was replaced since 20k kms itself is the average life of chain sprockets for NS200, Duke200 & RS200 range of bikes. Took delivery of the bike the next day, since figuring out the idling issue took them a whole day and next day buffer is to do the 'regular' service work blueprint. I was surprised, the issue totally went away and the bike was feeling more refined. I insisted on bringing my own oil this time instead of Bajaj 20W50 and SA readily obliged. Though Motul 7100 20w50 is a better option, i opted for Castrol Power 1 Cruise 20w50 since my running is extremely low and sedate. Commonsense i suppose! Other options considered are Motul 3100 and Motul 5100. Motul 3100 20w50 was as good as the Bajaj 20w50 if not better & Motul 5100 would've been idle, but it came only in 15w50. I didn't wan't to risk changing oil grades. Castrol ticked all the boxes and was clearly the practical option. So far it has held up pretty well and gear shifts are definitely smoother and better engine refinement compared to Bajaj oil. Total Service Cost : 5k Sprocket : 2.5k Sensor : 0.5k Lower fairing : 0.3k Misc : 1k Labour : 0.7k Nowadays i start thinking about Electric vehicles and my RS200 may well be the last IC Engine equipped two wheeler i'll ever own. All thanks to Ather. We can't predict what the future holds. Ciao until the next update! Last edited by RYP : 10th December 2019 at 15:07.
	() Thanks

8th February 2023, 16:02	#53
RYP BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bangalore Posts: 116 Thanked: 544 Times	Re: My Pulsar RS200 7.5 Year update: "We can't predict what the future holds" - This is how I ended the last update in 2019. Boy the year that followed was stranger than fiction. A full-blown pandemic, lockdowns, WFH and what not. Since March 2020 till now, i've ridden for about a grand total of 200kms. Yes you've read that right - two hundred kms. The only time i'm riding the vehicle is when I take it to a petrol pump to check air pressure once a month or once in two months. It absolutely has zero use-case as of now. It was my primary commuter to office and ever since the pandemic i'm among the lucky few who are at 100% WFH, hence the bike has been stationary in the basement. I last visited office sometime in 2021 for a couple of hours that too not for work but to meet an old friend. Also the fact that I bought my first car in 2018 had added upto the less mileage on the RS200. I've done about 25k kms in the car same time that I did 200 kms on the RS200. I had the itch to sell it many times and got decent offers, but to purchase the RS200 was always the Heart's decision. Hence couldn't follow through. I'm convincing myself by saying, WFH might end and I may be required to travel to office sometime in the future and car will be cumbersome in Bangalore traffic for everyday commute. Coming to the bike itself, nothing much had changed except the OG battery which had gone kaput during the first lockdown as I din't touch the bike for like 6-7 months. Post the battery change it runs absolutely smooth. The odo reading is at 25k and i've consciously been avoiding servicing as per regular intervals as my running is extremely low. I've done about 2 services since 2019. Maybe i'll hold on to it much longer. Until then ciao Last edited by RYP : 8th February 2023 at 16:03.
	() Thanks

18th June 2024, 16:34	#54
RYP BHPian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bangalore Posts: 116 Thanked: 544 Times	Re: My Pulsar RS200 9 Year update: This is going to be the final update. My RS200 has found a new home with another passionate soul. It had served me extremely well all these years and it was me who couldn't use the machine to its truest potential post covid. Everything was completely stock and odo was at 27k odd. I've posted in TeamBhp classifieds and found the buyer in barely 10 minutes. We agreed upon a price and though i got couple of better offers (marginally), i wasn't willing to part except for the Team-Bhp buyer. Everything fell in place one fine day and the deed was done just like that. Bidding adieu was hard. Signed the things, handed over the keys and documents and I just walked away without ever looking back. I know if I look back either my heart will change or I may cry, such were the emotions. Thank you for the memories RS200 Parting shot:
	(9) Thanks