[Rtech]

So this has now been rectified?

[Technocrat]

Got a new pair. Dont know how long they will last on Pune roads :(

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Yes more Pulsars have issues than any particular model by any company.Also whoever think of paint & plastic quality, let me phrase it, BAL has much better plastic & paint quality than HH.

HH\ZMA simply rule in the engine & chasis department

Seriously, techno would like to know what pulsar issues are you talking about... Apart from a notchy gearbox and vibration at high speeds, sound from the starter? These are still not as serious as the one with ZMA, the cam tensioner issue when the bloody thing costs 1300+ Rs, apart from poor plastics and numerous other small niggles. Whats with the apache, its a vibrating massager, and whatever people say that bike isnt stable at high speeds beisdes the rear suspension is the stiffest on any 150cc and will break your back. I would like to rephrase what you said "Yes more Pulsars have issues than any particular model by any company because we keep mum about others, ignore and chose to highlight even the smallest of problems with the pulsar beyond comprehension".
As the old saying goes, the one with most friends is the one with most enemies too.
Also try and cruise on ZMA at 78-8000 rpm, even that thing vibrates, so why make an issue with Pulsar. The problem with 180 V2 is the shorter gearing and think this was the dumbest move by Bajaj. They should have kept the gearing same in relation to the tyre size as V1. The 180 V1 was almost as good a cruiser as ZMA. The problem can be resolved on V2 by using a smaller rear sprocket which makes it a hell lot better at the cost of a little of that initial grunt.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Also the Pulsar 150s hardly had the issues which the 180 faced almost all or atleast major of the Pulsar's problem were with the 180. I still miss my 180 a lot :(

Am surprised people are talking about chain loosneing in pulsar's Damn even with abuse the Pulsar's chain hardly needed any attention, while in ZMA the chain needs to be adjusted much more often

Again what all issues are you talking here. I own a 180v2 apart from a little notchy gearbox and high speed vibration (due to more revs, a side effect of shorter gearing) i have had no problems with my bike. My bike is 12k kms old, and i have changed nothing on it yet except the engine oil. Even the front disc brake pads are stock, ispite of that fact that after a bad crash when almost everything on my bike was bent or broken, even the disc brake was out of shape, i rode the bike for 30-35 kms with the disc pads touching the disc brake badly.

[moralfibre]

I do not intend to start a Bajaj v/s HH fight but in my hunt for a bike, all my friends who owned Pulsars did not recommend that I buy the bike. BAL offers a better package but at the cost of poorer engine components. The clutch plates and the gear boxes do not last for more than 15k kms in most cases (I am talking about bikes in my friends circle).
I used my CBZ for 70k kms without a clutch plate change and it still rode smooth. The Unicorn has an issue here and there but I had two bad falls on it so vibrations and all are something I will take care of soon.

[navdeep]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

The clutch plates and the gear boxes do not last for more than 15k kms in most cases (I am talking about bikes in my friends circle).

again it all about you handle the machine. Mine is around 40k, I have not spent a single penny on spares. I use to ride all from hills to plains. Many times drove 250 kms in a day ( long route ).

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

I do not intend to start a Bajaj v/s HH fight but in my hunt for a bike, all my friends who owned Pulsars did not recommend that I buy the bike. BAL offers a better package but at the cost of poorer engine components. The clutch plates and the gear boxes do not last for more than 15k kms in most cases (I am talking about bikes in my friends circle).
I used my CBZ for 70k kms without a clutch plate change and it still rode smooth. The Unicorn has an issue here and there but I had two bad falls on it so vibrations and all are something I will take care of soon.

Even i wasn't recommended Pulsar by my friend who had a 150 V1, he said" Although it beats all the other 150cc in pick up and top speed, the avreage is 55 kmpl" People people!
Moral the thing here is that you can have complete clutch overhaul for a pulsar at no more than 500-600 rs but the one for ZMA cost 1800 Rs atleast. And before any one say that it lasts long... well it wasnt even able to survive a 15 second burnout that my friend tried on his ZMA

I agree on the CBZ.... the original classic CBZ had an awesome engine, better than all the other versions that came after it. I would still love to have classic CBZ in my garage.

[Technocrat]

@et: You may ignore the vibrations at higher rpm but that means a lot to me. Also I absolutely loved my Pulsar's gear box; it was the smoothest I have ever come across but not precise as the ZMA. I will list down my the differences which I observed after riding 29k kms on my P180 DTSi & 13k on my ZMA:

- Roll ons are better on ZMA
- Stability is much much better
- Self start works but not the way i want it to(read as zma)
- Engine smoothness over longer distance runs (I did an nomadic Pune-Hyderabad ride on my ZMA which I would not have been able to do on my Pulsar)
- Like said above seating is not as comfortable
- Handling no where close to ZMA
- The bike feel much heavier that it actually is i.e. ZMA is lighter to maneuver
- Rear brake pads need more frequent changing than fronts
- Almost every P180 I know have had some or the other clutch related issues, my bike once refused to go over 100 & returned a mileage of 25 which was rectified free of cost by BAL.

See I will tell you something you can never ever realize the difference unless you ride a cbz\zma for some considerable time. I too considered zma a waste of money at one point of time but it was during my various rides with various groups that I realized the potential of HH engineering or for that matter Honda.

See as a company I hate HH & have a great respect for BAL for raising the industry standard in biking but the engine & chassis is something they will take some time(but obviously) to match the Japs. Its just a matter whether you are willing to spend extra for these.

Ask anyone who met me at Ambey Valley in 2005 for a meet, it was relatively new bike but I was so comfortable taking the curves as if I have been riding the bike for ages.

phew hope this explains, if not then I don’t know what to say or do..

[sajo]

Pulsar owner since the past 2 years. And I can say my Pulsar is holding up much much better (touch wood though, its a Bajaj :P) than my friend's CBZ* bought during the same period. If I can get him to sign up on this forum, he will vouch for it.
I agree the gearbox is not amongst the best, and mine needs a firm shove every now and then, but hey...I knew this beforehand and am okay with it. I agree about the vibrations part too, but mine have gradually reduced. I dont regret my decision to buy a Pulsar one bit. The market is not really that stupid. You just need to compare the sales figures.

[extreme_torque]

I haven't ignored the vibrations at higer speed, infact I have mentioned it in my post. High speed here are speeds close 100-100 kph at which time the pulsar is doing some 7800-8000 revs compared to ZMA which is around 6500 revs for the same speed and this precisely is the reason why 180 V2 vibrates, because its doing those speeds at rpms much higher than ZMA... courtesy shorter gearing. The 180 V1 was as good a cruiser as ZMA and on my recent trip to pushkar, a guy was riding his sprocketed pulsar 180 v2 constantly at 100 kph and thereabouts without revving it too much.
My point is even the ZMA will vibrate at 7800-8000 rpm, surely less than Pulsar but it will none the less.
By the way i got close to 50 kmpl during the pushkar trip and I constantly maintained 80-100 kph all the time, ripped for 10-15 mins at 120 kph.
Again there are close to 9-10 guys in my circle that have the 180, but they haven't reported any clutch trouble so far.
Another thing is compairing a 180 cc tuned for power, short stroke engine to a low revving stressed honda engine is taking things a bit too far. Offcourse ZMA is better at cruising but it ought to be given its considerably larger cubic capacity (the difference is same as it is between a 100cc and a 150cc bike!)
If we want to compare, it should be between the p220 and the ZMA... the ZMA still has the cc advantage here although much lesser!

[Technocrat]

See lots of people also ignore the reason why some one buys a bike. As a daily commuter which also gives a decent performance powerwise for occasional long rides, the pulsar is really good. But for some one who loves touring & really abusing(as in long trips, guelsome conditions) his bike on the road CBZ\ZMA take the cake

ripped for 10-15 mins at 120 kph.

On my Hyderabad trip i was continuously cruiosing at 120-125 & got 27kpl thats witha bike which was not serviced for past 5k kms :-)

will be putting my zma next to p220 on lavasa tom morning

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

On my Hyderabad trip i was continuously cruiosing at 120-125 & got 27kpl thats witha bike which was not serviced for past 5k kms :-)

Dude... it aint cruising... even for the ZMA! You raped her!
By the way was it not serviced for 5k kms meaning not even an oil change for those 5k kms?

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Although it beats all the other 150cc in pick up and top speed, the avreage is 55 kmpl

This line is very very subjective buddy.

Moral the thing here is that you can have complete clutch overhaul for a pulsar at no more than 500-600 rs but the one for ZMA cost 1800 Rs atleast. And before any one say that it lasts long... well it wasnt even able to survive a 15 second burnout that my friend tried on his ZMA

The clutch on the Fiero and the Shogun costed an arm and a leg. The clutch on the Zen was cheaper when my brother replaced the clutch on his Shogun. But the replacement interval was more than HH, BAL et al!
Did the Pulsars clutch survive a 15 second burnout? Did the Karizma sport a new clutch when the burnout was attempted if yes then there has to be something very wrong with the way it was put in. I doubt any clutch, be it on the Bajaj Chetak scooter would last that less.

I agree on the CBZ.... the original classic CBZ had an awesome engine, better than all the other versions that came after it. I would still love to have classic CBZ in my garage.

I had the 2000 version and I liked it. Saying that it was the best would mean stopping at 147cc .

[Technocrat]

serioulsy i wasnt ripping the engine was cam & cruising

yeah not even an oil change :(. add to that slightly bent alloys, although no impact on stability as the bend was minor yet it was enough for me to get them replaced. It was nomadic ride dude

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

This line is very very subjective buddy.

It was not me, but my friend. And purpose was to highlight the fact that people will never be happy no matter what!

Originally Posted by moralfibre

The clutch on the Fiero and the Shogun costed an arm and a leg. The clutch on the Zen was cheaper when my brother replaced the clutch on his Shogun. But the replacement interval was more than HH, BAL et al!
Did the Pulsars clutch survive a 15 second burnout? Did the Karizma sport a new clutch when the burnout was attempted if yes then there has to be something very wrong with the way it was put in. I doubt any clutch, be it on the Bajaj Chetak scooter would last that less.
I had the 2000 version and I liked it. Saying that it was the best would mean stopping at 147cc .

It was a 13k kms run ZMA... well cared for.. oil change every 1500-200o kms. I know numerous pulsars who have survived minutes of burnouts, most which were 150's!
CBZ was 156 cc

[mrstyx]

dude if we forget the minor things like the plastic parts and the silencer nuts lets put in some light on the engine,its gearbox and its chain sproket loosening out rather wearing out....

you say that the bike's parts are cheaper in BAL but what about the durability of the parts they are pathetic.....
you end up changing the parts more often than you do in h and hh which are costly...

dude get your math right here the clutch plates of pulsar get wornout every 6-7k kms ( when ridden with a little higher trottle riding than the minimum in pulsar )though the cost is less you end up with more trips to the mecanic and the spend for the spares too...

where as in h and hh with the same kind of riding you get to make lesser trips to the mecanic and the spares are little costly UNDERSTAND THIS CLEARLY!!!!!!!!

secondly i am not comparing PULSAR 180 AND KARIZMA HERE AT ALL...
the comparison can only be made between pulsar 200 and ZMA or220p and ZMA!!!!!

how the hell can you guys compare ZMA's spare prices with that of p180's because the clutchplates used in p180 is same as the ones used in p150!!!!!!!!!!!