[JatinKishore]

Originally Posted by Thamps

I had bought the N250 last month and has completed its first service last week. From my limited knowledge of owning and riding a few motorcycles, and the short period for which I have used the motorcycle, some of the main factors which stand out to me are listed below. Though some of it may seem trivial, i think it ought to be stated for the sake of anyone who is planning to buy the 250.

How is the performance of the bike on Highways? You mentioned that it feels flighty at 120-130. Do you feel confident riding it out on the highways at around 90-100 ?

Also I would like to know what you think of the Pulsar 250 in comparison to the Gixxer and Dominar. I know they are significantly more expensive but if you could stretch your budget would you get one of those over the P250?

[Thamps]

It cruises comfortably at speeds of 90-100 and I feel its highway performance is more than adequate for our roads .
It is not like the motorcycle suddenly becomes unstable once it crosses 120.Its just that it's not noticeable at lower speeds. The buildup is gradual. Does the N250 have the most planted front end at speeds? Nope. The bike does not chatter or shake dangerously on its own at triple digit speeds. However, I feel it doesn't have the most confidence inspiring front end at higher speeds, when compared to other performance motorcycles in our market.
Coming to the comparison, it is hands down the most value for money 250 currently.
The Dominar 250 costs approx 25 k more and has USD Forks, liquid cooling, better performance, dual ABS and a big bike feel. But any gains in performance is zapped by the dominars additional weight of 20kgs.It also may affect its nimbleness in city traffic. In drag races online ,I have seen that there is not much of a difference between the P250 and D250. I would not have bought the D250 anyway, as I don't like heavy motorcycles (in its own segment) no matter the other features are.
Add 45k (approx) more and there is the Gixxer 250. It's lighter with more power, but with a weaker service network and cost of ownership may not be as cheap as a Bajaj. Would I have bought one?
Yes. IF
a) it was my only motorcycle
b) my maximum budget was around 2.2 lakhs
c) pillion comfort was not an issue
d) had an authorised service centre nearby

If you want a motorcycle under 1,75 lakhs with a blend of better performance, a comfortable ride and good city tractability, you can just blindly buy a P250. It is the perfect motorcycle for someone who is looking for a 200 cc motorcycle like the RTR, Xtreme 200,Hornet etc ,but can stretch the budget a little for some extra grunt .Hope this have clarified your query.
(All quotes are approximate On-road prices in Kerala)

[JatinKishore]

Originally Posted by Thamps

think the D twins have overshadowed the 250s in terms of value for money/specs and that might be the reason for average sales.

I bought the Dominar 250 a month ago. I took a test drive of the N250 before that and found it to be quite easy to ride especially considering I used to ride the Platina 100 before this.
The bajaj salesperson was pushing hard for the N250 and I was also seriously considering the new 250s as I was on a tight budget.
But i ultimately decided to go for the Dominar because of two main reasons:
1. I had always loved the looks of the Dominar I believe it just looks magnificent(and the new stickering on the 2022 models ruined that).
The Pulsars looked just "alright".
2. While I found the performance of the of N250 to be good, it felt like it was just too easy. I test rode the Dominar after the N250 and the difference was huge. D250 just has a much more exciting power delivery.

Riding the N250 my thoughts were "This is nice"
On the Dominar as soon as I opened the throttle it was "OK That's it. This is the one"

The Pulsar 250s are something that I very much wanted to like. But after riding them I feel that Bajaj has made 250cc commuters and I believe most people aren't looking for that in this segment.

[Sudarshan42]

Originally Posted by Thamps

I had bought the N250 last month and has completed its first service last week. From my limited knowledge of owning and riding a few motorcycles, and the short period for which I have used the motorcycle, some of the main factors which stand out to me are listed below. Though some of it may seem trivial, i think it ought to be stated for the sake of anyone who is planning to buy the 250.

Thanks for the review and the unique points, Thamps!

I have a hypothesis, after mostly going mad over obsessing over buying the right bike; humour me by confirming or dismissing it Since you own both a Pulsar 250 and a D390 which lie at the opposing ends of the price range that I'm considering, does it make sense to stick to the extreme ends alone and not consider anything in between? Reason- when you buy something in the 2-3L range, you can't help but think 'What if I'd spent a bit more to get a vastly better bike?' or 'What if I'd saved a bit more to get something that was equivalent to this for the most part anyway?'.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by Thamps

2) Flighty at higher speeds- Some of the reviews by journalists had pointed out the same for the naked 250. I didn't understand the statements at the time, but once I tried to attain those speeds (120-30ISH),I understood exactly what they meant.

Actually this is something I, in my limited bike experience have found to be the case with all the nakeds I have ridden. I actually found the front end to be twitchy and not confidence inspiring in Duke 390 and Himalayan as I drove them along with my R15v3 back to back in a ride at high speeds. The story was similar in Thunderbird and Classic 500 too but the vibrations were way too high and the speeds were lower to form a firm opinion on them.
There was a night and day difference between them and my bike, my bike would stay absolutely firmly planted and arrow straight till its maximum speed with hardly any issues, but the punchy Duke for example would reach those speeds much quickly but at the speeds you mentioned would feel scary and unnerving, it would suddenly change directions(not by a lot obviously)/feel feather light or over react to the road conditions below giving me mini heart attacks and forcing to slow down immediately. It frankly felt as a deal breaker to me, to the point of feeling better about my bike's painful riding position and be happy with what I have.
I don't know why the difference was this huge, was it because of Yamaha's better chassis, better suspension tuning, fairings, riding position with more weight on the front wheel or a combination of all these, but the end result was like I explained.
More experienced riders on TeamBHP can elaborate further or disagree with my statements but this is been my experience so far, admittedly my experience in bikes is not even a fraction of what it is in cars so I'am much more open to all kinds of opinions.

[Thamps]

Originally Posted by Sudarshan42

Since you own both a Pulsar 250 and a D390 which lie at the opposing ends of the price range that I'm considering, does it make sense to stick to the extreme ends alone and not consider anything in between? Reason- when you buy something in the 2-3L range, you can't help but think 'What if I'd spent a bit more to get a vastly better bike?' or 'What if I'd saved a bit more to get something that was equivalent to this for the most part anyway?'.

Lets take the case of P250 and duke 250. The price difference comes to around 1.3 lakhs approximately. Is duke 250 worth such a premium? Not at all. At that point, if the budget is stretchable, better go for 390. The difference between the two comes to around 75k.

In my case a few years back, i got my first real job and i wanted a light, power packed motorcycle as a stepping stone to bigger bikes. I was using a Xtreme 150 at that time and was buying the new motorcycle on loan. I had my eyes on Duke 250 which was around 2 lakhs (on-road) at that time. But i stretched my budget by 1 lakh (the price difference between the 250 and 390 at that time) and got the 390 instead because

1) D250 didn't have ABS. That was a big deterrent as i was inexperienced with bigger bikes and i didn't have the skill or confidence to deny the safety net given by an ABS.
2) I test rode the D390 and D250. I loved the 390's insane acceleration and power delivery.

I could have stretched myself more for a Ninja 650,but then it would be a financial risk. What if i crashed it? What if i had to change the tyres prematurely? What if i had to procure some parts just after the warranty period?
"What if I'd spent a bit more to get a vastly better bike?" is a bottomless pit because the budget has to stop somewhere and we will have to settle for most value at that price point. Its like buying a mobile. If one waits a bit, this year's flagship processor can be bought at a discount. But then again the next years flagship processor will be even more faster....

"What if I'd saved a bit more to get something that was equivalent to this for the most part anyway?" may not be applicable to motorcycles as i think a biker will spend the most he/she can afford for his ride. It may also lead to regret later on since he/she chose to settle for less. At least that's my view.
Anything in between would depend on what all features/specs are one willing to compromise because i think anything in between would be tempting if and only if the middle motorcycle has any one or more features you really really want, but the extreme end one misses out.

Thats my take on your query. Hope it helps.

[Thamps]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

I actually found the front end to be twitchy and not confidence inspiring in Duke 390 and Himalayan as I drove them along with my R15v3 back to back in a ride at high speed.
There was a night and day difference between them and my bike, my bike would stay absolutely firmly planted and arrow straight till its maximum speed with hardly any issues, but the punchy Duke for example would reach those speeds much quickly but at the speeds you mentioned would feel scary and unnerving, it would suddenly change directions(not by a lot obviously)/feel feather light or over react to the road conditions below giving me mini heart attacks and forcing to slow down immediately. It frankly felt as a deal breaker to me, to the point of feeling better about my bike's painful riding position and be happy with what I have.
I don't know why the difference was this huge, was it because of Yamaha's better chassis, better suspension tuning, fairings, riding position with more weight on the front wheel or a combination of all these, but the end result was like I explained.

The D390 has a sharper rake angle than the R15 (23 vs 26 as per Google), which makes it more responsive but less stable at high speeds. The rider weight is more front biased in the R15. It has fairing which reduces the aero drag. Perhaps all these may be the factors which led to what you felt.
I have ridden the Duke near its top end for a sustained period countless times, but have never found it to be scary or unnerving. Were you in full tuck during the ride? Were the tyres overinflated? Did the wheels have any minor dents? Were the tyres unevenly worn on any side?

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by Thamps

The D390 has a sharper rake angle than the R15 (23 vs 26 as per Google), which makes it more responsive but less stable at high speeds. The rider weight is more front biased in the R15. It has fairing which reduces the aero drag. Perhaps all these may be the factors which led to what you felt.
I have ridden the Duke near its top end for a sustained period countless times, but have never found it to be scary or unnerving. Were you in full tuck during the ride? Were the tyres overinflated? Did the wheels have any minor dents? Were the tyres unevenly worn on any side?

I seem to have missed your reply, and no, the Duke had no issues and was a brand new bike, the observations I made were with respect to comparison to my bike, and it did feel unnerving to me much below its top speed, it would be fine for most part but the moment you encounter even slightly bad patches or road or deep joints in flyovers, it used to feel twitchy. It was in my experience at that day and ofcourse I need to ride it much more to make a firm opinion on that, I respect your opinion and since you own the bike and have ridden it a lot, it might not be as bad overall like you suggest.

[Thamps]

Issue with air leak in alloy/tyre of the Pulsar 250.Posted in Motorcycle tyres compared. Will keep this thread posted on the developments.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5463099 (Motorcycle Tyres : Compared!)

[srkasbe]

Have installed Hyperrider Accessories on my F250, the weight has considerably increased with the front crash guards each weighing a heavy 3kg, so total 6kg in the front and the top rack and saddle stay weighing 4kgs at the rear. The performance difference was in the acceleration and inertial pull. Although the efficiency with pillion during the last trip with luggage was still 39kmpl with a constant 90s and 100s being maintained for first 150kms and 80s with bad-average state highways for rest 200 kms. Had faced a fuel pump relay issue at the starting 2 months but then no issues till now after battery was replaced along with the relay. Have not faced any issues with tires other than it being worn out more than 70% with just 10k on the ODO. My bike is from first production lot, i.e December 16th was delivery and the tires and panel gap issues were not yet addressed by the company as those bikes had already been dispatched. Have attached a few pics of Accessories and latest trip to Gandikota.