[TusharK]

Last month, Bajaj launched the next-gen line-up of the iconic Pulsar. Speculations were rife that the Pulsar 220F would be discontinued with the introduction of the F250. According to media reports, that is indeed the case.



The production of the Pulsar 220F has reportedly ended with the last batch of bikes rolling off the production line.

The Pulsar 220F was launched in 2007. It is powered by 220cc, DTS-i engine that made 20 BHP @ 8,500 rpm and 18.55 Nm @ 7,000 rpm.

The semi-faired version has been replaced by the F250, which uses a 249cc, single-cylinder engine that produces 24 BHP and 21.5 Nm. The engine is paired with a 5-speed transmission via a slip-and-assist clutch.

Source: Zigwheels

Link to Team-BHP News

[Asish_VK]

An absolute Indian automotive legend.

I think it might have sold well even along with new 250 F/N.

[SoumenD]

The pulsar which set hearts racing back in 2007/08 although that was the Fi. This bike was pure affordable madness back in the day. So long legend

[Rshreyansh]

Definitely end of an era.
Although the 220 had become too long in the tooth, but its always difficult to send off something so aspirational as a Pulsar. Always drooled over the front fascia of the Pulsar 220 since childhood. Will miss it for sure.

[H0RSEPOWER]

It was probably 2006. I have seen a photo of the upcoming P220 in a car magazine, and was just drooling over the front design which was surely very different from anything available in Indian mass market for two wheelers.
And after one & half decades, still I would say the front end of the P220 is better looking than the P250 launched recently! And the former is still in demand. They could have sold it alongside the newer ones.

[greatgyan]

The bike which every college goer or job fresher in the early part of the 2010 decade aspired to own one day.
Got one for myself from my first few salaries back in 2012.
Kept it till 2018, 6 years of fuss free ownership along with several nostalgic memories.
Here she is just before she was sold.

[windrider]

Time flies I remember drooling at a cherry red 220 that a senior from my school used to bring to our entrance coaching center. He had fitted a K&N filter and changed the exhaust. You could hear that thing coming from a mile away

https://youtu.be/ZuNXyWU4NAs

[Sudarshan42]

2014 220F, 7 and a bit years strong. Gives me little to no reason to upgrade even now. Go well, legend.

[ashwinprakas]

Pulsars are by far the most under estimated motorcycle brand out there.

Dry Stator aside a Pulsar is bloody reliable to the point that irrespective of family pressure of owning so may motorcycles I would still face heat and keep mine forever considering the kind of motorcycles are available in the market these days. Heck! I'm considering putting the CBR250R up for sale to get a new Pulsar N250!

Ode to a good motorcycle!
Peace'!

[gururajrv]

This kind of rekindled all the memories from 2006 when I first saw the news of Pulsar 220 FI soon to hit the markets. It was a magazine, mostly autocar which had captured the picture of the advanced Pulsar back in the days from a auto-fest held in Delhi, if I’m not mistaken. It was a Blue bike. Finally it was launched in 2007 and I booked mine and got it. I still have the bike which was run 64,000 odd kms. Bike was a hoot to ride and the way it used to gather crowd in 2007-08 when I used to take it for a ride had kind of given me a good image in my hometown

It’s still running on stock FI system. I’m contemplating on getting the FI system from BS6 model. Heard it involves massive electrical systems I’ve to change. But will evaluate before taking a decision further. I don’t want to let go off this bike as it’s due for its FC next year as it’s completing 15 years mark.

Attaching a picture:

[Vitruvius]

I too was bitten by the Pulsar bug in 2009 when I got my 220 dts-i for all of 79000 rupees. It was my first year of college. My parents wanted me to get a car instead, but I kept begging my mom to try to convince her. Enjoyed every mile on that bike. I used to pamper it like it was my child!!
I got a car soon after graduation, and gave the bike to a close acquaintance. It's still running strong!!

[voyageur]

Motorcycle manufacturers those days came up with the best commercials... I still remember the below Pulsar 220 ad from that time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDcH0kl9-qg

Even Hero Honda Splendor, Karizma ads were really cool.

[PrasannaDhana]

As iconic as the rivalry between Tata Safari and Mahindra Scorpio, there was the rivalry between Karizma R / ZMR and Pulsar 220F.



It was notorious in the street racing circuits 12-14 years back. It was the first Indian budget motorcycle that could do silly speeds.





I owned 2 generations of Karizmas and my best friends owned 220Fs parallely. The pulsar was always the faster bike and I kinda enjoyed that fact and loved pushing them to limits on the ECR and OMR.

The very mention of 220F brings back my college memories And let's not forget the mean 220SF too.

Adios legend!!

[ashwinprakas]

Owned both the P220 and ZMA and currently still have my 7 year old P220 with me.

Coming from a ZMA the P220's roll on acceleration was thrilling and the highway potential was a boon considering the first time I did Kollam - Bangalore I did it in a crazy 7 hour span or less, which was an upgrade considering my normal running time was around 12~14 hours with the Discover 100, however over time even the P220 did saturate to around 10~12 hours as the lack of a better torque spread from low to mid did make riding it over time quite boring.

Also I see a lot of reviews including the Powerdrift one claiming the P220 was known for its torque but honestly from a touring point of view it was pathetic, especially when ridden inside KL and rural TN. Which I guess is why I never really felt emotions with the motorcycle like I'd felt with the CT100 or ZMA.

However, the reason I prefer it to be a better option over the rest is cause of its utter reliability. Blow a plug, it will run on the other! Face a coil failure? It will still keep running! Face a stator failure? It comes with a DRY STATOR and a new one can we swapped out within minutes! Also spare availability was a breeze, you can moonwalk into any outlet and get whatever you want

In fact when riding the P220 nearing the end of a really long ride(if you know it, you know it) I'd be downshifting hard and revving it's nuts off chanting

"God! Why doesn't this sh*t break!"

Whereas with the CBR250R I'm like;

"Oh God! Hope this sh*t doesn't break!"

A really wonderful motorcycle in that sense.



Though them giving a Crank position inspection window and not giving a window to manually rotate the crank is weird, and irritating for me as the motorcycle doesn't have a kicker and the lack of a decompression system doesn't do me any flavours when it comes to pushing the motorcycle to find TDC, even with the plugs off.

Also to note the oil cooler is overkill, adjusting the exhaust valve is a PITA! I contemplated borrowing someone's kid to help me out as I barely could set it right myself due to the lack of space.

Another irritant that comes to mind is the rubber camshaft caps, they are the obvious points of leakage on the Motorcycle but courtesy twin coils the chassis design leaves no room for the headcover to be removed with the engine still on the chassis, a work around is removing the front and top mounts and tilting the engine forward but having to remove the exhaust cannot be avoided, very irritating to the point that I've been ignoring the leak for over 5 years now.

Also it would be unfair if I don't mention it's upside, I have never experienced an issue cold starting as the fueling and Ignition are spot on being a carburetted motorcycle.

Though I've not faced BCU issues I still am not a fan, I have disabled the auto cancelling indicators as they are not suited for our riding conditions, but the auto headlight switch has been a boon when one bulb blows and the motorcycle automatically turns on the other beam.

Guess if I go on I'll have a lot to say about the motorcycle, she is currently at 60k on the odo and I hope someday I'd clock 100k on her.

P.S. LOL! I can't believe I almost missed mentioning that the later P220's came with an upgraded speedometer bracket that warranted either the front tyre to be removed to remove the front fairing in order to change headlights if going by the Service Manual or my methode of removing the fuel tank and then using 2 extension bars to undo the meter bracket and then remove the meter to change the headlight bulbs.

Vila La Vida my trusty companion!

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Which I guess is why I never really felt emotions with the motorcycle like I'd felt with the CT100 or ZMA.

I totally agree with this. I have enjoyed gunning the 220F but the ZMA/ZMR were much better to connect to & ride long distances.

Used to ride Trichy - Chennai a lot back in those days.