Pulsar 220F 3 Years Ownership Review By Anurag

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Hey guys this is Anurag and I'm here with my ownership experiences of my Pulsar 220F along with the regular maintenance tips, cost of ownership, fuel economy(FE), spares I changed etc. In this review report. Fast backward to 2012, when I was into the market in search of a best bike (in premium commuter segment) I was totally fixed onto Pulsar 180 because it ticked all the boxes for me like hassle free and cheap maintenance, good FE, usable Power for city rides and hi-way rides, comfortable yet stylish seating position coupled with rear-set foot pegs, 2 piece handle bars etc. As usual when I went to Bajaj Showroom they insisted me to take Pulsar 150 and tried to convince me that P150 is superior to P180 because it has a kick starter :p

But I was determined to take P180, in rare case P220 or P135 LS(Pulsar 135LS due to its funky looking style, refined engine and more FE). But couldn't buy a P180 because I was not given finance option. I came out of showroom disappointed but an idea of buying a used yet good P220 struck me. So headed straight to a used bike dealer, there I saw a shining new P220 with 4k odd kms on it with a third free service left. I was told that the owner wanted to leave to US of A and hence sold it. So I paid the money took the bike. From that day till today I'm very much happy with my choice.

Ride to Home:

I never rode any faired/semi faired bike before owning P220. So the first ride was really not that comfortable but it was an amazing ride because I was on MY BIKE Feeling. The reason for not feeling comfortable is the fairing. Yes as the headlight is fixed and wont move with handle bars, it was really awkward riding the bike in traffic congested area with a heavy pillion. But the things settled quite faster and the bike felt more and more rideable and flickable through traffic in coming days.

Next few rides:

By the next few rides my bike became my best pal and it felt we were connected virtually. Its time I got to know more about my PAL. The real FE figures were coming out. For the first fill I got around 30 kmpl. Then I tested extensively for the correct riding pattern by trial and error method. I started shifting gears at different RPMs and settled at 3K RPM after many trials and errors. At 3000 RPM, the bike powerband feels linear till 6 to 7K RPM (theory may be subjective) and if one shifts gear at 3K RPM, the gear engages smoothly and one can feel the smoothness of engine. Got habituated to 3K shifts for the next few hundred Kms and when I checked the mileage I got a good 43-44 Kmpl. Servicing :

At 6000 kms I gave the bike for 3rd free service, got the bike serviced in a day. Things they've done are oil change, carb cleaning, tuning etc with a neat water washing. At that time I had just theoretical knowledge of bike mechanical and I never knew their practical operation.

So I being a noob then (tongue emoticon ) felt happy with their service and took my bike back. But later stages when the bike got minor niggles like problem with water in wiring, tuning problems etc, I had to rush to the service station every time.(But the bullet point here is BAJAJ Service Centers here in Hyderabad are very nice and often Mechanics/supervisors interact with you in a professional way). But rushing every alternate day for wiring problem brought out the DIY freak lying inside the layers covered with fear of destroying the bike out.

So from 9K kms on, I started servicing my bike myself, from then on No troubles of visiting SVCs anymore.

NOTE: Though Bajaj recommends service at regular intervals for Warranty, as it was a used bike and almost neared 2 Years, I didn't care about the Warranty. But I once got the RR unit changed under warranty and I'm thankful to BAJAJ and the SVC for not even charging me for Labour. Engine Oils-THE BLOOD OF ENGINE:

For the first 8000 kms, the bike ran on Bajaj Dts-i 10000 20W-50 oil. Then I shifted to Shell AX3 mineral oil for next 1500-2000 kms and from then on I've been using Shell AX7 10W-40. In between I tried Bajaj Dts-i 10000, Castrol Active, Motul 5100 but never found engine to be as smooth as when the bike ran on AX7.

The notable point here is Bajaj recommends 20W-50 grade oil. But I've been using 10W-40 oil, and till date I never faced any problems. In fact the bike feels smooth when 10W40 oil is used. However, when you use 20W50 oil, the initial acceleration is better than AX7 oil. But after the engine temperature reaches certain limit the AX7 works like charm. But never ever heat the engine too much as the oil being W40 viscosity is lesser compared to W50 and u feel the bike is running harsh. This is when Motul 5100 scores High.

On a scale of 10 I give 9/10 for AX7, 7/10 for 5100 and 6/10 for Bajaj Dts-i and Castrol oils.

Parts changed and their prices:

Till date the parts I changed are:
>Rear Brake pads at 11000 Kms. The Price is Rs 208/- inclusive of tax for rear and for Front Pads it is Rs 180/- only. >Spark plugs- I changed the stock Champion plugs to Bosch plugs. Changed the plugs at 12k kms. However, there was still some life left in the stock ones but I changed to Bosch to feel the difference. Although the difference was Okayish. The price for single Bosch plug is Rs 80/-, we can get both for Rs 150/- after discount.
>Air filter- Changed at 18K kms. It costed me around 85-90 INR.
>For a change, tried ERS Chain on my bike. It has 14/38T set up while the stock one has 14/36T. Battery:

One of the disaster on P220 is the stock Exide battery. It claims to be maintenance free, but you need to fill distilled water and recharge it regularly. Changed to Amaron Battery which gives 2+2 years warranty. It's really a nice battery and I'm happily living with it. It Costed me Rs 1800-2000 without exchanging my old Battery.

Kitna deti hai:

The bike is now at 29000 kms. My present FE is 43 Kmpl in City rides with 10% in 1st gear, 20-30% in 2nd, 40% in 3rd, 10-15% in 4th and 5-10% in 5th gear. This mileage improvement is observed from the last service where sprockets and filter were changed with the AFR turns in between 2.5-3 turns from full close position.

(PS:The Highest FE I got on highways was ~62kmpl when ridden at constant 4-5K RPMs.)

So the overall cost in maintaining my bike stands at approx Rs 2.25-2.5K (inclusive of servicing, parts replaced, fuel charges etc) Wow that's pretty much easy to maintain the bike, isn't it???

My bike brought a DIYer in me. I do most of the things like changing oils, cleaning filter, Spark plugs, Disc pads changing, etc. A glimpse of my bike where you can see her love of sleeping on my bed :p I've taken her through the best and the worst from beautiful highways, cool city rides, to challenging off-roads, stunting session and what not but till now our love never faded.

With love,

Anurag
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