Bajaj have launched the new Pulsar RS 200 at a very competitive price of Rs. 1,18,500/- for the standard version and Rs.1,30,268/- for the ABS version both prices ex-showroom Maharashtra. The Pulsar RS 200 will only be available in two colour options, the yellow and the red. Surprising since we saw the test mules with blue and black colour options. Bajaj claims a top speed of 141 kmph for the Pulsar RS 200 with the engine redline at a high 11,000 RPM. The ‘RS’ stands for Race Sport by the way. Weight wise the new Pulsar RS 200 is 20 kgs heavier than its naked counterpart, kerb weight now lies at 165 kg. The 199.5 cc / 4 valve / triple spark / liquid cooled engine will be fuel injected and will churn out 24.5 Ps of power at 9,750 RPM and has a torque value of 18.6 Nm at 8,000 RPM. Tank capacity of the Pulsar RS 200 is at 13 litres. The twin projector headlights have halogen bulbs of 55W for low beam and 65 W for high beam. The front disc has slightly larger diameter and is of now 300 mm (280 mm on the NS).
Specifications and statistics apart, we saw the bike in the flesh today and it looks much more compact than expected. The earlier photographs made it look kind of bulky and from what we saw at the Auto Expo the Pulsar RS 200 is definitely more a neat package. We can tell you this now itself, regardless of how this motorcycle performs on the road, this bike will be known for its headlights. They look amazing and light up everything in front of you pretty darn well. The plastic quality felt good and the seats were the typical Pulsar build, similar to that on the NS. We were never at peace with the weirdly shaped LED tail light but those are pretty bright. The seating position is relaxed and we could sit on it comfortably, both of us at the launch were 6 feet tall. The wheelbase of the Pulsar RS 200 is slightly lesser than that of the NS by 8 mm, so is the ground clearance by 10 mm, it now lies at 157 mm. The switchgear and levers are all carried forward from the existing NS and are exactly the same. The yellow colour option on the Pulsar RS 200 is definitely our favourite one while the red colour option on the Pulsar RS 200 looked a bit too, well, red.
Another interesting point to note is that Bajaj will only making 2500 of these a month, a surprising figure considering that in the presentation they were going on about how they already have a huge chunk of the sports bike segment in India. The extra litre of tank capacity is a welcome addition considering that the Pulsar RS 200 is going to be ‘the’ go to bike for people looking for an affordable sports tourer. The fuel injection should also ensure a better efficiency than what the NS delivered. The Pulsar RS 200 mileage is expected at (city+highway) 40 kmpl. As always Bajaj has just made competition look like a greedy bunch with their pricing. The new Pulsar RS 200 is going to eat into market shares of the R15/CBR/Karizma and even Bajaj’s own Duke and RC 200. Just cannot wait to test this machine out. More about the Pulsar RS 200 coming from our end soon.
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