BAJAJ pulser 220 or HERO HONDA Karizma

It doesn’t happen every other month but at times, you just know when a bike is destined to srike a high note। Hero Honda did it with its CBZ a few years ago and we think Bajaj’s Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi has the trappings of becoming a similar landmark bike in India.

Hero Honda has taken a lot of styling cues for this bike from Honda’s old model VFR 800, the Japanese giant’s legendary and largest selling superbike. Similarities are visible in the alloy die-cast wheels, the tailpiece, the front indicators, the fairing, the silencer unit, seat, panel shapes and instrument binnacle. Pulsar ancestry is clearly visible in the new 220cc DTS-Fi. But what strikes the eye is how cleverly the bike hides its 150kg bulk. Bajaj’s latest creation is compact and will look just right to the average Indian rider. The voluminous front fairing packs away ample tuck-in area and houses a set of vertically stacked headlights that are clearly the best yet on any Indian bike.

A large 223cc single cylinder, air-cooled and inclined 15 degrees forwards from the vertical does duty on the Karizma. A paper-pleated element is employed to help purify breathing, and we noticed a small resonator working on the hose leading from the airbox to the carburetor. The carburettor also runs a throttle sensor to help adjust rate of fuel delivery in relation to the throttle position. All this adds up to 17bhp at 7000rpm and a prodigious 1.87kgm of torque at 6000rpm. However, bhp is only two more than the Pulsar 180. Five cogs shift through a sporty toe-shifter. DTS-Fi, an acronym for Digital Twin Spark-Fuel injected, implies the marriage of twin spark plugs and fuel-injection within its four-stroke cycle engine. Running two valves, the Pulsar DTS-Fi engine is air-cooled and circulates oil to an oil-cooler to further control temperature. Bajaj's largest powerplant employs roller bearings for the rocker arm pivots and camshaft interfaces, as well as an ExhausTEC chamber to beef up low-down power. This bike is amongst India’s most powerful with a healthy 20bhp developed at 8500rpm. Maximum torque of 1.95kgm twists out at 6500rpm. The Pulsar DTS-Fi uses a sweet-shifting five-speed, one-down-and-four-up gearbox complemented by a well-weighted clutch. Karizma performs at speeds around 100kph. The riding position is very sporty and similar to that on the CBZ, and the other hand The Pulsar DTS-Fi can thunder past 60kph in 4.42 seconds and whiz past 110kph in only 18.79sec. Top whack is an impressive true 131kph. Braking on the Karizma is superb and we managed to bring this bulky 150kg-bike and rider to rest from 60kph. Under city riding conditions, the bike returned 30kpl and on the highway testing it returned 45kpl at a speed of 70kph. The otherside Pulsar 220cc DTS-Fi delivers 37.7kpl in crowded city-riding conditions. At speeds around 80kph on the highway, the bike returned 36.2kpl.

Karizma sure grabs our imagination। How we wish we could afford one. A highly capable, stylish bike, but high price puts it out of reach for

many but striking styling, more features than we could imagine, a crisp and potent 220cc fuel-injected 20bhp motor, as well as solid handling make the new Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi a bike that only happens once in a while in India. The Pulsar DTS-Fi offers it all.