This bike has been long in coming. Many of its features are exclusive and have never been offered on any Indian made bike before this. The most prime feature, though not for the first time in India – the 125 cc Hero Honda Glamour already has it – is FUEL INJECTiON. In fuel injected engines there is no carburetor. The fuel (petrol+air) is sprayed by a nozzle into the cylinder through the inlet valve. The fuel gets better atomized because of being sprayed under pressure. This improves combustion and enables considerably better utilization of fuel resulting in better fuel efficiency and better torque spread throughout the rev range.

The real never-before features are a rear disc brake for the first time in India ; rear-view mirrors mounted on the front headlamp fairing instead of on the handlebar ; self-canceling turn signals ; two trip-meters ; needle-roller bearings for swing-arm instead of bush, and a host of other firsts.

The almost exactly 220 cc engine (Karizma=223 cc) having bore x stroke of 67 mm X 62.4 mm produces maximum power of 20 PS (14.7 kw) @ 8500 rpm (Karizma=17 PS @ 7000 rpm) and develops maximum torque of 19.12 Nm @ 6500 rpm (Karizma=18.35 @ 6000 rpm). Compression Ratio is 9.5. Exhaustec in the form of a hollow resonator is welded on the bend pipe of the silencer. Power through a wet multi-disc clutch is transmitted to the five speed gearbox, operated in a 0ne-down-four-up pattern by a toe-only gear shifter which claims to give the bike a real time top speed of 135 kmpH and also claims to give a mileage of @ 50 kmpL if ridden carefully with fuel economy in mind. Power from the gearbox is transmitted to the rear wheel via an O-ring fortified drive chain. Engine oil characteristics are maintained even under extreme riding conditions by an oil cooler first seen on the Pulsar200 which is only DTSi, while this Pulsar220 is DTS Fi.

Weighing 150 kg (same weight as Karizma) on a wheelbase of 1350 mm and a claimed ground clearance of 165 mm, the bike runs on tubeless tires both front and rear, the front tire being of size 120/80 X 17 and rear being 90/90 X 17. The rear tire turns within a rectangular-section swing arm with elliptically rounded top and bottom faces, thus eliminating sharp edges, which is an excellent plus point. Rear suspension is on Nitrox gas shock absorbers, while front suspension is on hydraulic forks having 130 mm travel. Un-paralleled braking is achieved by disc brakes both front and rear. The front disc diameter is 260 mm, while rear disc is of 230 mm diameter. Fuel tank capacity is 15 liters with a 1.7 liter usable reserve. The beam focusing of the powerful 12 volt DC, 55 watt headlight is achieved by an ellipsoidal reflector for low beam and a parabolic reflector for high beam.

While there is a plethora of mechanical and structural “firsts”, the electronic add-ons are even better. For the first time in any Indian bike there are warning light signals for weak battery, low engine oil level, choked air filter and excessive heating. A warning light flashes if the engine is over-revv’d. Light Emitting Diode (LED) tail lights and digital meters are now almost standard on all Pulsars and some other brands. Clip-on handlebars, which exist on this bike, first appeared on the Apache 160 RTR.

Priced at Rs.81,280/- ex-showroom Delhi, this is the ultimate top end bike today, but with two major presumptions. One is there is no kick-starter, only self start by battery power. If the battery dies or is weak, driver will have to push start this 150 kg bike which is just 13 kg lighter than Bullet. Sure there is an indicator for “weak battery”, but we Indians as a nation mostly ignore indicators. The second is that there is no dipstick to check engine oil level. Instead there is an inspection window. How difficult it is to check engine oil level by this inspection window is better known to people owning Suzuki and Super Splendor.