WE always knew that the Pulsar would win this test outright, and that's not just down to the extra cee-cees. We have two Pulsars in our long term test fleet and the editor keeps getting bummed off his Pulsar's keys. We love the Pulsar for its power delivery (and top end too, wheeeee), quick steering and sussed out suspension. So she was kept at the back of the pit lane to be ridden at the end so as not to cloud judgements.

Predicatbly she registered the quickest top whack at 109kmph. Went Aspi, "This motor is lovely, but then it should be. The extra punch is the clincher for fast laps because at a few points where I have to grab another gear on the other bikes, on the Pulsar you could just rev it into that extra playzone and hold the one ratio". Couldn't have put it better myself. The extra mid-range didn't leave me hunting for gears mid way through some corners and of course I was quicker every where on the track. Over some of the bumps I could also feel the steering damper doing its work, damping little head wobbles before it lead to a full-on tank slapper.

Out right handling honours were withheld from her on account of the tyres. I could feel the rear loosing grip, sliding ever so perceptibly and Aspi concurred with my views. For the record (seems like we are cutting one too many records here) the rear was a 100/90 MRF Zapper (Aspi describes it as a cruiser pattern), which wasn't as sticky as the Dunlops. The gearbox, that everybody seems to have an opinion on didn't give us any problems whatsoever. "The 'box did snatch first on my out lap but hence there were no problems. I was keeping an extra eye out for an gearbox shenanigans as the last thing I want is to slip into neutral mid way through a corner. But my fears were unfounded", babbled a by-now dead-tired Aspi.

Honestly the Pulsar felt the most at-home on the track. For one the riding position was as close to perfect as any of the other bikes here. She was also the most receptive to ultra-quick direction changes and was the quickest steering bike on the track all making her the most ridden, most in demand bike on the track. After seven hours of non-stop riding ("I haven't put in so many laps all through out my racing career here", went Aspi) we have a winner on our hands here, but only just. The other's ran her pretty close and finally it was cee-cees that did the job for the big 'un.

Specification :
Engine 4-stroke, SOHC
Max Power 14.7bhp@8000rpm
Max Torque 13.2Nm@7000rpm
Kerb Weight 137kg
Power To Weight 107.3bhp/ton
0-60kmph 5.0sec
Max Speed 109kmph
Price (on-road Pune) Rs 58,290