Standing, sitting or just hanging around the bike is sure to give you a lovely ego massage. But fire her up and that lousy exhaust note manages to dampen your enthusiasm a bit. This is where the Bullet scores, sporting an exhaust note capable of making your heart flutter. Such a great looking bike must and I repeat must have an exhaust note capable of sending shivers down your spine and not have the muted blurb that she currently belts.

The Eliminator sold in the US, Europe and Japan sports a 125cc powerplant. The same model was designed to be able to take a 175cc powerplant and Bajaj Auto has done the right thing by going in for the top engine. Knowing Bajaj, prepare to see this unit in different configuration in a future model.

The upright 173.9cc four-stroke engine sports bore and stroke dimensions of 65x52.4mm and runs on a 9.0 compression ratio. The engine unleashes 15.2bhp at 8500rpm and 13.7Nm at 7500rpm. Breathing is via a Mikuni BSR30 constant velocity carburettor (incidentally being only the second bike after the Fiero to sport a CV carb). She sports a traditional 2-valve single overhead cam top end. A secondary air injection system, an EGR and catalytic converter take care of emission requirements. The bike comes with an electric starter as OE. Unlike in the pre-production version that we rode for the preview (carried in the September issue), a kick starter has also been incorporated.

The engine is smooth and refined and a surprisingly eager performer. Power delivery is silky smooth, though it is best to ride the torque curve. At high revs vibrations do become evident though they don't become unduly harsh.

The gearbox sports five speeds that are nicely spaced and well matched to the power characteristics of the engine. The shift action however is a big let down. Shifting is not particularly slick though missed gears are not in the ball park. A heel and toe shifter has been provided but you need to have size 12 feet to heel shift. Also the heel shifter is obstructed by the engine heat shield that makes heel shifting a pain.

The gear lever kept sticking during downshifts and had to be prodded back into position. This was not as bad in the second bike that we tested but the problem was evident nevertheless.