It’s not everyday you see a motorcycle widely considered the best in the country on a number of counts put down off hand. ‘Pulsar 180? What Pulsar 180?’ I’d just asked the question to a Bajaj R&D staffer about how the new Bajaj Pulsar DTS-Fi compared to the fastest of the Pulsars so far. To see a motorcycle we’ve all come to like for its spirited, even raw nature so casually dismissed meant that the K3, Bajaj’s internal designation for the newest Pulsar, was spectacular. Or at least that’s what the development team believed.
A short presentation from Bajaj’s R&D head, Abraham Joseph, did nothing to dispel that notion. He referred to the motorcycle as a road scalpel. And described it in five words, and I quote: power, control, precision, balance and freedom. Strong words, those. From the philosophical plane, we er... descended to a more tangible arena, where the man gave us a four page bullet point list of India-first features the bike sported. That part was impressive. I’ll give you a quick rundown of the never-befores, but first, the heart of the motorcycle, fuel injection. Obviously, Hero Honda got to the launch point first with the Glamour FI. But the DTS-Fi integrates Bajaj’s twin spark ignition system with a made to measure fuel injection system, a more complex system. Once we got saddle time, we’d be able to confirm the benefits of that, right? In short, like any fuel injection system, the DTS-Fi has sensors for everything all over the motorcycle, and uses the data to determine accurate fuelling and spark timing. The software was developed in collaboration with Delphi and gives the ECU the ability to fire both the spark plugs individually during a combustion stroke for greater control over the burn. In the process, the 220cc (yes, that is the final capacity of the current Pulsar platform) motor makes 1.95 kgm of torque and 20 bhp. Which makes it, in numeric terms, the most powerful bike in the country save for the Enfield 500. In performance terms, this machine should have no equal at the moment. Bajaj claim a 135 kph top speed, easy cruising at three digit speeds and when you ride sanely, 50 kpl.
To keep a motor this potent under control, Bajaj brought in a whole stack of details. The most obvious is the oil cooler which doesn’t actually cool the engine, but keeps oil temperature (and hence viscosity) constant. Then there is a new, very progressive, light clutch, new gearbox linkages for positive shifting and a bunch of other motor refinements. As we would find out later in the day, the DTS-Fi is not only the most powerful Bajaj yet, it is also one of the most refined, with a quiet motor, crisp throttle response and positive, slick shifts.
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