Can Bajaj's Fallback Claim New Territory For Itself?

If you flip back through the years, you will know that Bajaj has had a steady presence in the 125 cc motorcycle segment in the past.

- Debabrata Sarkar

It has been the trusted Discover for the most part, and there have been rumours of a Platina that is set to join its ranks as well. However, it is a sizeable chunk of the market and Bajaj has decided it should throw its best into the ring. Step in the Pulsar, a brand that is celebrating 18 years of existence in various shapes and forms, and indeed cubic capacity. This one, the 125 Neon, is the smallest in the range yet. Over the years, the Pulsar has staked its claim with its aggressive design and performance. With the new 125 Neon, Bajaj hopes to offer that same value to a fresh section of the market.

Design There is little that has changed as far as the Pulsar brand goes, the ones without alphabet suffixes anyway. The erstwhile Pulsar 135, the 150 and the 180 have all carried on the same basic design for nearly two decades.

There are some changes like the headlamp design, the introduction of clip-on handlebars and the ‘Neon’ badge. In essence though, the Pulsar 125 Neon today is pretty much the same motorcycle that Bajaj had debuted in the second facelift.

The silhouette, panels, instrument cluster and lamps remain unchanged. While for some of us this may appear to be not such a good thing, Bajaj hopes there will be others who will lap it up. The target audience would have to be those looking for a smaller capacity, cheaper option to become a part of the extended Pulsar family.

While all the panels remain the same, the Neon version gets bright accents on the side panels, and the 3D ‘Pulsar’ badge itself has been finished in a rubberised material in bright colour options, rather than the usual chrome.