Pulsar Mania again

The new Bajaj Pulsar N250 and the F250 are here, two decades after Bajaj first declared “it’s a boy!”, to take the brand name into the next generation. We take both out for a spin to find out just how far they’ve come

- Dipayan Dutta

Twenty years ago, Bajaj launched a brand name that would become synonymous with the Indian sports bike and would in many ways change the way India looked at two-wheel machines. The name Pulsar not only changed the fate of Bajaj Auto from Humara Bajaj to the World’s Favourite Indian but also opened the metaphoric floodgates for India’s sports bike movement. Two decades of history made it all that more epic to be staring down at the cockpit of two brand new Pulsars set to carry the brand name into the future, the Bajaj Pulsar N250 and the F250. Now, these two are no upgraded Pulsars or even detuned platform shared KTMs but brand new quarter-litre motorcycles in their own right with a mission to democratize performance(for a second time).

If it wasn’t already clear, of the two quarterlitre twins, the N250 is the naked streetfighter while the F250 is the spiritual successor to the bikini faired 220F. Although at least for the immediate future both bikes will be sold alongside each other. Aside from a few cosmetic differences at the front, both bikes are nearly identical mechanically. Before we jump into the juicy ride and performance bits let’s take a quick look at the new design language on both these motorcycles.

What a lot of people will probably take for granted is how both these motorcycles look fresh and new but are still instantly recognizable as Pulsars. Sure, two decades have changed the definition of “muscular design” from the more rounded form of the original Pulsars to the more sinewy sharp lines that you see on both these motorcycles. Bajaj has played a smart game of contrast on the body panels using blacked-out panels to give the body painted panels a more floating, clean appearance compared to some of the busier designs we’ve seen on Pulsars in the past.