EVEN CHANCES

Two fun Indian motorcycles that won't blow up the bank. But which one wins?

-  Kartik Ware

Life is short and everything’s only getting more expensive, so you might as well have some fun — I like to think that an increasing number of Indian motorcyclists are veering down the road lined with that thought. And we’re all the better for it, since that means more fun motorcycles for everyone to fuss over. Here we have two homegrown machines from the makers of various KTMs and BMWs for those who want to add more than a bit of entertainment to their daily lives and rides — the Bajaj Pulsar N250 and the TVS Ronin. At 250cc and 225cc respectively, they offer a solid amount of grunt over smaller bikes without leaving your savings account as empty as a politician’s promise. And that was reason enough to put them together and try to figure out which one wins.

A look at their spec sheets will reveal their many similarities — both have torquey air-cooled single-cylinder engines with oil coolers and 5-speed gearboxes, rear monoshocks, and identical tyre sizes, front-disc diameters, seat heights and fuel-tank capacities. That’s a lot in common between two motorcycles that couldn’t be more different. Another similarity from personal experience is a universal agreement that both Bajaj and TVS had messed up the bikes’ designs. The general consensus is that the Pulsar looks too anonymous, while the Ronin looks, well, weird. Both bikes also elicited compliments, but for individual parts and overall quality of fit and finish. But it was clear that the design books in both studios were left untouched.