With the discontinuation of the N125 in India, the Pulsar 125 had gained attention back as the entry-level Pulsar model and Bajaj has just revamped it from the ground-up. Some of the obvious upgrades are to the engine, frame, and suspension. However, with the line-up expanding to four variants from two earlier, what exactly sets the new Pulsar 125 apart from the old? Let’s find out.
Note: At the time of writing, Bajaj hasn’t shared the exact dimensions and kerb weight for the new Pulsar 125 so this comparison skips that. We’ll update the story once we get those details.
Bajaj Pulsar 125 New vs Old: Engine
More power and torque at the same points in the rev range
Similar to the all-new Pulsar 150, the new Pulsar 125’s engine also looks similar to the outgoing one at first glance, but that’s not the case. The cubic capacity on the new engine has increased by two-tenths and Bajaj has extracted marginally more power and torque delivered at similar rpm as before. Bajaj also claims that 80 percent of the torque is available from 3,000rpm onwards. On paper, it’s easy to dismiss this improvement as minuscule, but it bodes well with Bajaj’s placement of the 125 as an easy city commuter.
Unlike the new Pulsar 150’s oil-cooled engine, the 125 sticks to an air-cooled unit. Transmission also remains 5-speed, but Bajaj claims an upgraded gearbox for low end tractability. The power-to-weight ratio has supposedly improved, and Bajaj says acceleration has as well, but we’ll have to wait until we put the bike through our tests to confirm so.
Bajaj Pulsar 125 New vs Old: Chassis, headlight, and suspension
Chassis and suspension see major changes
Keeping in line with the all-new theme, Bajaj has also changed the chassis and the suspension setup on the new Pulsar 125. The existing dual-cradle frame has been swapped for a single-cradle or diamond frame with the engine now acting as a stressed member. Bajaj says the change enables the Pulsar 125 to have greater stiffness, enabling better handling and stability.
Though the fork is still a right side up (RSU) telescopic unit, the new Pulsar 125 upgrades the diameter by 1mm to 31mm, but with a 10mm shorter 125mm travel. The rear suspension has also seen improvements with the familiar twin-shock setup being swapped for a monoshock unit and the travel has been increased by 8mm to 110mm. Bajaj attributes greater stability in straight lines and corners on the new Pulsar 125 to the brand-new monoshock setup.
The lighting setup has also been changed, although by a tiny amount. While the headlight and taillight continue to be LED across the board, Bajaj has slightly redesigned the fairing on the new Pulsar 125. Out of the four variants, the LED indicators and hazard lights are only available on the top three variants; only the top-most variant gets a belly pan as standard.
Bajaj Pulsar 125 New vs Old: Tyres and brakes
Higher variants get a larger front disc
While the tyre sizes remain unchanged on the new Pulsar 125, Bajaj has increased the front disc size on the top three variants. ABS in any form continues to be missing, with the motorcycle offering Combined Braking System (CBS) as standard instead.
Bajaj Pulsar 125 New vs Old: Features
TFT Cluster and ride modes are major upgrades
The biggest feature addition to the new Pulsar 125 starts with what you’ll see on every ride, the instrument cluster. The base variant now gets a 5-inch LCD cluster, the mid and top variants getting a 5-inch TFT cluster. Connected features like music control and call and SMS alerts are common to all four variants—thanks to the standard Bluetooth—though WiFi is limited to the top variant. Thanks to WiFi, the top variant alone gets Google Maps mirroring for navigation, whereas the others have turn-by-turn navigation.
The TFT cluster can also store important documents like licence and RC for quick access. To charge up your devices on the go, the new Pulsar 125 gives you a USB type-C port, an upgrade to the previous version’s USB type-A port. However, it’s a paid extra on the base variant. What’s standard on all variants are the three ride modes, Road, Rain, and Sport. In order to make city riding easier still, the new Pulsar 125 also gets crawl tech and ISG (Integrated Starter Generator). The former makes stop-and-go traffic easier to handle; whereas the latter, available on the top three variants, gives you silent start and a stop-start system to conserve fuel.
Bajaj Pulsar 125 New vs Old: Price
New 125’s noticeably more expensive
With all the new changes and features, the new Pulsar 125 starts at Rs 92,900 for the base variant and goes up to Rs 1.04 lakh for the top variant, cracking the one lakh mark. That’s a steep increase over the outgoing model’s price range. The new Pulsar 125 does make forward strides in almost every area, but we’ll have to wait until we ride the bike to comment on whether the changes justify the unmissable premium.
All prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.
Vishal Venugopal
Rishaad Mody
Dinshaw Magol
