Ever since I’ve joined Autocar India just over a year ago, I’ve been lucky enough to ride just about every long-term two-wheeler for a few days here and there, but I’ve never had one that was assigned specifically to me, until now. Or more accurately, nearly two months ago, when the Pulsar N250 with dual-channel ABS rolled into our fleet. Unfortunately, within just a few days of that, we swapped it for the Pulsar F250 with another publication, for our fully faired 250cc bike comparison, and you can read about it here. And even once it was back in our stable, a hectic testing and shooting schedule meant I have had very little time with it.
However, for the past week I’ve finally been using the Pulsar, albeit just for commuting to and from office, and I’m happy to report that this is a friendly and forgiving companion as a commuter. I have always preferred commuting on my trusty six-year-old Access 125, given that my commute is all of 6km (each way) and it goes through one of the most congested areas of South Mumbai. The Pulsar, however, has proven nearly as effortless and, in fact, I have come to prefer it over my scooter.
One of the main reasons I like using the N250 on my commutes are the fantastic brakes. There’s good feel through the lever allowing you to always apply just as much bite as is required, which is really handy, especially when jaywalkers, errant road users, hand carts and stray animals come in the way without warning more often than not. And another nifty thing that this particular Pulsar N250 comes with is dual-channel ABS, which has come in handy quite often. The only caveat here is that the dual-channel ABS variant is available only in this stealthy black colour. Now, it’s not like this colour doesn’t look good, but I do think a couple of more livelier options would really help this bike stand out instead of melding into the crowd of humdrum commuters.
Speaking of commuters, something that’s becoming increasingly rare, even on sub-300cc bikes, is a centre stand and I’m quite pleased that the Pulsar still comes with one. Whether it comes to parking in a tight space or doing chain maintenance (and I’m a stickler for a clean chain!), the centre stand really does make life easier.
Another gripe I have with the bike is that access to the key slot, especially with my XL-sized gloved hand, is quite limited and I need to fiddle around quite a bit before the key ‘clicks’ into the slot.
Other than these quibbles, I’ve no complaints with the Pulsar. And with the monsoon approaching fast, I’m excited to take it on a rainy ride through the quaint interiors of Maharashtra for some authentic savouries. I even aim to take it to my hometown of Udvada, Gujarat for some much-needed cooling off after the sweaty and scorching summer we’ve had.
Azaman Chothia
Rishaad Mody
