Pulsar 220 or Karizma FI

In last couple of years we have observed a clear shift from 100cc to 125cc / 150cc bikes and 150cc to 180 to 220cc performance oriented bikes. Altough the first question a average Indian commuter asks while going for a new bike is "Average kitna hai?" (whats the fuel economy), the priority for our Desi-Biker has now changed. He expects power, performance, riding comfort, features and technology. This is surely a welcome sign and as the demand for such bike grows we will surely see world class bikes being imported or manufactured in India.

Recently i have received lots of queries like:

Hi,
I got your e-mail id from the confused programmer website.
I am about to buy a bajaj pulsar 220 in jan 2008.But some of my friends and some information on the internet suggests that a few indian bike manufacturers are taking over some european giants like ducati,triumph,etc.
Since i have a budget of around 1.5 lakhs and this is the only bike i will be using for a long time i want to make a good investment.can you pls let me know if actually any of these deals might work out and could launch a bike in 2008 in my budget.And pls let me know if my choice of going for a bajaj p220 is good or not or should i go for the new karizma f1 or others if any pls suggest.
I hope you will reply soon.
-Yours sincerely,
Ishan M.

So question usually the question is Pulsar220 vs Karizma FI and in this case we are also considering any future launches from Ducati,Triumph, KTM, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki.

Following are few points that we all can consider before making any decision:

• Karizma Fi is not yet launched and there is no confirmed news from anywhere that it will ever be launched.
  
• The Pulsar 220 Dtsi is by far the best Indian bike we have right now and much more advanced and powerful than any other bikes including Karizma R. (Keeping aside the Bullets and Kinetic Comet).
• Bajaj was earlier in talks with Ducati and Triumph, but no updates on that.
  
• Bajaj recently acquired a 17% stake in KTM. 250cc to 990cc bikes like super duke would be available in pro biking showrooms from mid next year. But these would be purely imports and imports attract a duty of 105%. Even the 250cc bike from KTM is expected to cost 2 lakh upwards.
• Yamaha R1 which costs about 5 lakhs in the foreign market will costs 11 lakhs here. Harley Davidson has dropped its plans for India because of such high import duties. So any bike like Yamaha YZFR125 / Ninja 250 / CBR 125 will all cost 3lakhs+ in India even if imported by any of the Indian company. No company has any confirmed plans of jointly manufacturing them in India.

So Bajaj definitely have plans of manufacturing bikes 300cc to 600cc with tech from KTM and Kawasaki but i don't see anything hitting the roads in next 2 years at the very least.


Related Links:-
1)Bajaj Pulsar DTS FI 220cc
2) 2008 Honda CBR1000
3) Super Bikes Comming soon
4) Yamaha R1 and MT01 in India
5) 2008 Kawasaki Ninja250R
5) Yamaha YZF-R125 VS Honda CBR125 VS Kymco KR Sport
6) Harley Davidson
7) Bajaj acquires stake in KTM
8) Bajaj chasing Ducati, Triumph
9) Bajaj likely to acquire Triumph