Bajaj Pulsar 220CC

Decades after Herbert James 'Burt' Munro, the "world's fastest Indian" set the standards high, for world speed records; two wheeler makers are close on the heels to reset new records in speed. Bajaj launched Bajaj Pulsar 220cc bike. The 2009 Pulsar is capable of 144 kph top speed. New Pulsar was the fastest production bike in India.


This status was however short lived as Yamaha Motor launched the Daytona racing kit for its Yamaha YZF-R15, which was the fastest production bike here before Bajaj's Pulsar 220cc 2009 edition. It was developed by Yamaha Engineering Corporation and Daytona in Japan. The kit has promised to push up the top whack of the 150cc R15 to 150 kph. "Bajaj's claim lasted for only four days," said a Yamaha official with an ironic grin.

Two wheeler manufactures are trying their best to showcase the best they have in the two wheeler segment. India's third largest two wheeler maker, TVS Motors launched a bigger variant of its premium bike, the TVS Apache RTR.

HS Goindi, president TVS Motor Company said "There was a gap in the market for fast bikes. And the new Apache was meant to fill that gap." Based on the earlier 160cc RTR, the new TVS Apache got a capacity upgrade to 180cc as a result of which its acceleration and top speed went up significantly. "But more than top speed, in this country, acceleration is more meaningful to buyers. They can at least feel it."

The present competition reminds one, of the legend of speed. A salesman during the day, Burt worked on his 1920 Indian Scout that had a top speed of 110 kph. For two decades, he tinkered with it and later travelled to Bonneville in the US with a determination to set world speed records. At one of the records he set, he still remains undefeated.