With the Bajaj Pulsar AS 200 and AS 150, the company say that they have started seeding the process of creating the affordable adventure bike segment. We got astride both the AS 200 & AS 150 to see what they are like…
Story: Aninda Sardar
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
First, there was the Pulsar NS 200, then came the RS 200, and now we have an AS 200. Bajaj Auto took a quantum leap forward with the Pulsar NS 200 from all previous generations of Pulsar. About a month ago there came the RS 200. Essentially, a fully faired version of the naked NS 200 but with fuel injection, a sharper rake and a shorter wheelbase. Currently though the company’s busy with another iteration of the motorcycle – the AS, which stands for Adventure Sport. Before you get carried away, there is little by way of ‘Adventure’ in this motorcycle.
According to Bajaj top brass, the adventure sport segment is actually quite a small niche in the Indian context. One that doesn’t justify mass production. Now, that’s a problem for Bajaj because the Indian two-wheeler manufacturer is all about mass production. Therefore Bajaj want to first grow the affordable adventure sport motorcycle segment (by popularising the format and making people aware about it), and they have chosen the styling route for their first tentative forays into the world of adventure sport motorcycles. If people accept the styling then Bajaj will consider phase II, which is to create a bike with better adventure application than the current AS 200, or AS 150. But all that is the subject of a different story. For now, let’s stick to the tales from the saddles of the new Bajaj Pulsar AS 200 and AS 150. 
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