1,000km in 2 days - Bajaj Pulsar F250 Touring Review

Deja Vu! 

That's the first feeling I got when PD invited me to ride with him to Vagator, Goa for TVS MotoSoul '23. The 'Deja Vu' in this was with regard to the bike I was riding - Bajaj Pulsar F250 - and the destination that this journey beckoned... Goa!

Exactly 10 years ago, I upgraded from my Yamaha FZ-16 for the faster, more versatile Bajaj Pulsar 220F. With a well rounded package of performance and frugality, for the first time I had a motorcycle capable of taking on mile munching with relative ease. Time to go further and faster I thought and a friend riding down to India Bike Week '13 offered an opportunity to put the biggest Pulsar's promise to the test. Fast-forward to 2023 and it's time to test the mettle of the current biggest Pulsar over a 1000km road trip to Goa. Deja... Woohoo! 

Pre-prep

It's a three day road trip, so I'm not packing much but enough to manage a workcation. I trimmed on a few things like an extra pair of shoes in favour of a light and compact tail bag. And the Yezdi side satchel served nicely as a tail pack. PD on the other hand went with the 50-litre  Rynox Navigator tail bag. I could have too, there's more than enough space on the F250 thanks to its long and well padded split seat. This was a luxury even on my P220. The F250's length allows for enough room to mount luggage on.

The only other pre-prep required was setting up the BluArmor C30 intercom system which would allow PD and me to communicate on the go with ease. The device itself is a bit large in size but super lightweight, hence you don't really end up feeling its presence on the go; Even its battery life is strong, you can go a few days between charges. It also helped both of us really get to know one another while doing what we love most - riding motorcycles. 

The start

Before we began, we tanked up both motorcycles to the brim and the F250 maxed out at 14 odd litres. My P220 had an 18-litre tank, I don't know how, I don't know why, but I used to get almost 500km of range from one full tank. This was the first and the most important test for the F250 in my head. It had to do well here, because most owners of motorcycles like these, including me, seek out budget friendly travel. And saving on gas money means spending more on things we like in Goa. How frugal is the new F250 and does the extra power compromise some of its budget friendliness on the road? Time to find out. 

The route

We weren't sticking to the conventional – Pune - Nippani - Sawantwadi - Goa – route. And I was glad we were giving the highway a miss. The plan was to cross over Western Ghats well before entering into Karnataka and then follow the old Mumbai-Goa highway. This gave us a good mix of Highway, Ghats, twisties and B-roads. This should give us an idea of really how good is the ride comfort, ride quality, handling, and ofcourse, performance of the F250. 

The ride!

Out on the highway the F250's performance came as no surprise, and that's my gripe. Like my P220, the F250 is super comfortable at 120kmph. There's a mild buzz around 7000rpm but it's negligible. But, the good thing is that there's still enough grunt left in reserve to make overtakes for simply letting loose for a brief moment on an empty highway section. 

That said, the engine does feel a little sluggish in spooling up past 7000rpm and the climb to the redline is gradual. Keeping up with Super Meteor 650 was easy. The good thing is this bike does most things you ask of it without any drama. What I felt it lacked was that sense of something new, something bigger, something more exciting.

The F250’s engine  really comes into its own when you're riding through the ghats and tighter B-roads. You can handle much of what comes your way without shifting through the five-speed gearbox. Hence you end up having a lot more time to soak in the view. But one area where the Pulsar does struggle, just like my P220 did, is at making quick directional changes. Where the 1351mm wheelbase helps it stay planted on the highway, cornering with luggage does demand choosing smoother and more progressive lines.

The Roads…

Given the mix of terrain set for the day, we encountered everything from cemented highways to broken tarmac, and everything in between. Overall, the ride quality of the F250 can be described as balanced and plush. The telescopic fork soaks up undulations rather effortlessly and the monoshock wasn't over burdened by the extra weight from the tail bag. The Super Meteor 650 did struggle a fair bit on the rougher ‘under-construction’ sections, but F250 cut right through. It scored huge brownie points for being such a champ. Because India is beautiful, Indian roads are pathetic. A bike's gotta do what a bike's got to do. 

Jack of all, master of none? 

Some things and people enjoy being specialists, some are ok being all-rounders. And in that sense, I feel the Pulsar F250 enjoys being a ‘jack of all and a master of none’, and it's bloody good at it. On our way to Goa, it travelled an impressive 460km before needing to visit a fuel station. Even with a smaller fuel tank now, the biggest Pulsar respects the value of frugality. In fact, to ride a 1000km, all I needed was two and half tanks of gas. That's roughly Rs 3000 for a return trip - basically bus money but with way more freedom. 

Even the small things like the USB charging port on the tank helped. Heck, even the tubeless tyres came as a blessing as I caught a puncture in Goa. It took longer to find a tyre shop than to fix the flat. Would I pay Rs 1.49 lakh for one of these if I was ten years younger? Yes, I would.