Project Adventure Sport
Affordable adventure is the middle name of the Bajaj Pulsar AS 200, and, after BikeIndia’s special touch, it has transformed into a true-blue adventure bike
RIDERS HAVE BIG aspirations. In fact, our aspirations are so high that they often surpass the very concept of reality. We forget about the mundane reality of our small-capacity motorcycles. A perfect example of this was the time when performance was extremely expensive in India, but that did not stop the true bikers from achieving their dream of going fast. Today the tide has turned and now bikers with shallow pockets too can enjoy the perks of performance.
What about the bikers who look beyond blurring scenery and corner carving? These individuals are adventure seekers who want to conquer terrains that lie beyond the tarmac. For them the options were quite limited. To experience the thrills of adventure touring they had to look at a bike that gets its name for a type of ammunition: the Bullet. But in August 2015 Bajaj Auto played a very smart trick and introduced the Pulsar AS 200, with the AS standing for ‘Adventure Sport’. Based on the Pulsar 200 NS, the AS 200 surely has a lot of ‘Sport’ in its DNA but we thought — in fact, believed — that it needed a dose of adventure to truly justify its name. Thus, roughly after a year after its launch, Bike India, under the guidance of Editor Aspi Bhathena, decided to spruce things up and make the highly capable but road-focused AS 200 into a true-blue Adventure Sport motorcycle. We call it ‘Project Adventure Sport’.
For this project, a brainchild of Aspi’s, we took a stock Pulsar AS 200 and modified all the bits that transformed it into this tall beauty you see on these pages. The stock bike comes with a superior kit like the pressed steel perimeter frame, mono-shock suspension, a liquid-cooled 200-cc engine and excellent brakes. However, stuff like the alloy wheels, road-use tyres and suspension travel limited the AS’ ability once the tarmac ran out. So the first thing on the agenda was changing the wheels. But simply replacing the wheels with wire-spoke ones was not the option. To make the AS 200 a real adventure bike it needed strong rims that can withstand the thrashing of rough terrain. So we went in for a 17-inch rear wheel and a 19-inch front wheel, which is pretty much the standard when it comes to adventure bikes. We shod these rims with some good dual-purpose rubber as well. The front wheel sports a 90/90 tyre and the rear a 120/80 one.
Changing to dual-purpose tyres and wire-spoke rims was probably the easy step. The next one involved a lot of technical know-how. After the wheels and tyres we turned our attention towards the suspension. Adventure bikes need longer travel suspension, which not only gives them a higher ground
clearance to cope with rough terrain but also to prevent bottoming out of the suspension. This is where Aspi’s racing experience came into play. As a racer, Aspi has not only raced but also worked extensively on motorcycles and a major part of that was dedicated to fine-tuning the suspension. He used his expertise to precisely calculate the required increase in suspension travel. He then meticulously modified the stock suspension to increase the travel. This modification increased the ground clearance, overall seat height went up a little and the bike became slightly taller. But the modification was done in such a way that it didn’t bump up the ground clearance dramatically which would have had an adverse effect on the handling.
Other changes include the usual bits mandatory for dual-purpose motorcycles such as a wide single-piece handlebar, short front fender and a top-box attachment. Being an adventure bike our modified AS 200 needed to have an exhaust that wouldn’t get submerged in water so Aspi fabricated a special end-can and pipe. The new exhaust was also made considering the engine configuration and keeping the performance in mind. We also moved the exhaust from its under-belly position to under the rear seat, which will allow the AS 200 to wade through deep water.
The 199.5-cc, liquid-cooled, singlecylinder DTS-i engine was kept as it is. We did not modify anything on the engine, apart from the exhaust end-can. After all these modifications, it was time to test the bike in real world conditions to see whether or not our little experiment worked. So we headed to the open highways to first test the on-road ability of our Project Adventure Sport.
The Pulsar AS 200, in its stock form, performs quite well and our modified AS too was quite similar. The modification softened the suspension a bit which allowed it to gobble up undulations even better. The wider handlebar gave more control while negotiating traffic and the extra amount of grip from the dualpurpose tyres certainly helped. The engine’s power and torque delivery were quite linear; however, the mid-range has improved slightly and acceleration feels smoother than before, mainly because of the modified exhaust. It sounds nice too. Riding through city traffic was easy as the bike never felt too tall. It maintained its composure throughout; in fact, I was able to weave through traffic quite easily despite its wider stance.
As for handling, our AS 200 immediately felt different from the stock one mainly because of the new, more upright riding posture and the larger front wheel. But that was not an issue while tackling corners. The bike’s flick-ability was pretty awesome as it handled directional changes with utmost ease. Going from corner to corner was just as fun as on a stock AS. Turn-in was nice and precise and the bike stuck to the chosen line without a problem. Being tall, I expected it to be a little unstable at higher speeds but, believe me, it wasn’t. It felt planted no matter what I did. I, along with the team, was happy to see that despite turning it into a proper adventure bike, the AS 200 still retained its good on-road dynamics.
After affirming its positive status onroad, it was time to kick up a sand--
storm by getting off the tarmac and on to some dirt track. As soon as it entered the rough roads, the bike livened up. Rough terrain brought the best out of our AS, as it made its way through rocky surface, dirt, mud and even boulders without flinching. Those dualpurpose tyres were going through roughness as if it did not exist. The grip levels on loose earth were surprisingly good. What put a smile on my face was the AS’ ability to charm the off-road enthusiast inside me. I was carving my way through rocks that were big, really big, and, thanks to that awesome ground clearance, I was able to go over them rather than around them. The AS was so easy to ride that crossing little dried-up and pebble-ridden streams felt like child’s play.
The AS 200, in general, has ample power and torque on the tap; you don’t need to whack open the throttle to make your way through obstacles, just a little bit of throttle and it goes nicely. This came really handy while I was going
I was carving my way through rocks that were big, really big, and, thanks to that awesome ground clearance, I was able to go over them rather than around them
crazy on the open stretches of gravel and dirt. Little bit of throttle and it zoomed past everything, hitting speeds of more than 60 km/h. Even at those speeds, stability was never an issue. The AS stood its ground no matter how fast I went. Now, that is a real confidence booster.
Overall, our project is truly an indication of the potential that lies within the AS 200. Bajaj have produced an excellent motorcycle that is quite capable on-road. It is a good handler and the dynamics are pretty spot-on as well. And our minimalist modifications also proved that it does not take a lot of work to convert a standard AS 200 into a trueblue dual-purpose motorcycle. We have presented the project to Bajaj Auto and we honestly hope that the company takes notice of these changes and decides to launch a new variant of the AS 200 based on our Project Adventure Sport.