Bajaj has silently launched a new bike into its Pulsar range in the NS160. The bike has already hit a lot of showrooms across the country, and that’s before any official announcement from the bikemaker.
Showrooms in New Delhi are yet to commence selling the bike, but have confirmed that bookings for the 160 NS will start in July.
Styling for the NS160 is akin to the NS200’s. Much of the bodywork has been carried over, and that includes the headlight, instrumentation, the 12-litre fuel tank, and tail-section. It’s even similar in size to the NS200, but weighing 142kg, it is about 10kg lighter.
The Suzuki Gixxer rivalling motorcycle seems to be powered by a motor derived from that of the Pulsar 150. Displacing 160.3cc, however, it’s bigger and also gets oil cooling. It makes 15.5hp and 14.6Nm. These figures are 1.5hp down on the air-cooled Pulsar AS150, but there’s an extra 1.6Nm of pulling power. The gearbox is likely to be a 5-speed unit.
The bike is built around a steel perimeter frame like the more powerful NS200, and is suspended on conventional telescopic front forks and a gas-charged rear monoshock. Braking duties are handled by a 240mm front disc brake and a 130mm drum at the rear.
Dealers are quoting an ex-showroom, Pune price of Rs 82,400. These prices, however, are likely to go up marginally after the company announces post-GST prices for its offerings. Interestingly, this premium commuter is Rs 4,500 costlier than the more powerful Pulsar 180.