Both the R15 V2.0 and Pulsar 200 NS are as different as chalk and cheese, yet both offer a splendid riding experience.
When the Yamaha R15 was launched in 2008, it kicked off a revolution of sorts. Strong performance and splendid handling made the R15 the cheapest way to enjoy riding. Just last year, Yamaha upped the ante with the launch of the R15 Version 2.0. Even though the Yamaha R15 became costlier, it was still the bike to have since there was no competition. Come 2012 and the competition intensified several notches. First there was the KTM Duke 200 and then the Honda CBR150R, both tried to steal the R15′s thunder. Being more expensive, they were not able to unsettle the R15. With the launch of the Pulsar 200 NS, the R15 faced stiff competition from a potent motorcycle, which not only offers more performance, but is cheaper too. But does the R15 still hold onto its crown, of being the cheapest way to motorcycle nirvana?
Styling - Both these bikes have very different styling. While the Pulsar 200 NS is a naked motorcycle which exposes its body parts and flexes some muscle, the design at some places (rear) is not really impressive. The Yamaha R15 is a small capacity sports bike, at least the styling makes us believe that. This mini-R1 and mini-R6 hybrid is a full faired machine and looks the part. Right from the twin headlights at the front to the raised rear, the R15 is a looker and thus the bike to ride if you want to grab some eyeballs.
Instrument Cluster and Switch Gear - Both bikes get an analogue tachometer and a digital speedometer. While the R15′s clear cluster is neat, we like the Pulsar 200 NS’ console, which feels more substantial. The Pulsar’s instrument cluster also displays more data, including side stand warning light, shift light and low fuel warning light. Switch gear of both these motorcycles are good but the R15 feels more robust and superior in quality than the Pulsar 200 NS. Overall, there is not much to choose from between both these bikes in the console department.
Performance - Both these mean machines use 4-valve, liquid-cooled, SOHC, single-cylinder engines. However the displacement and output are very different. Powering the Yamaha R15 V2.0 is a 150cc motor which belts out 17 PS of power at 8500 RPM and 15 Nm of torque at 7500 RPM. The Pulsar 200 NS uses a 200cc engine with triple spark plugs, generating 23.5 PS of power at 9500 RPM and 18.3 Nm of torque at 8000 RPM. While the Pulsar weighs 145 kgs, the R15 weighs 9 kgs lesser. The extra power and torque output does play in the Pulsar’s favor and even the weight advantage doesn’t really help the R15 much, because the 200 NS does have significantly better performance, right from the word GO.
Any speed, whack the throttle of the Pulsar 200 NS and it will surge ahead of the R15 without breaking into a sweat. The 200 NS is faster to 100 km/hr by a whole 2 seconds and even has a higher top speed by 7 km/hr. Clearly, the Yamaha R15 is no match for the Pulsar in terms of outright acceleration but this Yammie pulls back strongly when it comes to engine refinement. The R15′s engine is supremely refined with absolutely no vibes at any RPM, although the Pulsar 200 NS does tend to vibrate a bit at high revvs. The R15 redlines at a higher 10,500 RPM, compared to the 10,000 RPM of the 200 NS. The fuel injected motor of the R15 is quite advanced and feels extremely relaxed at all speeds. If you redline all day, you know this Yamaha motor will remain faultless for years to come.
Both bikes are mated to 6-speed transmissions. The Pulsar 200 NS has seen a huge leap in shift quality but the R15 continues to hold an edge when it comes to cog swapping smoothness. There is not much to choose between the mileage of both these machines, which return anything between 35-40 km/l (depending on riding style). Overall, the Pulsar 200 NS edges out the Yamaha R15 in the performance department, but that was no surprise, now was it? Higher displacement and more power, worked in the Pulsar’s favor.
Riding Dynamics - While the Pulsar 200 NS takes a huge leap in terms of underpinnings and hardware, the Yamaha R15 does have that extra edge with better components (aluminum swing arm, etc). The Pulsar does handle splendidly well with the 50:50 weight distribution helping in sharp and precise handling. However the Yamaha R15 does one better with even better handling than you can imagine. Riding the R15 makes you forget physics, its so sharp, agile and inch perfect in changing directions. Yamaha has truly made a track machine with the R15.
Ride quality of the Pulsar 200 NS is a bit on the stiffer side while the R15 feels a bit more plush. Both bikes offer a compliant ride but the R15 feels more composed throughout. Even at high speeds, the R15 simply sticks to the road like its glued to it. It doesn’t get affected by crosswinds and the sheer composure of this machine is truly marvelous. The Pulsar 200 NS does tend to get affected by air turbulence but feels reasonably stable for a street-fighter motorcycle. Braking performance of the Pulsar 200 NS is extremely good, although the tyres play spoilsport. The R15′s brakes are simply mind boggling and offer stupendous speed shedding capability.
Even though the Pulsar 200 NS has very good riding dynamics, the sheer brilliance of the Yamaha R15 makes the Pulsar 200 NS look pale in comparison. The R15 is undoubtedly the more confident and surefooted motorcycle to throw into corners, with a wide grin in your helmet.
Verdict - The decision to decide between the Yamaha R15 V2.0 and Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS has only got tougher? While the R15 overrules the Pulsar 200 NS in the styling, handling, stability and braking departments, the Pulsar 200 NS pulls back strongly with better performance and a mouth watering price tag. The Pulsar 200 NS is priced at Rs. 1.02 lakhs, while the Yamaha R15 Version 2.0 costs significantly more at Rs. 1.35 lakhs (all prices on-road, Mumbai). For the extra amount you pay, you get a tried and tested motorcycle, which is faultless and will never let you down, even if you keep the throttle wide open 24 hours a day. Thus, if your budget permits, the extra dough spent on the R15 is well worth it. But if acceleration is your main criteria, the Pulsar 200 NS emerges on top. You simply can’t go wrong with either of these fantastic motorcycles, they are that darn good.
The Pulsar 200 NS offers the best power to money ratio, while the Yamaha R15 excels in handling and quality. Both bikes can put a wide grin on the rider’s face, as soon as the throttle is opened.
Further Reading -
Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS Review
Yamaha R15 V2.0 Review
Pulsar 220 vs Pulsar 200 NS – Shootout
Honda CBR150R vs Yamaha R15 – Shootout
Pulsar 200 NS vs KTM Duke 200 – Shootout
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Ananthakrishnan December 12, 2012 at 9:54 pm
The most awaited comparision.Great one.
I expected DUKE too.Its tough to choose b/w Pulsar and its sibling.
Faisal Khan December 12, 2012 at 10:10 pm
Thanks Ananth, for Duke vs Pulsar 200 NS, check the further reading section for the link to the review.
Adheep December 13, 2012 at 12:00 am
Faisal,
If you guys could make a comparison between the Duke200 and CBR250 it would be awesome!
and they both behaves on the City vs Highways
Faisal Khan December 13, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Adheep, we have already done that long ago. Have you read the R15 vs CBR250R vs Duke 200 comparison?
Ben December 13, 2012 at 9:24 am
The most excellent and unbiased review I have ever read. Even though you own a 200ns you have let out the true colour in the review. Hats off to you Faisal.
Abhisek December 13, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I don’t think he owns a 200NS. He has a pic with many bikes/cars many times.
Faisal Khan December 13, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Thanks Ben. However I don’t own a Pulsar 200 NS. The picture you see is from the Pulsar 200 NS road test.
Bharath December 13, 2012 at 11:50 am
My Choice will be the Pulsar NS, for its comfortable riding dynamics and a suspension that works well even on broken roads :-)
Sam December 13, 2012 at 11:55 am
Hey can u tell me which bike is better in the range of 150cc for city driving??
I am thinking of fz-16, hero hunk, or unicorn.
Faisal Khan December 13, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Sam, FZ-16.
Sam December 13, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Thnxx. Can u tell me In which color, fz-16 looks better on road???
Blue, Black or Red.
Faisal Khan December 14, 2012 at 1:15 am
Sam, black.
deepan December 13, 2012 at 12:25 pm
out of topic but just my thoughts-
i guess the yammy V2 sales are still on the high not only because of its performance, quality and reliability but also its a fully faired bike. the youngsters these days are expecting a faired sporty looking bike since they are shelling out more than a lakh, and since the previous version of the yamaha has created waves and has established the the performance pedigree and standards its pretty hard for the naked bikes to break even with the fully faired yammy.
Faisal Khan December 13, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Deepan, well said. Full faired bikes are more desirable in India and that is why KTM is also going the full faired way.
akash December 17, 2012 at 1:29 pm
problem with pulsar is that its yet to prove its credentials
MUTHURAJA Koondrakkampatty. December 22, 2012 at 7:50 pm
The pulsar is less cost and a Naked sports. But yamaha has much costlier than pulsar, and yamaha’s techniques are amazing, i think they have made the pistons as forged pistons and that’ll reduce the heat losses up to 20 to 40 percentage than others. And their engine will not produce any vibrations at higher revolution even the 150 cc is tuned to produce 200 cc’s output. This shows the quality of this bike. And the pulsar has triple spark plugs. Hence the burning of fuel and air mixer is completely accomplished. This increase the mileage of this bike. And at higher speed this bike produce some vibrations. But i don’t know whether the bike is reliable or not.
One thing all of the indian made bikes are lost their originality after some years. Why our country bikes are being like this. This kind of habit
opens the gates for abroad companies to earn profit, when the indian bike maker compete with other country bike makers in their country?
fayaz December 29, 2012 at 6:55 pm
I bucked pulsar 200 ns, but am not getting a satisfaction while seeing r15… am I done wrong?
Pulsar 150 January 2, 2013 at 4:41 pm
Even me also having same confusion.
My opinion, if u bought a fared one, u will suffer when u crashed. Even if ur wallet is huge.
you will fear to do stunts. coz my friend suffered like that. so choose by considering this too.
Ride safe.
Shivansh shakya January 11, 2013 at 1:40 pm
How about braking of 200 ns??and r15 is not comfortable for city rides I guess.suggest the best out of two.planning to buy one soon.no issue of price tag.it ll be my first bike
gokul January 26, 2013 at 4:35 pm
hey
is pulsar 200NS engine reliable !!!
Faisal Khan January 26, 2013 at 10:57 pm
Gokul, can’t say at this moment.
bids January 31, 2013 at 11:53 pm
My frst bik..i want perfrmnc,milage.n reliabl also. . Sud i go 4 R15 or pulsar 200ns.
Faisal Khan February 1, 2013 at 5:40 pm
Bids, if budget permits, get the R15.
naseef February 5, 2013 at 10:38 am
hey i want gud performance luk handling stability +mileage so R15 or 200ns i am more intersted in R15 but i need a suggestion …………………!
Faisal Khan February 5, 2013 at 11:01 am
Naseef, if your budget permits, get the R15.
Toshi February 6, 2013 at 9:23 am
last week I bought a R15 and just wana know whether I can get crash guard for it..
Faisal Khan February 6, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Toshi, there is no crash guard available for the R15.
Vishnu February 7, 2013 at 10:45 pm
Hi Faisal,
Nice review, I decided to buy 200ns.
After reading ur review i am having second thoughts…
I cannot go beyond 1 lakh and as bajaj engines are not very reliable, should i go for it or should i buy FZ ..?
Dz February 9, 2013 at 8:56 am
I own a Pulsar 200NS since 4 months and now it had to undergo open heart surgery… Really bad experience, isn’t it. So, now can anyone tell me how it stands against tested and proven Yamaha’s motor. I’m selling it to get R15 v2. Cheers!
JOHN February 14, 2013 at 11:41 pm
I think Dz has R15 and wants to buy 200 NS :)
Dz April 23, 2013 at 12:01 pm
I still have 200ns. I posted previous comment after its engine failed after a long ride, and by the way it occurred after it finished its run-in period. Its piston block, crank assembly and few more other components. It was covered by its warranty though I had to pay for engine oil and oil filter (for their faulty engine). Also paid for another oil change after completing its second run-in period. They assured me it won’t repeat again. After 6 months (2 months after its first open heart surgery), I’m facing the same problem again. After last maintenance, I didn’t revved it hard until its second run-in period. 2 days before I went on a long ride again, and again the problem is back! I was confused last time (because of Bajaj’s assurance, which proved to be wrong) but am sure this time that I’ll switch to R15 very soon.
Dz April 23, 2013 at 12:11 pm
Hey John, I still have 200ns. I posted previous comment after its engine failed after a long ride, and by the way it occurred after it finished its run-in period. Its piston block, crank assembly and few more other components. It was covered by its warranty though I had to pay for engine oil and oil filter (for their faulty engine). Also paid for another oil change after completing its second run-in period. They assured me it won’t repeat again. After 6 months (2 months after its first open heart surgery), I’m facing the same problem again. After last maintenance, I didn’t revved it hard until its second run-in period. 2 days before I went on a long ride again, and again the problem is back! I was confused last time (because of Bajaj’s assurance, which proved to be wrong) but am sure this time that I’ll switch to R15 very soon.
Baljinder Singh February 23, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Faisal, i got NS 1week back……. am happy with the bike performance. but again a Big issue of braking. Poor tyre grip on road when suddn aply. New bike so i hav to wait for new to get fixed…….
Faisal Khan February 23, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Baljinder, congrats on your new bike. Yes, tyres are not of very good quality on the 200 NS.
Baljinder Singh February 23, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Thnx Faisal for choosing NS……..othrwse i would have taken 220 long bck
Faisal Khan February 24, 2013 at 2:32 am
You are welcome Baljinder, do write your initial impressions on the bike in our forums.
Bal February 23, 2013 at 7:06 pm
is it possible to decrese the height of pilion of r15
Faisal Khan February 23, 2013 at 9:06 pm
Bal, nope it is not.
Bal February 23, 2013 at 9:58 pm
is plastic quality is poor on R15
st February 24, 2013 at 6:57 pm
hi,faisal.How to increase the top speed of bajaj platina 100
SPITFIRE March 2, 2013 at 11:51 am
@ST …….. Yes it is possible to increase to increase the top speed of your Bajaj Platina but at the expense of outright power/acceleration……what you have to do is to change the rear sprocket with a smaller one, for you the ideal rear sprocket will be one teeth lesser than the existing one. but mind if you decrease the nmbr of sprockets any further than it will be very troublesome to ride in city since it has a small displacement engine. POSITIVE EFFECT will be increase in FE fig on highway because the engine will be revving less than it was previously at same speeds…
Akhil February 25, 2013 at 8:16 pm
HI Guys I am Planning to Buy R15 v2 . But this discussion has really confused me.
I had just one Concern . Is this Bike Great on Indian Unreliable roads for daily use.
Faisal Khan February 26, 2013 at 12:26 am
Akhil, yes both bikes are good for our roads.
Jitu gupta March 2, 2013 at 9:54 am
Hii faisal on performance which byke have to select between 200 ns & r15 v2…?
Faisal Khan March 2, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Jitu, if budget permits, R15.
Baljinder Singh March 2, 2013 at 10:56 am
Jitu, both NS and R15 are performance bikes…….I think u should go for NS as better option.
Baljinder Singh March 2, 2013 at 11:08 am
Hey faisal, my NS givn around 35 to 37km/l figure its tat k?? still not done enough kilometers for 1st service. After 1st service can i replace rear tyre wid ZAPPER of 220?? or any other
Faisal Khan March 2, 2013 at 3:56 pm
Baljinder, your mileage will increase after service. You should get the same spec tyre from Pirelli/Michelin for your NS.
debraj March 14, 2013 at 8:41 pm
r15 is d best bike of india..u people see r15 is just 149.8cc but its top speed is 142, close to its engine cc. pusar200 is 200cc its speed is 145 far frm its cc..so people dnt compare r15 with 200ns..r15 is far better frm 200ns..see its small cc can challenge big cc like pulsar220 or 200..people who ar supporting pulsar200ns, I think they are mad person..yamaha is d best not only in india but in d world..its japanese bike even america cant defeat.so stop barking lik dogs u people those who supports bajjaj pulsar200 or 220..yamaha is d best yes yamaha.
unknown April 11, 2013 at 1:25 pm
…but i just dnt like height for back seat.if you r married its hard to stay with saree..if u r single,hmmm fabulous 2go out wit ur gf ;) ! whats say guys…?
utkarsh March 16, 2013 at 9:04 pm
hey I m just confused between the three cbr 150r r15 200 ns which one to buy. I just love performence
unknown April 11, 2013 at 1:22 pm
utkarsh if u r single,go wit 200 NS.
am sure u wnt lost ur money, good luck
shahid March 29, 2013 at 4:45 pm
its been more than 2 yrs now i bought my r15.. its a great bike with mind boggling performence, handling, breaking and looks no need to say.. it never let me down and still grabe few eyeballs when i ride it.. no bike is there for comparision and competition..
AB_Pande March 29, 2013 at 8:38 pm
Whats this noise about tyres. The NS gives me 45+ mileage in the city, braking is stupendous at any speed. (of course, if you lock the rear, you are going to curse the grip). The handling feels pretty divine. (parking, starting and winds are a pain in the rear though)
unknown April 11, 2013 at 1:15 pm
r15 v2 pulsar 200 ns!!!
gr8 competition
dt April 21, 2013 at 1:42 pm
Is any way to get 20 ps power from R15
Faisal Khan April 21, 2013 at 3:25 pm
DT, yes you can tune the R15 and get more power from it.
Raeed April 22, 2013 at 1:25 am
Its true that pulsar 200ns’s acceleration is more than r15 v2.but i don’t see that so difference between them. What do you think,can i beat the 200ns with the r15 v2 in the off road?
Dz April 27, 2013 at 7:38 pm
Hi Faisal, I might only be the unlucky one to get the engine repaired just after two months, but anyways now I’m switching to R15 v 2.0. Can you suggest me the color for 2013 R15 v2.0? I generally like black as the perfect color for bike (as my previous two bikes were black), but blue-white combination of 2013 model seems to be more cool.
One more query, is the deltabox frame of R15 v2.0 made of aluminium or steel. I supposed it was steel, but a guy in Yamaha showroom was sure it was made of aluminium. Even R125 and R6 have steel deltabox, just R1 has aluminium deltabox. How is it possible to get aluminium deltabox in R15 in the price we get.
sagar srivastava May 19, 2013 at 5:58 pm
hey hie friends.
I am new here ..I want your help..I am planing to get a new bike it ‘ll be my first bike..so plz suggest some good one …I am totaly confused btw pulsar and yamaha …although I have tried my hands on both of it ….tell me ..in which of these I should go for ..pulsar 150 180 200ns or yamaha fz ..need. to take it in a week .or other …so I want a bike ..on which I have not cry on later… plz help.
regards
sagar