I live in a rural setting in the Philippines where motorcycle is the primary movers of people here, including me. Fifteen years ago I bought my first bike to suit my need and my riding arena – dirt and trail, so I got myself a dual-sport bike a KMX 125 2-stroker. The bike served me well and brought me to places that are still worth visiting again, wishfully. When you are still young your body can take easily the abuses and beatings associated with dirt riding. Time flies however, and as you get older and tamer lol, your preference and riding skill changes too. So, without a choice I was forced to convert from dirt-eater to on-road whizzer. Because of age. For those who are curious, yeah, I am already 42. Well in the middle age, a point in life where you wanted to stop the clock hehe.
Looking for a bike that will satisfy my yearning to drive on-road was difficult thing to do for in the beginning because of 2 reasons: first, there are many bikes to choose from and, secondly, my wallet can only bring me far but not really far enough. To make things easier for me I limited my eyes to just 3 bikes to choose from: Honda CBR150, Yamaha FZ16 (Fazer) and the Rouser 220 (Pulsar).
To help me out with my final choice I scoured website forums including BikeAdvise to get an idea how these bikes fared in their own paces. I also visited showrooms to see the actual bikes. My first choice really was the CBR150, however, I find it too pricey vis-a-vis its engine displacement. FZ16 was culled out primarily out of my distaste for the rear drum-brake. I settled for what I call bung-for-a-buck. And I didn’t regret that decision.
My Rouser 220 (Pulsar) is already 4 months old and has an accumulated odometer reading of more than 7,000 kilometers. I made regular journeys to places I have never visited or rarely been set foot on since I can remember. It’s a different experience from what I used to do before in the dirt and trails. Towns and cities within and outside my province feels closer than they were before. It’s a good thing I decided going on-road, it opened new avenues for me to see life as what it is in my homeplace.
My bike never failed me from the day I laid my hands on her until this very moment. In fact, it has never visited a mechanic since then! My only routine maintenance is replenishing oil every 2,000 kilometers. Thanks to the internet, most do-it-yourself ideas can be easily accessed with just a click of the mouse thus, motorcycle maintenance is getting more of a personalized thing when you want to opt out of the hassle of going to the mechanic.
Kudos to Bajaj for giving us an opportunity to own performance bikes at an affordable price tag. I am looking forward to years of riding pleasure with my black Pulsar.
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