Bajaj Pulsar NS400Z - Review: Biggest Pulsar Yet

Can the Pulsar finally tussle with the big boys of the mid-capacity motorcycle world?

Words: Priyadarshan Bawikar

Photography: Kamesh Chauhan

The Pulsar NS400Z is the biggest Pulsar that Bajaj has made till date. And it quite literally feels like a combination of the Dominar 400 and the Pulsar NS200. But does this 373cc Pulsar feel like a bike to take on the competition in 2024, or is it just a throwback to over a decade ago when Pulsars used to rule the performance game?

Design

Visually, the NS400Z has the distinct design language of the NS series bikes, but with a few subtle changes. The overall shape is nearly identical to the NS200, but the tank extensions and tail section have been slightly redesigned. Plus it gets an all-new projector headlight with ‘Z’ shaped LED DRLs on either side, a flat single-piece handlebar (instead of the clip-ons from the NS200), and a larger radiator shroud to fit the larger radiator of its bigger 373cc engine. There are some new graphics on the body as well, but unless you’re seeing the bike from the front, you’ll have a hard time differentiating it from the NS200, the NS160, or even the NS125! It’s a good-looking bike, no doubt, but the overall design feels like something we’ve seen for over a decade.

Engine, Mileage and Performance

Powering the Pulsar NS400Z is the same 373cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine from the Dominar 400 (which itself was derived from the engine of the first and second generations of the KTM 390 Dukes). It delivers the exact same performance as the Dominar 400: 40PS of maximum power and 35Nm of peak torque. Even the six-speed gearbox is the same as that from the Dominar, the only difference being the rear sprocket that’s one tooth larger than the Dominar’s (46 teeth vs 45 teeth).

Technical talk aside, what this means is that the Pulsar NS400Z has a much better response at lower RPM, which makes it really easy to use at city speeds. In fact, you can even start the bike from second gear. Of course, that does mean it loses out a bit in top-end performance. But with a claimed top speed of 154kmph (we recorded 153kmph in our VBOX test), it will cruise at highway speeds quite easily. 100kmph in 6th gear comes at a little under 5,500rpm, and the bike feels really smooth at this point. At 120kmph, though, the engine is spinning at a little under 6500rpm, and from this point, you can start feeling a little buzz in the handlebar and foot pegs. And the vibrations only get worse beyond that.

But what you get in this Pulsar is a great pick-up from standstill. Because it’s 19kg lighter than the Dominar 400, it accelerates from 0-100kmph faster too. In our test, the Pulsar NS400Z reached 100kmph in about 7.7 seconds. To put that into perspective, that’s a full 4 seconds faster than the Pulsar NS200.

The Pulsar NS400Z’s mileage is something we haven’t been able to test out yet, but Bajaj claims that it will deliver about 28.5kmpl in normal riding conditions. We have no difficulty believing that as all of us saw about 24-25kmpl mileage readings on our instrument consoles during the first ride.

Handling and Ride Quality

The Pulsar NS400Z is built on the same perimeter frame as the Dominar 400, which also explains the slightly heavy kerb weight of 174kg. Once on the bike, though, you hardly feel this weight and maneuvering the bike in the parking and in slow-moving traffic feels quite easy. The only time you feel its weight slightly is when trying to make quick direction changes at higher speeds. It’s got that typical Pulsar heaviness, which requires a little extra effort when turning at speed. Still, around a winding mountain road, the Pulsar NS400Z is quite an enjoyable bike to ride–as long as you’re not pushing too hard, that is.

Start pushing hard into corners, and this Pulsar can get a little tricky. The problem here is that while it gets a radial tyre at the rear, the front tyre uses a non-radial construction (bias ply). This means that under heavy braking and cornering loads, this front tyre feels a bit squishy and unpredictable.

This vague front feel from the tyre is exacerbated by the short 1343mm wheelbase (20mm shorter than the NS200) and the stiff suspension setup, which makes the front feel jittery over mid-corner bumps and even on rumble strips. Even the ride quality, with its 43mm inverted fork and preload-adjustable monoshock, feels rather stiff over sharp bumps. But in the city and on reasonably well-paved highways, the ride quality is quite acceptable.

But one aspect the NS400Z absolutely nails is braking. The front brake lever requires a little effort to squeeze, but once you do, this Pulsar pulls to a stop rapidly thanks to its massive 320mm front disc brake (the largest on any Pulsar till date). In our test, we were able to brake from 80kmph to zero in just 30.5 metres - a full five metres shorter than the Dominar 400.

Features

While we’d certainly call the Pulsar NS400Z ‘feature-packed’, Bajaj hasn’t gone overboard in cramming the bike with unnecessary features. There’s no colour TFT screen for the console, just an LCD panel (with a little colour thrown in for good measure), along with a small dot-matrix LCD inset screen which shows various information such as trip meters, mileage readouts and even the menus. What this console does get is Bluetooth connectivity with call and SMS alerts and even turn-by-turn navigation.

But the bigger infusion of technology in this Pulsar is ride-by-wire, meaning the throttle is electronically controlled. This has allowed Bajaj to include features like traction control and four ride modes (Road, Rain, Sport and Off-Road) which change the throttle response (how quickly the engine responds to turning the throttle). These ride modes also change how quickly and how much the ABS intervenes while braking.

To control all these settings, the Pulsar NS400Z comes with a new 4-way switch gear on the left side of the handlebar. These switches make navigating the settings menu simple enough, but the buttons themselves are a little hard to press, especially with gloves on. The other convenient bits are adjustable brake and clutch levers, which should allow those with smaller or larger hands to adjust them for easy reach.

Should You Buy The Pulsar NS400Z?

There is no denying that the Bajaj Pulsar NS400Z is a good motorcycle, especially considering its incredible value-for-money proposition. At Rs 1.85 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi, introductory), it is the cheapest 400cc performance motorcycle in India. But while its performance does deliver excitement, somewhere it feels like it could’ve been so much better if Bajaj had just been okay with pricing it slightly higher. That way, Bajaj could have equipped it with slightly better components such as a radial front tyre, better-tuned suspension and a more differentiated design. To put it simply, though, you’re not going to get this performance at a price lower than this in the new bike market.