About 20 years ago, the Pulsar made you the coolest dude on the campus—it was powerful enough for the world to notice, light enough to handle, and affordable enough for your father. Decades later, that charisma and value remain intact.
Bajaj recently shook up the market with its flagship Pulsar NS400z, and now it has been re-engineered to navigate India’s evolving fiscal landscape under the new GST 2.0 structure. By reducing the engine size from 373 cc to 349 cc, Bajaj has shaved off thousands of rupees from the Pulsar, but has that impacted its explosive performance?
Core identity
The name ‘Pulsar NS400z’ has been retained, and the aggressive silhouette is visually identical, complete with lightning-bolt DRLs, a ball-like projector headlamp, champagne gold USD forks, and sporty carbon fibre graphics. It looks exactly like the menacing streetfighter we fell in love with two years ago.
Riding manners
On the road, it is stupendous. True to its ‘hooligan’ nature—evoking the song by BTS—the Pulsar turns heads before it appears, thanks to its throaty exhaust note. The riding position is front-forward with rear-set footpegs.
When you twist the throttle, the power delivery is explosive. On paper, the peak power has dropped from 43 PS to 40.6 PS at 9,000 rpm, and torque from 35 Nm to 33.2 Nm at 7,500 rpm, but the performance seems similar to the old bike, and the claimed 0-100 km/h sprint takes 6.8 seconds compared to the older bike’s 6.5 seconds.
The mid-range has solid power, and in seconds you can go from 30 km/h to 120 km/h in the right gear. On highways outside Delhi, the 349-cc engine effortlessly rode at 120 km/h (top speed is a claimed 156.6 km/h).
The smaller engine might just lead to slightly better fuel economy (expect it to be 30-35 km/h). Handling is agile. The underbelly exhaust helps with balancing, letting you handle corners neatly.
Why the Pulsar rules
It’s the ultimate value-for-money powerhouse. The Pulsar NS400z starts at just Rs 1.82 lakh (down from Rs 1.92 lakh), far better value than the TVS Apache RTR 310 (Rs 2.25-2.89 lakh) and Triumph Speed 400 (Rs 2.34 lakh), democratising elite-tier performance.
