Bajaj Boxer 150 – In the Ring

At ex-showroom price(Bangalore) of Rs. 43,000, Bajaj’s new offering Boxer 150 touted as “Bharat bike” is all set to change the dynamics of the market as at this price and with electric start to boast of, it is cheaper than some of the 100 cc bikes. Call it a knockout punch!

While on one hand we have heavy weights like Harley Davidson, Ducati testing waters in Indian roads and Pulsars, Karizmas, RTRs and R1 blazing the trail on the popular style and power segment, a huge pie of Indian motorcycle market is captured by likes of Splendors that share the larger pie of rural market as well as a city commuter bikes for middle classes. The real numbers are in this commuter biking segment which is ruled by Hero’s Splendor model. Bajaj has it’s share of the pie with the models like Platina and Discover as well as had a good run with Boxer CT.

One has to know the pulse of the segment Boxer 150 is aimed at to understand the style quotient of the bike. No, style does not dictate terms here but rather efficiency in terms of practical usage, ruggedness and value for money. So obviously it is an entirely different design engineering involved here. Boxer 150 sports a bold and round head lamp that looks neat and solid. The tail light and the indicators are simple but yet neatly laid out. Over all, practical, no frills but assuring and neat.

For a bike that comes with a sticker price of 43K ex-showroom price, one can only expect a basic instrument panel and Boxer 150 delivers exactly that. A speedometer  and a fuel guage nested in the  twin-pod plus the  basic lights is what you get.

The fuel tank is prominent and bulbous, with a loud Boxer sticker on it.

Wide  MRF tyres on the 17-inch spoke wheels is assuring while driving offering a good road grip…

While  the front suspension works  are taken care by 125mm travel telescopic forks, Bajaj-patented SNS suspension takes care of the rear end… Thanks to the no-frills design that does away with unwanted additions and add-ons, the bike weighs just 123 Kgs and this helps the suspension handle the ruggedness of the bad roads pretty decently.

Just because it is 150 cc , don’t expect disc brakes, Boxer 150 sports  130mm drum brakes on both ends, so it makes the obvious strain while braking…

The heart of the Boxer is a single spark plug head unit. The 144.8cc is borrowed from its sibling Discover 150 though the discover head sports a twin spark plug.  The engine delivers a 12 PS of power at 7,500 rpm and an impressive torque of 12.26 Nm at 5,000 rpm.  All this is sure to get Boxer 150 race ahead of its weaker 100 cc rivals in the segment by a huge distance and also keep it distinctly ahead and attractive for buyers.

Boxer 150 comes in only one color – Black.

Riding and Performance:  The bike sports a good sitting comfort thanks to the wider seats. In rural roads, it gives a good riding stance for a longer trip.  Thanks to the light weight body which again is due to the no-frills minimal design concept helps in giving a better fuel efficiency and decent pickup.  The bike has a fairly good handling on bad roads. Though the braking is bit hard thanks to the drum brakes.

The commuter bike gives a decent mileage around 55 Kmpl, which is a decent enough for 150 cc bike.

Boxer 150 tries to pull the carpets under the wheels of 100 cc bikes that hitherto ruled the rural markets. With very practical, functional design and performance elements, aggressive pricing and a 150 cc engine to lure the target segments, Bajaj has come up with a very smart bike that has a potential to clock huge numbers for India’s second biggest motorcycle company.  How big the success can be? Will it finally manage to erode the undisputed dominance of  Splendor in the rural and small town segments, well only time can tell  but Boxer 150 does has the potential and is promising.