Bajaj Pulsar – Copycats!!!

September 18, 2009 by AP | 25 Comments

Bajaj Pulsar stormed into the Indian market a few years back. Everyone was really astonished to see such a trendsetter bike from Bajaj Auto, which earlier had been struggling to have any footing against Hero Honda in the market. Earlier Bajaj bikes were a real disgrace as compared to Hero Honda bikes. But suddenly Bajaj introduced Pulsar, and everyone was in praises for Bajaj for making and giving the Indian public such a nice bike.

But did anyone wonder how Bajaj Auto created this mean machine overnight, and where did they got the expertise to do this? Does not matter if you did or not, but I did. And here is what I found – Bajaj Pulsar seems to be an Indian version of the Kawasaki Ninja. You will be able to relate the Pulsar more closely to Ninja once you recall that earlier Bajaj Auto had a joint venture with Kawasaki to manufacture bikes in India. What happened to the JV is not very clear, but definitely by this time Bajaj had borrowed enough from Kawasaki Ninja to copy it and create Pulsar.

Another claim which Pulsar made to capture the market attention was the dual spark plug technology. But Pulsar hate club would be really happy to know that dual spark technology was patented long ago in 1989 by Benjamin L. Sheaffer, in the US (patent no. US4844025).

Though Kawasaki Ninja does not use a spark plug, but it has also got a similar type of technology. Ninja uses twin DFI (Direct Fuel Injection), which seems very much similar to Pulsar’s twin spark plug. Interesting!!!

The image shows that Bajaj copied the whole design as it is, didnt even try to modify anything. May be they were so under-confident about their design skills that they could not risk any design changes, lest they would end up creating a much inferior design.

I am going to narrate a personal experience which led me to this investigation. I saw an old Kawasaki bike sometime back parked somewhere in Mumbai. When I inspected the bike in a bit more detail, then some of its design and patterns looked very familiar. I had just started to wonder that may be I am being a bit cynical, but then suddenly I realized that the bike looked very much similar to our own Bajaj Pulsar.

I feel really ashamed that India does not have any genuine talent. Bajaj copied most of the Ninja, and simply made some modifications so that it does not become very much obvious. Even its claim of using twin spark plug for the first time turned out to be a fake one.

I hope that the new generation does not follow Bajaj’s footsteps. I wish we could create something totally genuine and yet world class.

http://topsy.com/tb/bit.ly/MyhDc Tweets that mention Bajaj Pulsar and Kawasaki Ninja | Microreviews.org — Topsy.com

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Aditya Prakash. Aditya Prakash said: RT @microreviewsorg Bajaj Pulsar and Kawasaki Ninja | Microreviews.org http://bit.ly/MyhDc #bajaj #pulsar #kawasaki #ninja #bike #copycat [...]
http://socialenemy.com indra

which part exactly?
i see on the image is not really the same
its kawasaki ninja 250 right?
aditya

@indra the basic design, the hood design, the engine design…all these have been derived a lot from Ninja 250. Sometime back there was also a rumour that Pulsar 250 was to be launched in India, and the image search for Pulsar 250 showed Ninja 250 with a Pulsar logo.
aditya

a discussion that took place on facebook…

Anchal Nema – thanks man for sharing, I was happy to read that the overall design and technology is very similar to that in Ninja. As a user of Pulsar, I dont care how original it is. Obviously I cant afford Ninja (at this point of time). So I guess Pulsar was a good buy

Anchal Nema – The patent for DTSi is owned by Bajaj Auto,

Anchal Nema – As far as the design is concerned, Kawasaki and Bajaj are long time collaborators for almost 2 decades now. Kawasaki never launched any product in indian market without sharing it with Bajaj until Ninja. Its true that Bajaj takes help from Kawasaki in Design and technology but in return Kawasaki gets Bajaj’s supplier base to get components overseas. So its give and take.

Aditya Prakash – @anchal bajaj has patented digital twin spark ignition (DTSi). the only innovation which bajaj did was to combine twin spark with digital spark, none of which originally belongs to bajaj

Aditya Prakash – the patent too is only an indian patent

Anchal Nema – @Aditya this post is just showing the similarity between Bajaj pulsar and Kawasaki Ninja. As far as the twin spark is concerned, even Honda uses that too. I agree to the facts mentioned by you. But I only disagreed with the following statement in the post ” feel really ashamed that India does not have any genuine talent …. to be a fake one “.

Aditya Prakash – @anchal bajaj gets technology from kawasaki, hero honda gets from honda, tata gets from fiat…where is the genuinty dude??? indian automobile industry sucks big time in terms of in-house development

Aditya Prakash – pulsar had also caused a major rift between bajaj and kawasaki. results of this rift were no more kawasaki-bajaj bikes. only bajaj bikes or kawasaki bikes.
indra

which part exactly? 
i see on the image is not really the same 
its kawasaki ninja 250 right?
aditya

@indra the basic design, the hood design, the engine design…all these have been derived a lot from Ninja 250. Sometime back there was also a rumour that Pulsar 250 was to be launched in India, and the image search for Pulsar 250 showed Ninja 250 with a Pulsar logo.
http://hemalshah.net/blogs Hemal

I dont know why are you saying this, but I am no way going to buy this. Bajaj is the only company to have been working on R&D. Hero Honda does not even do that.

Bajaj and Kawasaki might work together, no doubt. They have tons of research done already so why is it necessary for Bajaj to do the same thing again. Bajaj infact works on the tech they already received.

Twin Spark, is not a new technology.

Let me explain how this works.

You might be aware of CRDI Technology (Common Rail Desiel Ignition) used in Cars. Today, almost all desiel car engines have this technology, not only in India but all over the world. Who’s technology is it? Bosch’s. So you wont really say that those who use Common Rail Desiel Ignition technology are not innovative, then I am going to laugh at you.

The real challenge lies how to apply the technology and that is where you need to understand and laud Bajaj for pioneering that concept.

Disclaimer: I dont work for Bajaj neither I get money for anything.
aditya

a discussion that took place on facebook… 
 
Anchal Nema – thanks man for sharing, I was happy to read that the overall design and technology is very similar to that in Ninja. As a user of Pulsar, I dont care how original it is. Obviously I cant afford Ninja (at this point of time). So I guess Pulsar was a good buy 
 
Anchal Nema – The patent for DTSi is owned by Bajaj Auto, 
 
Anchal Nema – As far as the design is concerned, Kawasaki and Bajaj are long time collaborators for almost 2 decades now. Kawasaki never launched any product in indian market without sharing it with Bajaj until Ninja. Its true that Bajaj takes help from Kawasaki in Design and technology but in return Kawasaki gets Bajaj's supplier base to get components overseas. So its give and take. 
 
Aditya Prakash – @anchal bajaj has patented digital twin spark ignition (DTSi). the only innovation which bajaj did was to combine twin spark with digital spark, none of which originally belongs to bajaj 
 
Aditya Prakash – the patent too is only an indian patent 
 
Anchal Nema – @Aditya this post is just showing the similarity between Bajaj pulsar and Kawasaki Ninja. As far as the twin spark is concerned, even Honda uses that too. I agree to the facts mentioned by you. But I only disagreed with the following statement in the post " feel really ashamed that India does not have any genuine talent …. to be a fake one ". 
 
Aditya Prakash – @anchal bajaj gets technology from kawasaki, hero honda gets from honda, tata gets from fiat…where is the genuinty dude??? indian automobile industry sucks big time in terms of in-house development 
 
Aditya Prakash – pulsar had also caused a major rift between bajaj and kawasaki. results of this rift were no more kawasaki-bajaj bikes. only bajaj bikes or kawasaki bikes.
Ankur

The Ninja and the Pulsar designs are strikingly similar, no doubt about it. But to term Bajaj copycats would be a bit unfair as both Kawasaki and Bajaj were in a JV.

Can’t India produce original & world class designs?
Definitely it can, but, do we have an appetite for it? Is the Indian consumer ready to pay those extra bucks for an original design bike? I think we are not. We don’t mind if our bikes are a clone of some other foreign bike as long as it looks good and is CHEAP. So, this is a vicious cycle.
Indian companies be it Automakers or IT service providers are projecting their USPs as being cheap while serving the basic purpose. In times of recession this is definitely good.
But is it good in the long run too? Probably we need a long post on this question.
aditya

If India is to lead the development in this century, then its industries must add INNOVATION to their USP. Being cost effective will give us an edge over China and other rapidly developing nations.

This post may seem a bit harsh on our industries. But some introspection is really needed when one tries to have foresight of the technical challenges we will have to face in the time to come.

This post comes out as a frustration of the whole system of education which neither tries to cater R&D for our fast growing industries nor are our industries ready to pay the bucks needed for R&D. But I feel its about time we stopped borrowing technology and started creating our own.
Hemal

I dont know why are you saying this, but I am no way going to buy this. Bajaj is the only company to have been working on R&D. Hero Honda does not even do that. 
 
Bajaj and Kawasaki might work together, no doubt. They have tons of research done already so why is it necessary for Bajaj to do the same thing again. Bajaj infact works on the tech they already received. 
 
Twin Spark, is not a new technology. 
 
Let me explain how this works. 
 
You might be aware of CRDI Technology (Common Rail Desiel Ignition) used in Cars. Today, almost all desiel car engines have this technology, not only in India but all over the world. Who's technology is it? Bosch's. So you wont really say that those who use Common Rail Desiel Ignition technology are not innovative, then I am going to laugh at you. 
 
The real challenge lies how to apply the technology and that is where you need to understand and laud Bajaj for pioneering that concept. 
 
Disclaimer: I dont work for Bajaj neither I get money for anything.
Ankur

The Ninja and the Pulsar designs are strikingly similar, no doubt about it. But to term Bajaj copycats would be a bit unfair as both Kawasaki and Bajaj were in a JV. 
 
Can't India produce original & world class designs? 
Definitely it can, but, do we have an appetite for it? Is the Indian consumer ready to pay those extra bucks for an original design bike? I think we are not. We don't mind if our bikes are a clone of some other foreign bike as long as it looks good and is CHEAP. So, this is a vicious cycle. 
Indian companies be it Automakers or IT service providers are projecting their USPs as being cheap while serving the basic purpose. In times of recession this is definitely good. 
But is it good in the long run too? Probably we need a long post on this question.
aditya

If India is to lead the development in this century, then its industries must add INNOVATION to their USP. Being cost effective will give us an edge over China and other rapidly developing nations. 
 
This post may seem a bit harsh on our industries. But some introspection is really needed when one tries to have foresight of the technical challenges we will have to face in the time to come. 
 
This post comes out as a frustration of the whole system of education which neither tries to cater R&D for our fast growing industries nor are our industries ready to pay the bucks needed for R&D. But I feel its about time we stopped borrowing technology and started creating our own.
Javed

@Aditya
This stupidity to compare the designs. In this accuracy of difference you will find lots of bikes similar to each other. then you can also say that tvs stole the design of bajaj.

And talking about ” feel really ashamed that India does not have any genuine talent …. to be a fake one “
then where the hell from you get all these automobile. if you think indian market sucks then why dont you use your head and start your auto industry.
I think you are a big time sucker.
If you really think there is a shit in you then go and join an indian company and make new innovative design..

wats say others..??
rishav

Stupid is a harsh word. But yeah, the argument may be misplaced. He may be right as well. If anybody notices, most of the design is bike designs are similar. And I mnt the mechanical expert here, though it clearly shows that the design are different. In layman terms, the pillion seat height + the difference better the front light and the tyre, this require major suspension change (shockers etc ) . Plus the Ninja which is pure awesome, has still a lot more power than the Bajaj Pulsar. Another quick thing, does Ninja have a internation patent. If they do, why don't they do something about it. Plus there is no rift between Bajaj and Kawasaki.They are about to launch Kawasaki SuperBikes in India. Also they have stake Kawasaki is Sounth Asian Arms ( So if its copies, this doesnt qualify as a cheat , we are ok if google does it eh ? ). I guess simply googling it would give you the answer. So clearly more research is required here. I agree partly with the fact "that indians with the stupid are exactly the most innovative people on the planet" but making that call in a public forum, requires a more thought out approach. Btw, @aditya, tell Arkid to add "user voices" or kampyle here
rishav

Stupid is a harsh word. But yeah, the argument may be misplaced. He may be right as well.

If anybody notices, most of the design is bike designs are similar. And I mnt the mechanical expert here, though it clearly shows that the design are different.

In layman terms, the pillion seat height + the difference better the front light and the tyre, this require major suspension change (shockers etc ) . Plus the Ninja which is pure awesome, has still a lot more power than the Bajaj Pulsar.

Another quick thing, does Ninja have a internation patent. If they do, why don't they do something about it.
Plus there is no rift between Bajaj and Kawasaki.They are about to launch Kawasaki SuperBikes in India. Also they have stake Kawasaki is Sounth Asian Arms ( So if its copies, this doesnt qualify as a cheat , we are ok if google does it eh ? ).

I guess simply googling it would give you the answer. So clearly more research is required here.

I agree partly with the fact "that indians with the stupid are exactly the most innovative people on the planet" but making that call in a public forum, requires a more thought out approach.

Btw, @aditya, tell Arkid to add "user voices" or kampyle here
rishav

Ignore previous post, lotsa typos ( delete if you can ) Stupid is a harsh word. But yeah, the argument may be misplaced. He may be right as well. If anybody notices, most of the design is bike designs are similar. And I mnt the mechanical expert here, though it clearly shows that the design are different. In layman terms, the pillion seat height + the difference b/w the front light and the tyre, this require major suspension change (shockers etc ) . Plus the Ninja which is pure awesome, has still a lot more power than the Bajaj Pulsar. Another quick thing, does Ninja have a internation patent. If they do, why don't they do something about it. Plus there is no rift between Bajaj and Kawasaki.They are about to launch Kawasaki SuperBikes in India. Also they have stake in Kawasaki's Sounth Asian Arms ( So if its copies, this doesnt qualify as a cheat , we are ok if google does it eh ? ). I guess simply googling it would give you the answer. So clearly more research is required here. I agree partly with the fact "that indians with the stupid herd mentality arn't exactly the most innovative people on the planet" but making that call in a public forum, requires a more thought out approach. Btw, @aditya, tell Arkid to add "user voices" or kampyle here
rishav

Ignore previous post, lotsa typos ( delete if you can )

Stupid is a harsh word. But yeah, the argument may be misplaced. He may be right as well.

If anybody notices, most of the design is bike designs are similar. And I mnt the mechanical expert here, though it clearly shows that the design are different.

In layman terms, the pillion seat height + the difference b/w the front light and the tyre, this require major suspension change (shockers etc ) . Plus the Ninja which is pure awesome, has still a lot more power than the Bajaj Pulsar.

Another quick thing, does Ninja have a internation patent. If they do, why don't they do something about it.
Plus there is no rift between Bajaj and Kawasaki.They are about to launch Kawasaki SuperBikes in India. Also they have stake in Kawasaki's Sounth Asian Arms ( So if its copies, this doesnt qualify as a cheat , we are ok if google does it eh ? ).

I guess simply googling it would give you the answer. So clearly more research is required here.

I agree partly with the fact "that indians with the stupid herd mentality arn't exactly the most innovative people on the planet" but making that call in a public forum, requires a more thought out approach.

Btw, @aditya, tell Arkid to add "user voices" or kampyle here
Javed

@Aditya 
This stupidity to compare the designs. In this accuracy of difference you will find lots of bikes similar to each other. then you can also say that tvs stole the design of bajaj. 
 
And talking about ” feel really ashamed that India does not have any genuine talent …. to be a fake one “ 
then where the hell from you get all these automobile. if you think indian market sucks then why dont you use your head and start your auto industry. 
I think you are a big time sucker. 
If you really think there is a shit in you then go and join an indian company and make new innovative design.. 
 
wats say others..??
microreviewsorg

@Aditya I do feel you have been far too harsh with Bajaj in this post. Actually I have a reverse and very famous example of "Gulsar" being marketed in Latin America by a Chinese motor company. Gulsar was more than a copy. For further reference check this out <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1368082,prtpage-1.cms" target="_blank"><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/ms…</a>" target="_blank">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/ms…</a></a>
http://intensedebate.com/people/microreviewsorg microreviewsorg

@Aditya I do feel you have been far too harsh with Bajaj in this post. Actually I have a reverse and very famous example of "Gulsar" being marketed in Latin America by a Chinese motor company. Gulsar was more than a copy. For further reference check this out http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/ms…
rishav

Aditya, so write a post about the introspection people need to do to make better choices, to go do innovation. And why our society structure won't support it. Is there a change ? How many of you would quit your job to start your thing ? How many of you go ahead and make the eventual choice ? How many of did Medical or Engineering cos your parents thought that was the best thing for? And as I read through, it seems the whole ( as you seem to have mentioned ) is misplaced. Finding answers is important, misplaced frustation/anger and WRONG information is not the way to do it, your are just causing yourself more trouble. Especially when you are addressing a crowd that may not realise that they have that particular problem ( THE REAL PROBLEM you mentioned ) . In the end, even if your are right, it becomes more like "Bhais ke aage been bajana" ( no often to anybody ) just trying to make a point. @ Arkid, Thanks, really whenever i visit, I have something that comes to my mind, But I stop short of Tweeting it, so user voices is great to keep a track
rishav

Aditya, so write a post about the introspection people need to do to make better choices, to go do innovation.

And why our society structure won't support it. Is there a change ? How many of you would quit your job to start your thing ? How many of you go ahead and make the eventual choice ? How many of did Medical or Engineering cos your parents thought that was the best thing for?

And as I read through, it seems the whole ( as you seem to have mentioned ) is misplaced.

Finding answers is important, misplaced frustation/anger and WRONG information is not the way to do it, your are just causing yourself more trouble.

Especially when you are addressing a crowd that may not realise that they have that particular problem ( THE REAL PROBLEM you mentioned ) . In the end, even if your are right, it becomes more like "Bhais ke aage been bajana" ( no often to anybody ) just trying to make a point.

@ Arkid, Thanks, really whenever i visit, I have something that comes to my mind, But I stop short of Tweeting it, so user voices is great to keep a track
http://shpyon-po-sosedstvu.ru/ VoiniSveta

Как вы относитесь к непопулярным статьям в блогах
aditya

Мы просто пусть они там … мы писали, что наша точка зрения.

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Bajaj Pulsar – Copycats!!!

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