6 months and 4800 km with the N250 - my honest take

20 views3 replies21 Jun

Been riding my N250 for about 6 months now, roughly 4,800 km on the clock, mostly city commute with the odd weekend highway run. Coming from a carbureted 150 before this, the difference in fit and finish surprised me, those upside down forks up front genuinely make the bike feel like it's punching above its price bracket, especially through corners on the ghat roads near my place. Mileage-wise I'm consistently getting around 38-39 kmpl in mixed riding, which lines up with what most other owners seem to be reporting, so I don't think I got a dud unit. The digital console with turn-by-turn nav has actually been genuinely useful on unfamiliar routes, not just a gimmick.

The spec sheet for the N250 on this site is fairly thorough if anyone wants the numbers laid out properly before buying. My one gripe, the switchable traction control and ride modes are nice on paper but I rarely touch them beyond the default road mode, feels like a feature I paid for and don't fully use. Also the pillion seat could use a bit more padding for longer rides. Nothing that would put me off recommending it though. Anyone else running theirs past 10-15k km yet? Curious how the USD fork seals and the chain are holding up at higher mileage, since mine's still fairly fresh.

3 Replies

manoj_garage

21 Jun

Nice to see a detailed review. My experience has been decent but not perfect, had an issue with the horn button becoming loose within the first few months, dealer sorted it under warranty without much fuss though. On the traction control point I actually agree with you, in day to day city riding you barely notice it's there which is probably the point. One thing I'd add for anyone considering this bike, get your local service center's reputation checked first, mine took a while to become properly familiar with the newer electronics on this model compared to the older Pulsars they're used to servicing.

isha_carventures

21 Jun

Been considering this over the Apache 160 4V and this thread is helpful. Question for you and others here, how's the bike behaving in heavy rain, especially the digital console and switchgear? Also did you go for the champagne gold USD fork variant or the regular one, and does it make a noticeable difference beyond looks? Trying to decide between colours before booking mine next month.

divya_autolove

21 Jun

Good writeup. I'm at almost 12,000 km on mine now, bought it same time last year, and the USD forks are still smooth, no seal leaks so far. Mileage has dropped slightly for me to around 35-36 kmpl but that's mostly because I ride it harder than I probably should. The traction control did save me once on a wet flyover ramp so I wouldn't call it useless, just situational. Chain needs more frequent lubing than I expected for a bike in this segment, I'm doing it every 500 km or so to keep it quiet. Otherwise no major issues, first two services were uneventful.

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