Bajaj Auto has officially launched the Discover 150 commuter motorcycle in two variants in India. The Discover is available as the 150 S with a naked street-fighter styling as well as a half-faired design on the 150 F model and is targeted towards customers who want the economy and comfort of a commuter motorcycle, but do not want to compromise on power and performance. The Discover 150 S is priced at Rs. 51,720/- for the drum variant, Rs. 54,725/- for the front disc variant while the Discover 150 F (gets front disc as standard) is priced at Rs. 58,729/- (ex-showroom, Pune). The tagline of the bike is “Ek Naya Josh” while the claimed mileage is 72 km/l.
Being a part of the Bajaj Discover family, the 150 models share a lot of components with the smaller Discovers, while certain styling bits come from the Pulsar range. The Discover 150 models are based on the same platform as the 125 ST and share the body panels and graphics as well. The 150 S street fighter shares most of its design similarities including the web-spoked alloy wheels with the 125 ST. The digital-analogue instrument cluster also comes from other Discovers and is easy to read providing with all vital information. The 150 F on the other hand gets a half-faired design that seems to have taken inspiration from the Pulsar 220 and the Karizma R motorcycles.
Nonetheless, the Discover 150 F looks decent enough for a commuter motorcycle and should appeal to the younger buyers who are looking at an alternative to the Honda CB Stunner and Hero Ignitor in the same price range. Providing the finishing touches though are the silver finished grab rails, full black paint scheme, new body decals as well as the wider 100/90/17 rear tyre that is the biggest differentiator between the Discover 150 and 125 ST models. The Discover 150 S fills the price gap left by discontinuation of the Discover 125 ST. The bike is offered in 4 colours namely red, black, blue and green; it uses DC lighting.
Bajaj Auto feels that with travelling becoming more, people need more power. Thus the new Discover 150 S and F use a new 144.8cc, 4-valve, DTS-i engine that belts out 14.5 PS of power at 8500 RPM, and 12.75 Nm of peak torque at 6500 RPM, paired to a 5-speed gearbox. With a low weight of just 129 kgs (130 kgs for the disc and 132 kgs for the F version), the Discover 150 gets an impressive power to weight ratio that should make the Discover 150 very peppy and quick off the mark. Suspension duties are performed by telescopic forks at the front and a monoshock setup at the rear on both the motorcycles. While stopping power comes from a 240 mm petal disc brake at the front and a 130 mm drum setup at the rear.
Bajaj Auto has positioned the Discover 150 twins below the Pulsar range and the company has already commenced deliveries of the Discover 150 prior to the launch and are targeting to sell around 30,000 units of the motorcycle every month. According to Bajaj, the Discover 150 rivals the Honda CB Unicorn, CB Shine and Hero Glamour. Will these new 150cc motorcycles resurrect brand Discover for Bajaj? Only time will tell.
2014 Bajaj Discover 150 Prices (ex-showroom, Pune) –
* Discover 150 S Drum – Rs. 51,720/-
* Discover 150 S Disc – Rs. 54,725/-
* Discover 150 F – Rs. 58,729/-
