Bajaj Pulsar RS200 took the market by storm as evident from the initial bookings of 3,500 units in a month from just 30 cities across India. Now that the vehicle is available across most parts of the country, Bajaj has expanded its Chakan plant’s production capacity to cope up with the rising demand.

There nothing a rider can do to save himself and the motorcycle if the spokes break cleanly off the rim as seen here.

We have come across a rather disturbing incident through Facebook, which points towards a possible defect in the brand’s fastest and the most expensive motorcycle. It’s reported that one of the first buyers of RS200 met with a scary accident which he claims was due to failure of the front alloy wheels when subjected to braking. Both rider and pillion are reported to be hospitalized due to the mishap.

The photographs of the motorcycle post the accident shows that the spokes broke off the rim, thereby rendering the rider helpless. The damaged front portion of the motorcycle is also consistent with the loss of front wheel while the vehicle was in motion. Analyzing the photographs, it is clear that a failed front wheel is the cause of the accident and not vice versa.

It’s to be noted that a similar kind of failures of front alloy wheels were initially reported by some KTM Duke customers and it appears that same problem has reared its ugly head in the new Pulsar.

The damage is consistent with the claim that the front wheel got dislodged while the bike was on the move.

Such a clean break away of spokes from rim is unheard of even in cases of heavy frontal impact (the wheel usually warps with spokes getting bent). It could be caused either by a poor design which results it excessive cyclic stress at the points where the spokes meet the rim, or material imperfection or a manufacturing defect.

Anyway, the net result is potentially disastrous and we hope Bajaj investigates the cause of the failure and takes necessary actions to prevent it from happening again.

Official statement from Bajaj regarding the incident

Bajaj Auto was informed on Wednesday, 22 July 2015 of an incident where a Pulsar RS200 was reported having a major alloy wheel breakage. This type of incident has never happened to any Bajaj motorcycle before. We have immediately sent a team to the workshop in Mumbai to conduct a full analysis of the accident vehicle. We have also spoken to the customer to express our concern for his wellbeing and understand details of the incident. Our initial findings are:

The alloy wheel breakage in this accident is possible only if the wheel has experienced a large external side impact. Such an impact is not possible under normal road or track riding conditions.

This is evidenced by the direction of the break and marks on tyre and rim in this case.

Our tyres on the Pulsar RS200 are P rated suitable for up to 150 kmph. The tyre-wheel combination and the entire motorcycle is designed and tested extensively to operate safely well beyond max speed.

We confirm Bajaj bikes are manufactured to the highest quality standards and are designed for safe operations. Over the past 14 years Bajaj Pulsar has earned the trust of more than 50 lakh customers in over 25 countries.

Via – Facebook