Bajaj Avenger 220 Street launched in new colour

Say hello to the new Bajaj Avenger 220 Street and 220 Cruise! What are they? How are they different? Bajaj had introduced the Avenger 220 after it parted ways from Kawasaki and discontinued the Eliminator. The Avenger has been relaunched with two types of different styling. One is the 220 Cruise, which looks more like a cruiser bike with lots of chrome. The other is 220 Street, which has shorter handle bars and matte black colour. How good are these new bikes? We share out in depth review.

Bajaj Avenger 220 Street and 220 Cruise Colours

The Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise will be coming in Cocktail Red, Desert Gold and Divine Black colour options. The Avenger 220 Street will come in matte black and matte wild green colour options.

We had the opportunity to spend some time with the two Avenger models & here are our first impressions:

Bajaj Avenger 220 Street and 220 Cruise Design 

The Bajaj Avenger 220 Street has short handlebar and is nimble enough to ride in city. This makes it a good option to consider especially for those who ride in the city. The Avenger 220 Chrome version is more of the comfortable rider, and is more suited for long rides. This is ideal for riding on highways and open roads. Both the Avenger body styles have the same chassis, with cosmetic changes for colours and even handle position. This makes them look different and appear not so ideal despite the same frame.

There’s a flatter handlebar that transforms the riding position and feels just perfect for the cut and thrust conditions of the urban prowl. The wire wheels are traded for snazzy 12-spoke alloy wheels. The tank follows the matte paint language and looks rather fetching in black, with its contrast graphics. The exhaust is all new and sports a rounded look, appearing almost bulbous instead of the chopped-looking one earlier. This is again finished in flat black with satin silver accents, but the latter end up detracting somewhat from the premium look of the motorcycle.

Bajaj Avenger 220 Street and 220 Cruise Ride

The 220cc single-cylinder engine on the Avenger has been refined for better performance. Bajaj has retuned the engine on just for performance, but even ease of riding. The throttle response has been enhanced and multiple improvements are made to the engine. Soon, the BS-IV engine will also be introduced for the Avenger 220. The performance of this engine is good and we loved the manner in which it has performed.

Let out the light clutch and the 220 Cruise darts off the line. If you’ve ridden the previous-gen Avenger, then you’ll feel right at home. It is the same, familiar riding position, the comfort from the well-cushioned street and the fact that your feet can touch the ground. The gearbox feels butter-smooth, with shifts, both up & down the ratios feeling quicker than ever. There’s chrome everywhere you look and touch around you, which ought to bring a smile to the faces of the purists. The exhaust note does sound like it has changed, getting slightly gruff as we briefly took her up the rev range.

Switching to the 220 Street and the different is immediately apparent. The flatter handle-bar is the first trick. Also, the bike feels better planted riding out of the parking lot. As we headed out on the open road, the 220 Street feels sure-footed and the bike appears to be at ease in the urban cut and thrust routine. The switch to those 12 spoke alloy wheels didn’t just up the oomph factor but they also seem to have improved the road behaviour. Braking behaviour too felt a mite better on the Street than the Cruise.

Bajaj Avenger 220 Street and 220 Cruise Mileage

The Bajaj Avenger has decent mileage. It returns about 30 km/l in the city and on an open road, it increases to 35-38 km/l. If you need the more fuel-efficient one, pick the 150cc engine.

Bajaj Avenger 220 Street and 220 Cruise why one to buy?

On the road, it was the 220 Street with its matte paint job and minimalist appearance that grabbed the eyeballs. The mini-Harley Street 750 styling creating the stir that Bajaj are expecting. In terms of the initial riding feel too, the 220 Street felt better than its Cruise sibling (the latter should keep the purists happy). Performance too appeared to be adequate. We will be doing an in-depth review on both Avengers soon, to bring you a detailed lowdown on them.

For now, Bajaj Auto must be commended for this move of theirs. They may have taken their own sweet time with the updates to their Cruiser line-up, and even this has no real mechanical changes. But coming out with two, visually distinct variants on the same platform, yet appealing to two markedly different sets of customer needs indeed deserves an applause. The buyers however are expected to offer the last hurrah and it shall be interesting to watch which of the siblings surges ahead.

We have even ridden the new Bajaj Avenger 150 as well. Do not forget to check out the review of the Bajaj Avenger 150 Street as well.