Details of new Bajaj XCD Sprint 125cc and Discover 150cc

Earlier post:- New Bikes from Bajaj in 2008

Bajaj had earlier announced that they would be launching 3 new 2 wheelers this year at the Auto Expo and so they did: the new 125cc scooter Blade, 125cc XCD DTS-i Sprint and Discover Dts-i 150cc.
But sadly no other models publicly displayed by Bajaj, so all the rumors about possible Pulsar upgrades, a new 300cc etc are still rumors for now.

Discover Dtsi 150cc

Picture of new Discover Dtsi 150cc

Bajaj seems to be strategically raising bar as far performance and displacement is concerned. The XCD Dts-si 125cc offered the features of a 150cc, performance of 125cc and yet a fuel efficiency equal to, if not better than the 100cc bikes at the same price.
With the 125cc becoming the new 100cc, the next logical step was to graduate the existing 125cc buyers towards 150cc and thats were the new Discover 150cc comes in. The pricing is not yet know but it could be anyone's guess that it would be priced competitively in same range as the other 125cc bikes by rival manufacturers. The Pulsar 150cc Dts-i would continue to be a premium and more sportier option in the 150cc segment.
Personally i expected that the Pulsar 150cc would also receive some upgrades to tackle the challenge offered by the new HH Hunk and Apache RTR, but who knows that just might happen soon.

Technical specifications of the Discover DTS-i 150:-
150cc Dts-i engine
14.1PS @ 8500r.p.m
12.3 NM @ 6500r.p.m
Digital Speedometer
New side panels and tail.
Integrated Turn indicators on the tank cowl.

XCD 125 cc DTS-i Sprint

Picture of new XCD 125 cc DTS-i Sprint

If you always felt the XCD was a no fun commuter bike, then yes may be you were right to some extent. The new XCD Sprint looks far more aggressive and sporty than the XCD Dts-si. The XCD Sprint is Bajaj Auto's answer to the 3 valve TVS Flame which so far looked good in comparison with the XCD. The new XCD Spring with its all new 4 valve DTS-i engine pumps out 12.5 ps, the best in the segment. The XCD Sprint gets a front disc brake for more control over the added power and rear Nitrox shock absorbers which should improve the ride quality to great extent. The new XCD Sprint build on XCD platform would co-exist with XCD DTS-si and cater to the people who prefer a bit more sportier 125cc without sacrificing too much fuel efficiency.

Technical specifications of the new XCD 125 cc DTS-i Sprint:-

Engine: 125cc 4 valve DTS-i
Max power: 12.5PS @ 9000r.p.m
Max torque: 10.3NM@ 6500r.p.m
Nitrox rear suspension
17-inch alloy wheels
Front Disc Brakes
Digital Speedometers
Radical led tail light
New side panels and sharp tail design
Tank cowl and new Head Lamp design

Thanks to MG_Biker1806 from xbhp for allowing me to post the pics originally taken by him during the Auto Expo.

Related:-
What is DTS-i ,DTS-Si and DTS-Fi?
New Bikes from Bajaj in 2008
Pictures of Bajaj Small car: Lite
Yamaha's New Gladiator Type SS & RS
Yamaha at Auto Expo 2008
Kawasaki superbikes to be available in India
Yamaha YZF R15 and FZ unveiled at Auto Expo
Bajaj Auto to resurrect two stroke Bikes
Tvs Flame launched at 45,000 ex-showroom Chennai

BS Motoring awards 2008

BS Motoring awards 2008, the oldest automotive awards in the country were recently declared and following are the winners:-
Hyundai i10 won the Business Standard Motoring Car of the Year 2008 award. It had a stiff competition from Mahindra Renault Logan, Chevrolet Spark, Maruti Suzuki’s SX4, the BMW 3 and 5 Series and the Volkswagen Passat.

Hyundai earlier won the COTY awards for the Santro in 1998 and the Getz in 2005.

The recently launched i10 has set a new bench mark in the small car segment with its build quality, ride, handling, driveability, comfort, safety features, fuel efficiency and yet a very competitive price.

The Bajaj XCD redefined the entry level bike segment in the country. Offering the best of technology and features at an extremely affordable price impressed the juries and won the Bike of the year award for the XCD. The XCD faced competition from TVS Apache RTR160, the Pulsar 200 & Pulsar 220.

Winner in the other categories were as follows:
Chevrolet Spark: Business Standard Motoring Best Value Award 2008.
Mahindra Renault Logan: Business Standard Motoring Jury Award 2008.
BMW 325i: Business Standard Motoring Performance Car of the Year 2008.
Volkswagen Passat: Business Standard Motoring Premium Car of the Year 2008.
TVS Apache RTR 160: Business Standard Motoring Performance Bike of the year 2008.
Kinetic-Sym Flyte: Business Standard Motoring Scooter of the Year 2008.

Update1:- Created a poll for Car of the Year and Bike of the Year (Right hand side panel)
So please kindly select the Car and Bike you think are winner, also leave comments as to why you think they deserve to win. We will have our winners just before the Auto Expo where most of the awards are likely to be announced.

Update2:- Poll now closed. Here are the results:-Click

Earlier poll:- Most preffered bike in 150cc segment.

Further problems with Bajaj Bikes : Bajaj XCD

After the much over hyped broken front forks in Bajaj Pulsar 200, followed by a recall of the bikes sold earlier, it was the Bajaj Kristal that was recalled after it developed a fuel-pump problem that led to engine knocking. As if this was not enough now its the latest offering in 125 cc segment The XCD has developed problems.The company has contacted customers who bought the 125cc XCD to replace faulty electronic components for self start and head lamps along with a part of ‘noisy’ centre-stand.

This is surely adding to quality issues raised against Bajaj products. In spite of providing some technological break thorough, Bajaj has to seriously concentrate and get these resolved if the want to compete in the market and regain the number 1 position.

Update :-
Bajaj XCD is selling xcdingly well.

Update:-
Bajaj Auto refutes XCD 125 problems
Trading Markets quoted Amit Nandi, general manager for marketing at Bajaj Auto, as saying: "We have not received any such complaint in the product but if some part was damaged during transit the company can replace the component as the bike comes with a two-year warranty."

Indicating that it was not a case of recall, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, admitted the possibility of a particular case somewhere.
Source

Bajaj DTS-SI advertisement

Bajaj's new 125 cc 'Exceed' to hit roads in Sept

Update:-
Bajaj sold 65000 XCDs in 50 days.



Bajaj has come up with yet another innovation for ppl who actually care for millage:-

PUNE: Bajaj Auto on Thursday announced a breakthrough with the launch of a new engine for its new two-wheeler range which the company claims gives a mileage of 109 km per litre under ideal test conditions.

The company will launch a new model `Exceed', powered by the new engine, in September, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajeev Bajaj told reporters on Thursday.

`Exceed' is expected to be priced at Rs 40,000 ex-showroom (Pune) but the actual pricing will be decided later, Bajaj said.
The new engine called Digital Twin Spark--Swirl induction (DTS-Si) surpasses the mileage offered by all current 100 cc motorcycles. The company has applied for a patent for this engine, Bajaj said.

The breakthrough offers a huge opportunity to upgrade the 100 cc customers with an engine which offers the best of both worlds--100 cc mileage and 125 cc performance, top officials of the company said.

The DTS-Si engine is far superior to the conventional 4-stroke engines which dominate the 100 cc segment at present, the said.

General Manager, Marketing, Amit Nandi said brand Bajaj enjoys a market share of 47 per cent in the growing and profitable 125 cc and 150 cc segments against a smaller share of 24 per cent in the declining but larger 100 cc segment.

Bajaj will offer customers a value proposition much superior to the currently over-priced and under performing 100 cc products with the launch of `Exceed' next month, he said. 100 cc customers will upgrade to this 125 cc bike that gives superior mileage and power, he said.

Read the article on Economic times

Engine Details from Bajaj:-
DTS-Si (DIGITAL TWIN SPARK - SWIRL induction)


Introduction
In a conventional single spark plug equipped combustion chamber, the rate of combustion is slow. The spark plug situated at one end of the combustion chamber, ignites the air-fuel mixture and the ensuing flame front spreads like a slowly inflating balloon. There is an inevitable delay for this inflating balloon to reach the furthest part of the combustion chamber. Thus, the combustion is slow and inefficient.

Digital Twin Spark ignition (DTS-i system)

The Digital Twin Spark – ignition, equipped combustion chamber takes care of the slow rate of combustion in a simple but novel way. The cylinder head is equipped with two spark plugs, instead of the conventional single spark plug. By generating two sparks at either ends of the combustion chamber, (approximately 90 to the valve axis) the Air-Fuel mixture gets ignited such that, there are 2 flame fronts created and therefore a reduction in flame travel of the order of 40% is achieved. A fast rate of combustion is achieved leading to a fast rate of pressure rise. The obvious outcome of this is more torque, better fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

Digital Twin Spark – Swirl induction (DTS-Si system)

The Digital Twin Spark - ignition or DTS- i is the mother technology for the latest Digital Twin Spark – Swirl induction or DTS-Si technology.

Thanks to DTS- i, a fast rate of combustion and therefore the resulting fast rate of pressure rise is harnessed, by optimally positioning this pressure, to deliver maximum possible work and hence obtain more torque, better fuel efficiency and lower emissions.

When burning lean Air-Fuel mixtures, the two plugs provide rapid combustion, but at light loads, opportunity exists to improve the combustion further.

Combustion efficiency in lean Air-Fuel mixture conditions can be further improved by generating high turbulence in the combustion chamber.

Combustion chambers having low turbulence give rise to propagation of a flame front, which is akin to that of a gradually expanding balloon. This results in a slower rate of combustion and thus slower rate of pressure rise. End result is lower efficiency.

When high turbulence is generated and combustion takes place, the surface of the ballooning flame front fragments itself, with projection like fingers, which increases its surface area, thereby improving combustion further.

The straight ports used in conventional engines have limitations in generating high swirl values due to their geometry. One of the ways to generate more swirl is to have a port configuration that promotes this phenomena. An offset port configuration was arrived upon and optimised to generate the required swirl numbers.

Incorporated in the new engine, this results in a swirling motion of the incoming charge, which decays itself into turbulence as the piston moves in the Induction and Compression strokes. This results in the Air-Fuel mixture being more thoroughly mixed and spread around the combustion chamber. Sparks provided by the twin spark plugs ignite this highly turbulent and compressed Air-Fuel mixture, leading to a flame front with high surface area, resulting in a rapid rise of pressure due to rapid combustion. The values of turbulence achieved now, are substantially higher than that of a straight port cylinder head, such as in Pulsar. A combination of DTS-i and Swirl induction thus provides extremely rapid combustion, resulting in high efficiency.

Update:- The real fuel efficiency (average / millage) as offered by xcd is as follows:-

(highway / city / overall) kmpl
65.3 / 73.6 / 71.52

Note:-
Before you call this bullshit and ask how can xcd return better average in city than on highway, let me clarify. The xcd is most fuel efficient in the range of 40 to 45 (as per the mag) and the fuel efficiency of xcd drops above 60. 90 being the top speed. Now the question is can you ride a bike in any city forget the metros, at a constant speed of 40 ??


Engine specification
Type: Four stroke Natural Air-cooled
No. of cylinders : One
Bore: 54 mm
Stroke: 54.4 mm
Engine displacement : 124.58 cc
Compression ratio: 9.5+/- 0.5 : 1
Maximum Net Power: 9.53 PS( 7.01 kW) at 7000 rpm
Maximum Net Torque: 10.85 Nm at 5000rpm
Ignition system: Microprocessor controlled Digital CDI, with TRICS incorporated in Carburettor
Ignition Timing: Variable Timing with Multiple maps
Fuel: Unleaded Petrol, 87 RON minimum
Carburetor: Side draught type,
Ucal – Mikuni VM16 with Auto choke/ Keihin FIE PTE16, with Auto choke
Lubrication: Wet sump, forced
Clutch: Wet, mulit disc type.
Bajaj xcd