You haven't consider r15, which is at present most advanced bike being made in India. Thought its not most powerful but its good one, it is first Indian bike with Liquid cooled engine.. it means you can cruise longer distances at high speeds than any other Indian bike.

But as you said, you need something reliable and durable then R15 do not stand anywhere near as its pretty new and hence no solid instances of its durability can be found in near future.

But looking at your own considerations.. Bullet thunderbird and Pulsar 220, both are totally different bikes.. Thunderbird is a cruiser while pulsar is sporty .. Moreover they totally differ each other in many respect.

I suggest you that first you decide that do you need sporty bike or something of other genre ?

While thunderbird is time tested and every one knows its pros and cons.. on other side Pulsar is not bad as there are no serious complains yet from any pulsar 200cc and 220cc owner, overall they all are happy and satisfied.

Well there will be part replacements in both bikes but only minor one.. like sprockets, clutch plates etc.. ie. those are heavily used but no other major stuff.


But make sure you take good care of bike by proper service at right time .. otherwise no bike can stand 3 years without major work on engine..