Bajaj Avenger Street 150 [2018] vs Bajaj Avenger Street 160

A new horse in the teeming 150cc segment of motorcycles in India. As the country’s first ever 150cc cruiser, the Bajaj Avenger 150 Street wears the hallowed Avenger badge and mixes bona fide cruiser DNA with the affordability and efficiency of a traditional 150cc commuter.

The Avenger 150 Street is the new entry-level variant in Bajaj’s Avenger range of budget cruisers. While the news of the launch of the new Avenger in two trims (Street and Cruise) wasn’t a big surprise, Bajaj dropped a bombshell when it first lifted the covers off the new Avenger 150 Street, earlier this week. By entering this, so far, uncharted territory, Bajaj has widened its reach to attract a whole new set of customers, looking for a premium 150cc motorcycle. While Bajaj already has three 150cc motorcycles in its line-up, this didn’t stop Bajaj from filling the void of a cruiser in this highly lucrative market space.

I don’t know about you, but I had to go back and read up to keep track of the number of iterations the Bajaj Avenger has gone through. Now, Bajaj says the consumers - who are mostly commuters - expected better fuel economy numbers from the 180. So the bike maker has brought in the 160 Avenger. And it says the new motorcycle strikes the right balance. But does it, really?