[ghodlur]

@Deetee

What a wonderful writeup, such detailing. Truly was an impulsive writing I must say. Congratulations on the on/off roader. I am yet to see it in my city.

What did you answer to the usual "Kitna deti hai" questions, have you been able to clalculate the FE? One question will the front mud guard in any way not osbtruct/deflect the light throw? The tyres size - is this adequate for offroading, I thought fatter tryes would do the job better.

Come this monsoon I am expecting to see a lot of Impusles on the roads - coz its offroading times on the potholed roads.

Happy riding and drive safely.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by RIC.BURNS

How is the low speed handling in traffic? also how is the ride comfort?

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@Deetee
What did you answer to the usual "Kitna deti hai" questions, have you been able to clalculate the FE? One question will the front mud guard in any way not osbtruct/deflect the light throw? The tyres size - is this adequate for offroading, I thought fatter tryes would do the job better.

Thank you RiC.BURNS and Ghodlur.

Slow speed handling is quite good actually. In my older bike (libero) which itself is a bit taller than many other road bikes of its time, I used to crawl very balanced and even sometimes could stand still for a few seconds. That bike too has a double cradle chassis. I did not try to see how long Impulse can stand still, but I observed it is easier to take tighter turns due to wider handle and high CG. And zipping through to traffic at normal speeds is cake walk albeit with some practice of body balancing.

@Ghodlur, I didn't calculate it accurately because am just into reserve for first time. Filled about 9 ltrs intially and at about 294 kms, reserve indications were noticed.And since 2.6 ltrs is the usable reserve, 294/6.4 ~ 46kmpl.
Before buying, even I wondered if the fender will throw any shadow in the path of head light. But it doesn't cast any because both the low and high beams throw a wide beam of light much ahead of the bike and fender doesn't come in between.
I didn't do any riding in slush but for loose sand/soil/gravel the tyres are good enough. Interestingly the tyre thread pattern is also a copy of those on Honda NXR 150.

[deetee]

Specifications of the NXR 150, most of them apply to Impulse:

Some of these specs are not mentioned in Indian owners manual, looks like Hero only copied the bike but wrote the manual on their own

[vinair]

Congrats on the new buy buddy! I took a short test ride of the bike a couple of weeks ago and found the machine to be almost perfect for our road conditions! The only grouse I found were the very narrow foot pegs (my feet kept slipping away!) and the wielding on the frame! Forget about the foot pegs, one can always change them but the wielding on the frame could have been better finished! Ride safe!

[ku69rd]

Congrats on the new toy mate, she does look very ravishing in the greens. Did not quite like the finish of the welding & the concept of pegs being welded directly into chassis. If the bike would fall then the pegs might damage the chassis.
Good to read that you are indeed enjoying the ride, and i guess you might need to fabricate a race stand at the rear so that you can take care of the cleaning/lubricating the rear by yourself. With 240mm as the GC this would be an ideal candidate for the Leh tour.
You also mentioned about the accessories what were they?
Wishing you miles of impulsive happiness.

[rk_sans]

Excellent review and it has come in the right time for me. Was suggesting this bike for my cousin to do a Leh Trip. Will look forward for your updates on this.

[abhinav.s]

Very well written review with good snaps. The welds are an eye sore no doubt but on the whole its a really good looking bike and your choice of color is really nice. Good to know that it irons out most of the bumps felt on the roads. Once you are done with the run-in please post the comfortable cruising speeds of the bike. Will help prospective buyers! All the best and wishing you many miles with the bike!

[shekaran]

deetee,
reg your tacho light problem - pls check the earthing(neg) wire of the tail lamp - see if there is any leakage or short in that particular section.
next check the same in both your brake light activation switches - problem solved.

old rx100s used to have the same problem, speedometer light coming on only when brake light is on - post the results.

best regards.

[deetee]

Thank You All for Your warm wishes.

Originally Posted by vinair

The only grouse I found were the very narrow foot pegs (my feet kept slipping away!) and the wielding on the frame!

Foot pegs appear small but I didn't slip even while standing on them during quick jumps, not even once. Yes, the finishing needs a big improvement but even in pics of NXR 150 I observed similar 'raw' weld marks.

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Did not quite like the finish of the welding & the concept of pegs being welded directly into chassis. If the bike would fall then the pegs might damage the chassis.

The footpegs fold inwards in the event of a fall or any impact and return back due to the springs (shown in closeup images I posted earlier).

Originally Posted by ku69rd

i guess you might need to fabricate a race stand at the rear so that you can take care of the cleaning/lubricating the rear by yourself.

Yes, I have a few ideas and info gathered from web, will have to start working on them soon. I somehow managed to clean and lubricate the chain with side stand itself. I can't repeat same exercises all the time.

Originally Posted by rk_sans

Was suggesting this bike for my cousin to do a Leh Trip. Will look forward for your updates on this.

Ground clearance is great but will not the engine run out of breathe at such high altitudes.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Good to know that it irons out most of the bumps felt on the roads. Once you are done with the run-in please post the comfortable cruising speeds of the bike.

At 30+ speeds bike does carpet all bumps but at slow speeds suspension is spongy, my personal feeling. I think am done with run in , started ripping in short bursts after first 200 km . From what I remember I touched 80 kmph @7000 rpm in 4th gear. Didn't go beyond that. I plan to red line in each gear and see how the bike performs.

Originally Posted by shekaran

reg your tacho light problem - pls check the earthing(neg) wire of the tail lamp - see if there is any leakage or short in that particular section.
next check the same in both your brake light activation switches - problem solved.

Thank You Shekaran, seems like the cause is very much on those lines. But what I don't understand how the Hero factory quality checks missed this aspect. Point is ,it is not just the tacho/position light but even the engine start switch also fires only when either brake is used. At first I thought this is the way of starting Hero bikes ( pleasure behaves this way) but later I checked a testride bike and it starts without holding any brake. I just couldn't figure out how such a setup of brake switch, position lamp and engine start switch could have been inter connected. On other hand, the head lamp works normally.

I will open up all panels and check the complete wiring. I liked and wanted to retain the feature of holding brake to start engine (it is quite useful and unique to my bike) and sort out only the position/tacho lamp issue.

[dass]

Originally Posted by deetee

I will open up all panels and check the complete wiring. I liked and wanted to retain the feature of holding brake to start engine (it is quite useful and unique to my bike) and sort out only the position/tacho lamp issue.

Wouldn't this act of your void the warranty on the bike Not that a bike really needs a warranty, but at least when it is available during the first year, i believe it would be prudent to let the show room fellas handle it. You may want to watch them do it and they may even allow you to watch as it is a new bike.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by dass

Wouldn't this act of your void the warranty on the bike Not that a bike really needs a warranty, but at least when it is available during the first year, i believe it would be prudent to let the show room fellas handle it. You may want to watch them do it and they may even allow you to watch as it is a new bike.

There are no 'warranty void' stickers stuck on screws .
On a serious note, the mechanics who first tried to sort the issue ( on my last visit there) were more rude to the machine than I would be. And moreover am not opening the engine, its only the panels to check wiring and if am not capable of that, am not worthy enough of owning this.
On a side note, I thought its only the mighty bull that teaches DIY skills, am wrong. Its your love towards your machine that pushes you into DIY territory

[deetee]

Redlined (@8000 rpm) in 3rd gear , speedo read 73kmph. But to test 4th and 5th gears I will have to find a runway.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

With 240mm as the GC this would be an ideal candidate for the Leh tour.

That is the big question isn't it? Someone please take this bike to Ladakh and let us know how it does on the climbs, with a bit of luggage. I'd love to do Ladakh again, but this time with a much lighter bike than the Bullet.

[deetee]

The tyres, though much better than road tyres, may not be ideal for hard core offroading. There are small stony hillocks around my office and am taking my bike out there whenever I get time, to learn how it handles offroad. Today came across a patch which has loose soft soil mixed with stone debris and there is a right turn. Attempted to take the turn in first gear and the rear kicked out large dust cloud before it could propel forward. So long as I ride in straight line the bike didn't skid but when it came to that turn it lost traction. Didn't get the physics part behind it but managed to get out of it by modulating throttle and using my feet. Quite a scene though.

[deetee]

This morning, I opened the frontfairing, RHS switch gear, side panels and thoroughly checked all wiring lines.Didn't find anything unusual. So, set about to do some trouble shooting. Disconnected front brake switch and checked to see if engine start works with only rear brake connected.
It didn't. So, I isolated the cause to the wiring between RHS switch gear and connectors in the front.

There are three ground wires visible in RHS switch gear while only one is connected to connectors at front.(see pics).



It appears that three ground wires coming from switch are joined there itself and then proceeds as one wire down.



Using a multimeter checked connectivity between various ground points on the switches and other end of the ground wire. Looked like the grounds are loosely connected during factory fitting or disturbed during pressure wash at time of delivery.

Disconnected all connectors, reconnected them again ensuring proper contacts. Since, nothing else appeared to be out of place, I put back all the panels and parts I removed earlier.
Offered my prayers and flicked the engine start switch WITHOUT holding brake lever. As the engine purred to life , I let a sigh of relief and a cry of joy.

I checked to see if tacho light and position lamps are coming on . They did and for the first time, I had the opportunity to see how the tail lamp looks like when lit.



Console when I took delivery ( tacho used to be lit only when brake lever is held):



Console in its full glory now:



And again, in the excitement, I forgot to tape the wires and connectors before I fixed the parts back. So, am expecting to do same exercise if the bike undergoes a pressure wash.