[am1m]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Then I was told that the booking of the test ride can happen only after paying Rs 1,000!

Simply amazing the test ride/drive 'policies' you hear about. Almost any new 'hot' bike or car sees major attitude from the dealers- CBR250, FordEcosport, almost any superbike dealership in India, etc etc.

"No test ride, no dedicated test vehicle, pay x for a test ride, show income proof, book the vehicle first and then only test ride, test ride with dealer employee as pillion, leave license with the dealer and test ride, 200-meter test ride, etc.etc"...the list is long and simply ridiculous!

A test ride, at the customer's convenience, on a designated test vehicle, and for as long and as many times as the customer needs to make up their mind is the bare minimum that can be expected. Crazy how many brands just don't get this one simple thing.

Shame on you Hero! (Yes it's one dealer, but the brand remains Hero.)

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by am1m

Simply amazing the test ride/drive 'policies' you hear about. Almost any new 'hot' bike or car sees major attitude from the dealers- CBR250, FordEcosport, almost any superbike dealership in India, etc etc.

"No test ride, no dedicated test vehicle, pay x for a test ride, show income proof, book the vehicle first and then only test ride, test ride with dealer employee as pillion, leave license with the dealer and test ride, 200-meter test ride, etc.etc"...the list is long and simply ridiculous!

A test ride, at the customer's convenience, on a designated test vehicle, and for as long and as many times as the customer needs to make up their mind is the bare minimum that can be expected. Crazy how many brands just don't get this one simple thing.

Shame on you Hero! (Yes it's one dealer, but the brand remains Hero.)

am1m, the good thing is that matters have greatly improved now compared to what they used to be a few years ago.

But like you said, still there are petulant dealers / companies that dont know the basics of customer service. Ive been to the Jawa dealership here in Cochin a couple of times and when it comes to test rides, they insist on the sales person being a pillion and refuse to budge. Ultimately its their loss.

On the other hand, if you cross the road and walk into the Royal Enfield company store, they happily hand over the keys to any test ride bike and tell you its fine to come back in 20 minutes to half an hour. They know how to treat customers like kings.

[TheRajput]

Planning to buy a bike since a month and Have been closely watching this thread as well as YouTube review videos. An ex RE owner, I want a bike which looks big and can be comfortable for City commuting. My budget is 1.2 Lakhs, and the bike will be used for daily commute of 50 kms as well as once a month short rides. Can the Xpulse fulfill my criteria of a comfortable City commuter with occasional short weekend rides?
Bhpians, your valuable comments will help me to make my decision quickly.
Thanks

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

After starting to see a few Xpulse FIs on the road in Cochin, I stopped at Focuz Biwheelers in Panampally Nagar to check out the bike and test ride the fuel injected model. All current FI bikes are sold out and the waiting period is 2 months. The waiting period for the carbed Xpulses is 1.5 months. I got the price breakup from them and asked for a test ride.

I was told I need to make a test ride booking first before I can test ride the bike. I mentioned that there was nobody else in the showroom except the staff and all the test ride bikes were free. I was unable to understand what the issue was. Then I was told that the booking of the test ride can happen only after paying Rs 1,000!

I nearly fell off my chair in amazement and marvelled at this new policy from Hero dealerships. Apparently this policy exists only for the Xpulse test rides in this dealership. The sales lady suggested I go talk to the manager to discuss this. With a smile, I politely declined, thanked her and left.

I've already called the Hero customer care helpline and complained about this. The executive was also quite surprised to hear of this and confirmed that it is not a Hero company policy. She will forward the complaint to the concerned teams and I should get to hear back from them within 2 days.

I can only imagine how many customers they have conned out of their hard earned money in the guise of providing test rides.

My call to the customer care helpline and this post on TBHP have helped in bringing Hero's attention to the situation at Focuz Biwheelers in Cochin. I received a call from a gentleman who was from Hero Motocorp who had investigated my complaint over the weekend. In fact he had gone through the contact details of people who had taken test rides and spoken to them to find out the situation on the ground. He updated me that the dealership was actually collecting Rs 1,000 towards booking of the motorcycle when customers went to ask for test rides. That's right, Focuz Biwheelers was forcing customers to book the Xpulse first before handing over the keys to the test ride bikes. In 2019.

When I had gone, the lady sales assistant did not mention that it was the booking amount. But the dealership forcing customers to book the bike before a test ride is actually worse than charging them for test rides! Apparently, Focuz Biwheelers was the only dealership to have test ride bikes so customers were coming to the dealership to take test rides and then making the bookings in Hero dealerships elsewhere. So Focuz was resorting to these inappropriate tactics.

Nonetheless, I appreciated the fact that the gentleman from Hero Motocorp had confirmed that free test rides are a must and that they have reprimanded the dealership and are awaiting the official reply to the complaint from the dealership. The gentleman from Hero Motorcorp also apologised for the situation and said that a call from the dealership representative would be forthcoming and that the dealership would arrange for the test ride at my residence. This conversation made me realize that Hero was taking this complaint quite seriously and was putting in genuine efforts towards addressing this situation.

Shortly afterwards, I received a call from the General Manager of the Focuz Biwheelers dealership. The gentleman apologized for the mistake and said he would arrange for the test ride at my residence. I was curious as to how such a mistake happened since the Focuz group is a well established and reputed group in Cochin. This is when things started to fall apart.

First the dealership GM said that there was some miscommunication because of which the complaint against the dealership went to the company. I confirmed that this was not the case and explained everything that happened. Then I was told that the dealership management has not given any instructions to the staff regarding forcible bookings before giving test rides. I asked him if that was true, then was he saying that their receptionists and sales people could just make up booking policies on their own under the noses of the dealership management? Obviously he had no answer to this and kept reiterating that the management has not made any such decision on forced bookings but he was unable to explain how
- I was told by the sales staff that Rs 1,000 was to be collected for test rides
- I was told by the gentleman from Hero Motocorp that Rs 1,000 was wrongly collected for forced bookings.

The GM kept diverting the conversation towards when he could get the test ride bikes to my residence. Since his entire apology and explanations were disingenuous to say the least, I said I will contact him at a later point of time. I had obviously become just another tick mark that the dealership had to cross off (through providing the test rides at my residence) to get back in the good books of Hero Motocorp. The truth and consequences were of no relevance to the GM of the Focuz Biwheelers dealership.

I spoke to the gentleman from Hero Motocorp once again to share my dissatisfaction with the conversation I had with the GM. He said that he will speak to the dealership once again regarding this. He was very receptive to my feedback and had shared with me what stringent action they would take against the dealership if they found their official response to the complaint to be unsatisfactory.

Overall, I would give Hero MotoCorp a full 10 on 10 for efforts taken towards investigating and attempting to resolve this in the short span of 2 days.

On the other hand, Focuz Biwheelers gets a grand 0 on 10 for their underhand tactics, disingenuous apology and outstanding efforts in attempting to treat customers like fools.

[karthikr]

Its been a little more than two weeks since we brought this bike home.

This was a mixed experience to say the least. Due to their screw up in road tax calculation and our escalation emails to higher ups, we had gotten pretty close to the Sales head, service head of South region.

The showroom had already carried out their 'PDI' but we insisted that we go though it again. To a very keen eye, we were able to find lot of quality issues and paint finishing blunders.

1. From the stamping quality to the way the paint is chipped off along the seams of the tank to the paint chipped off in prominent areas. They were a let down. We inspected almost 10 bikes that were waiting for their prospective owners, all of them had these issues.
Soln : Replace by first service

2. The rear rim and spokes were not trued properly from factory for there was a bend in it.
Soln : Both wheels tires were replaced under factory recall. Apparently they are more rust tolerant.

3. The LHS engine cover had big scratch on it and so did all the other new bikes.
Soln : Replace by first service

4. All brand new plastic parts had swirl marks on them. PDI wash and wipe gone wrong.
Soln : Replace by first service

5. Cracked hand guard from the factory.
Soln : Replaced during PDI.

Other issues we noticed are in the first week of ownership are =

> The tappet clearances from factory were waaay off. Was fixed in the first week. Apparently this is the issue with many bikes.
> We came to realise that the lack of a main stand makes fixing a puncture next to impossible. Apparently they are working on this feedback and the main stands will be out.
> The clutch level rubber cover wont fit and will dangle on the cable housing- A design issue.
> If the clutch lever is depressed, the gear position indicator wont display the gear position.


Now for the positives -

The service team are very tuned into the feedback of customers. Owners and Hero team are all part of a whatsapp group. They acknowledge the fact that the service team are not up to speed or as aware as how a customer is, and they are working towards addressing that. I heard Xpulse gets a separate service bay, that will make for a quick service turnaround.

But the issues at the factory like paint work, stamping quality and engine assembly needs to improve.

Hoping companies like Race Dynamics comes out with an ECU that can manage and handle hop on performance parts.

Anyone here knows about tubeless adv tires?

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

My call to the customer care helpline and this post on TBHP have helped in bringing Hero's attention to the situation at Focuz Biwheelers in Cochin.

I believe this deserves to be a separate thread as potential buyers and other interested parties should be made aware of such scams.

Kudos for escalating the issue, I'm certain none else from the general census would've taken it as far as you did owing to the lackadaisical character of our people.

Back in 2011 I had to reach out to Hero so that the local SVC would honour warranty for my brand new motorcycle that went through a partial seizure.

At times these people think too much of themselves and presume the role of judge jury and executioner when it comes to such claims.

[nitro.1000bhp]

Originally Posted by karthikr

Its been a little more than two weeks since we brought this bike home...

All this seems like impulse ownership version 2. Hero haven't learned squat from their previous blunders. I strongly believe they have no place in the premium motorcycle market if they don't up their game pronto.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[neil.jericho]

I took a short test ride of the Xpulse yesterday from the same Hero dealership. The waiting period for the Xpulse 200 is now 3 months! It was 2 months when I checked with them last week.

Looks quite good in black

There were a few people who came in for the test ride after me so I didnt get sufficient time to make a final opinion. The roads suggested by the test ride coordinator were in fairly good condition so I had to hunt for potholes.

Offcenter lock set takes some getting used to

Im summarizing my initial impressions below
- Im 5'11" and I was comfortable on the motorcycle. I didnt notice any issues with the ergonomics. Maybe the tank could have been a little wider. Coming from two motorcycles with sporty ergos, it took me a little time to get used to the comfortable seating position.
- The bike is very light indeed. There isnt too much cornering to be done in Cochin city but the bike feels quite easy to flick around.
- The rear view mirrors tough oddly shaped do offer a pretty good field of view.
- The engine revs up very quickly especially at the lower end. The performance from the bike is definitely lacking when you compare it to bigger bikes but if you accept that its a small engine and recalibrate your expectations, the performance is fine, really.
- No complaints on the braking. Not razor sharp but efficient.
- The suspension was a let down. I rode through every pothole that I could find and realized that the suspension didnt impress me at all. Maybe the 10 stage adjustable (as per the sales consultant) rear suspension was set up too stiff or the air pressure in the tires was too high. The bike behaved just like any other 150 - 200 cc motorcycle would through the few bad sections that I could find.
- There were annoying vibes that were creeping in once the bike hit the 4,500 - 5,000 revs mark.
- I cant even recall what the engine note sounds like, it was quite anonymous.
- When I returned the bike to the sales consultant, I noticed the digital tachometer, kept shifting between 1,000 and 2,000 RPM at idle. I found this to be quite strange. The sales consultant said it was because the bike had been thrashed quite badly in the test rides so far.
- Overall it was a mixed experience. I would look at the Xpulse as just another 200cc commuter in offroad guise. Just like the Hero 200S is a 200cc commuter in sports touring guise. Nothing more, nothing less.

There were some niggles that I spotted which makes me think it might be better to wait it out till the initial batches sort out the quality issues. For one, the console was quite shaky when you press the buttons to toggle between different menus. This is apparently the case with all the bikes that have been delivered. Secondly, when I stopped to take a photo of the bike on my test ride, I noticed that the front left fork looked horribly bent out of shape!

View of the front fork from the rider seat

On closer inspection, it is the rubber gaiter that appears to be 2 sizes too large and can be moved around when you push it with your finger. Honestly, the company and showroom PDIs should have caught this.

Closer look at the baggy fork gaiter

Its like the unsightly baggy pair of jeans that your colleague wears on casual Fridays, not knowing that it doesnt look cool.

I initially thought that I might like the Xpulse so much that I would want to book it once the production streamlines a bit. But for now, my money is safe in the bank. Maybe a longer test ride would help me better appreciate the Xpulse 200.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I took a short test ride of the Xpulse yesterday

That's the base variant which is carburetted, comes with a plastic bash plate and regular disks.



Spotted one the other day, owner coming from a RE was quite satisfied even though the thing was priced at a whopping 1.30L OTR at Trivandrum.

The Fi full option variant would cost approximately 10k more and comes with everything the Carb variant lacks.

As for the fork boots, the looser the better, I have a pair of Bajaj OEM Avenger boots installed in my P220 and they at times form a vacuum and stick to the fork tube, giving the appearance of a stray toddler with one leg of the pant alone pulled up.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

That's the base variant which is carburetted, comes with a plastic bash plate and regular disks.

Yes, I forgot to mention that it was the carb version. They dont have the fuel injected test ride bike.

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Spotted one the other day, owner coming from a RE was quite satisfied even though the thing was priced at a whopping 1.30L OTR at Trivandrum.

Price breakup (all amounts in rupees) received from Focuz Biwheelers is below.

Xpulse 200 FI
Ex showroom - 1,06,100
Road tax - 11,671
Insurance - 8,269
Temporary registration charge - 750
On road total - 1,26,790

Xpulse 200 Carb
Ex showroom - 98,000
Road tax - 8,820
Insurance - 8,178
Temporary registration charge - 750
On road total - 1,15,778

IIRC the insurace in the above two cases is for bumper to bumper in the first year and only third party for years two to five. If you want bumper to bumper for all five years, the corresponding insurance amounts are below

Xpulse 200 FI - 14,326
Xpulse 200 Carb - 13,862

[Romins]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I initially thought that I might like the Xpulse so much that I would want to book it once the production streamlines a bit. But for now, my money is safe in the bank.

I am on the same boat. Let my money earn some interest for a year and I will revisit this option after 6 months. I will wait for rental bike for a 400km weekend trip to take a firm decision.

Thanks a lot for this review and appreciate your time and effort to bring the dealer's malpractice to the notice of the company. Really appreciate that !

[ringoism]

My thoughts (with a few photos) after an on-road, off-road test ride for a while today, partly vs. Hero's earlier attempt at creating this segment, the result of which I've been astride these past five years:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post4633973 (Replacing the KB-RTZ offroad specials - My Hero Impulse)

See post #108 if it doesn't take you there directly.

If I had to summarize, I'd say the X-Pulse is a substantial improvement; pretty much all the earlier issues with the Impulse have been addressed, and though it is not necessarily superior to it in every respect, it is a solid advance, it is a downright bargain, it is capable and hopefully will enjoy broad success within a certain demographic.




If you want to know whether I'm going to go for the upgrade, well, check out my musings in the link above, in the Impulse thread!

Regards,
Eric

[nishkamm]

Test rode the Xpulse 200 here in Bangalore. Thank to Sai Motors, Banashankari. No other dealer has a test ride bike.

First Impression: Looks good and bigger than the average commuter bike because of the larger wheels and the high handlebar. I ride a Yamaha RX135 5 speed daily. So the size difference was obvious.

I'm 165 cm tall and could manage to place both my foot on the ground while sitting on the bike. But i had to tiptoe. Taking U-turn could be a small issue initially. But with practice it will not be a difficult task. Was able to stand and ride for a short distance and felt comfortable doing so. I felt the engine was good and peppy enough for short rides. Could not do a high speed run for vibration checks and acceleration. 20 BHP and 20 NM of Torque should have been ideal power figures for this bike.

Overall, its a a good bike for the price.

[raman.aries]

I took a test drive of the motorcycle last week. It is an impressive motorcycle, especially for Indian urban commute.
The front and rear suspension can soak even the largest of bumps and craters on the road. This is what impressed me the most.
The engine delivers decent performance for city and suburban rides.
Can shift to 5th gear at around 40-45 kmph.
Front and rear brakes provide adequate bite.

[petrolhead_neel]

My father and I are stuck in quite the dilemma right now. We can't decide what to get, a used Impulse now or the XPulse sometime down the line. Hear me out, okay?

So most of my riding, whatever I have learnt so far has been mostly off road because I'm only getting my license next year. Thankfully, where we live, we have a lot of trails to practise around. Having done this for sometime now, I am quite comfortable off road and I'm serious about boosting my skills once I get my license. The bike so far, mostly, has been the 9y/o 110cc CB Twister. Absolutely love the bike for what it is, and she has never let us down. Trust me when I say this, but the baby CB is quite a lot different from the usual crop of 100-125cc bikes, but that's a story for another day.



Coming to the Impulse, have had a crush on the bike since its launch. Recently, I was expressing my love for the bike to the owner of the workshop that we take our bikes to, since he has been riding an Impulse for 1+ lakh kms. One thing lead to the other, and my father asked him if he was willing to sell his bike to us since had mentioned that he wasn't doing justice to the bike. After some days, he said that he would and asked us to come check the bike out. While it has run more than a lakh kms, the engine got a rebuild just sometime ago and hasn't even completed the run-in after that. I do trust him with how he has maintained the bike, since he has been invested in this scene for quite sometime now and has experience with owning a lot of bikes ranging from his current mountain-touring HF Deluxe to a 1000cc GSX-R for a short while. The downside to this is that the bike does show its age, needs new tires but still seems to be mechanically sorted overall. He is quite optimistic about the pricing though, and has quoted me 40,000. What does not help much is that the bike is already second-owner registered, and will need new tires to really go off road.

While this still does cost a third of the FI XPulse on-road, I'm sure that albeit being a Honda at heart, the Impulse will have its own set of infamous problems. I quite, quite like the XPulse, and frankly, I am proud of what Hero has done. I'm still convinced that the upgrade over the Impulse is still not very huge. With CS Santosh on board though, I am really looking forward to the future.

But the persistent truth is that the crush on the Impulse is still very much alive, and Adam Riemann's video about his 4500km adventure is all that it takes to forgive everything that the Impulse does wrong. Also, the Impulse does seem like the better dirt-bike/ dual-sport to me, with the ergos which are totally suited for the task (small tank, seat sits forward). The Impulse will make for a great project bike if we keep our expectations realistic (maybe a ZMA swap in future?).

Please help me out and let me know what all of you think.

Can't thank @ringoism enough for his Impulse thread (Replacing the KB-RTZ offroad specials - My Hero Impulse), which has been open on one of my tabs since two weeks now!

Thanks,
Neel