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-   -   Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/192206-hero-teases-small-adventure-bike-edit-its-xpulse-200-a-15.html)

Came across these accessories from Zana -


Costs 2500/- for the top rack (including the backrest) and same for the saddle stays.

Hero themselves have got soft luggage accessories for the XPulse but I am yet to see them at the dealership.

Took a test ride of the Xpulse 200 Carb variant from Bhagath Motors, Horamavu Signal, Bangalore.

- I don't see myself hitting a highway/offroad on this, maybe rarely. I intend to use it in the city which is now full of bad roads and potholes.
- The bike is tall for my liking. I am 5'6". Taking the bike out of a tight parking spot is going to be a task for me.
- Still, great riding posture and rear view visibility.
- NOT a looker for me.
- The suspension absorbs most of the potholes.
- Power delivery was linear and uneventful.
- But I was searching for a 6th gear at times. please:
- The bike that I got was almost upright when on the side-stand. Hopefully, not the case with all bikes.
- Couldn't check headlamps as it was midday.
- Needs a better horn.
- Talked to the service responsible, asked about accessories. He said that they haven't received any accessories so far.
- Saleswoman assigned was inexperienced and unenthusiastic about the bike or bikes in General. Was chatting on her smartphone on the side. Wasn't able to pair Bluetooth with the console and she had no clue or care. Hero, are you reading this?
- Later the service guy told me that I require an App, even with which, my iPhone did not pair.
- Waiting for test riding the FI variant, they didn't have one. ("It is the same only sir, only fuel injection is electronic inside.") :D had to quote that one.

Overall, i did not return home with the same enthusiasm. Will be watching this thread and will decide on the Xpulse later. The hunt goes on to replace the Activa 125 which has started to show its age and mine.

Hero, Up your game please.

Had an opportunity to ride, rather... tour Utharkhand on this bike (EFI version). Did 850 kms over 6 days and almost all of it was bad roads, thanks to the all weather road construction, land slides and what not. Here is my take on the bike, with all of my 90 kgs and about 15 kgs of soft luggage.

The good:

• It is a very forgiving bike, very easy to ride and handles well on both good and bad roads
• That suspension is superb for taking on bad roads, yes it is tad soft but nothing to worry
• Absolutely loves the slush and you can easily slide the rear out but still have very good control on the bike
• Seats are firmer (some might not like it), but I prefer firmer seats for the longer side.
• Good clear meter console
• Held well overall and nothing came loose over those torturous routes, just one side chain slack adjuster cap moved and was making an annoying clank, otherwise all fine. In short build quality is really decent for the price you pay
• Price you pay!
• Fuel efficiency, I think it returned close to 45 kmpl with even 28kmph average speed trip lol

The bad:

• Brakes are not the best. My bike had done about 7.2k kms when I took it. It was a tour operators personal bike and was fresh out of service. Still the front levers were not great on feedback and sometime suddenly use to harden up while hitting undulation. Am assuming there might have been air in the system. Rear is almost non existent at higher speed, basically use em just to control the rear slide and to assist during full on anchoring during emergency stops
• Head light is just about ok
• Side stand was sturdy, though lil too upright. Once I had used em to climb off from the saddle by stepping on the foot pegs, while on the side stand and it didn't fall lol
• For my 5'11" height and with a spacer on the front handle, the standing posture was just about ok. I would have wished for a slightly taller handle bar set up or lower foot pegs. Overall the foot peg positioning for taller ride is not that great

The Ugly:

• Power or the lack of it and the delay in throttle response. The puny lil engine just cannot handle the weight that was me and the luggage. Things were manageable in city or level ground, but the moment it hits an incline, needed 1st and 2nd to keep it moving
• The first gear is very tall and long one, and was annoying when bike falls off power band when you shift to 2nd gear on inclines
• Annoying tappet sound while revving
• The throttle on this particular bike was quiet heavy. I noticed that though the throttle cable attachment on the inlet had two slots for the return cable type set up (which is usually the norm for efi bikes), bike had a single cable set up. Maybe coz of this the butterfly valve spring is too hard by design?

In short it is a great bike to rough it out in the city traffic OR even take it behind your 4x4 into some trails and have a blast. But my idea of touring alongside with a Himalayan on Xpulse was a bad one. We got it for some variety... but was a bummer!

I always thought the bike had the Karizma engine, but what I understood from another friend was this is a different engine. Basically a 150 cc one bored out to 200 cc. Is this true?

So the brake issue. I think these are semi floating discs right? The thing is the bobbins on which the disc floats can get jammed leading to this issue. A clean up with wd40 and loosening those bobbins helps float the disc and it doesn’t jam up when hitting undulations. At least that’s what I experienced on other bikes with the same issue.

And yeah, it’s the 150 Honda commuter engine that’s been bored out to 200. I cancelled my booking after two more test rides, it doesn’t cut it even as a secondary bike for me. A 300+ seems mandatory for any kind of fun.

Its an overbored Xtreme 150.

The Karizma engine is from the Honda CRF230, its 223cc, and this is not it.

It's a floating caliper and as long as it still floats i.e you can move the caliper by hand along its guide pins then all is well.

It is really hard to make a floating caliper not float as there are rubber boots that go on top of the pins before the caliper goes into place, especially on a new motorcycle, so I'd suggest other owners of the X200 to take it easy before pulling things apart.

As for the issue at hand, the same has been reported a month ago on another forum and confirmed to be a common thing with the X200;

So the best means to get the job done would be to report the said issue to your ASC and keep following up until there's a fix.

I recall the initial batches of the RTR ABS having an issue with the ABS which was soon after resolved with a software update.

So fingers crossed! :)

Yup, this is true. It's an overbored engine of the one used in the original CBZ and the current Hero Achiever 150. The rear brakes on Hero bikes were always spongy. The feedback on front disc has always been soft but the hard feeling was definitely due to the presence of air in the system. I have been in that place. Had to drain and refill the entire master cylinder with DOT3 fluid post a drain. The calliper was serviced as well. Piston gets jammed if it takes in air for a long duration.

I think you have confused a block of lead with air. :D

Jokes apart, air compresses, brake fluid being fluid doesn't, hence with air in the system rather than get hard, the lever would be limp i.e you can easily bring the lever to be in contact with the handlebar and yet the motorcycle wouldn't brake well.

As for brake fluid, DOT 4 is less hygroscopic that DOT 3, not a concern if you overhaul your brakes once a year, if not then do look at Synthetic fluid or at the least regular DOT 4.

Regards,
A.P.

Agree with Ashwin. Air in the system means the brakes become squishy, not the other way around.

On the other hand, I have found cleaning and rotating the bobbins to un-jam them works a treat to cure the hard lever feel issue.

I don't think this is an error, but just the ABS playing its part

Ashwin is spot on - Air in the lines = a limp brake lever; almost no effort needed to pull it all the way in

I have experienced this in my 390 too, which I have taken off road a few times. Its rather difficult to lock the front brakes on smooth tarmac (with all the weight transfer to the front); but super easy when you go off road.

Think about it - You hit an undulation, the front wheel is airborne. Well, could be barely a couple of mm... not enough for you to even notice but the point is that the ground is not offering any resistance to the tyre. You just tap the front brake lever but it offers a lot of resistance coz the ABS is trying to prevent a lock up

Just my 2 paisa

The caliper basically rests on these two pins, one is fixed on the caliper and the other on the mounting bracket.



To make things smooth there are rubber boots that go over the pins;



So basically the caliper is not hard bound to the mounting plate, hence the name floating caliper as it can move along the travel of the pins;



Now on motorcycles like mine that have not been washed in over a year it is quite hard to move the caliper by hand due to all the dirt and muck, but still thanks to physics we need not be bothered about the same as the same caliper that cannot be budged by hand would center itself with the rotor as soon as you lay your pinkie finger on the lever.

Once in a while you're required to overhaul your calipers and when you do that, you'd be replacing the seals of the caliper pistons, the rubber boots on the pin and finally the rubber cap of the bleeder nipple.

Now if you don't bother with overhauling the caliper then the pistons tend to seize and that would result in the lever going stiff.

Another cause for the lever going stiff would be pressure buildup from the brake fluid expanding, this can either happen due to using the wrong brake lever causing the return port to remain shut or simply due to poor maintenance.

Regards,
A.P.

Not this for sure, am not referring to heavy undulation with tyres air borne, these are just normal compression while coming down an incline and road is undulating. Am pretty sure tyres had good grip at that point of time, just that the lever tightened up and made it feel like there is no free play at all. I am well aware of how ABS kicks in since both tiger and duke has abs on em.

Dude. I am talking about the bobbins on the front rotor.

That's a two piece rotor, the Xpulse 200 comes with a single piece rotor.

I think the T is a fixed rotor and the 200 is a semi float. I could be wrong, couldn't zoom in well into the pictures.

Edit: its a fixed petal.