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Old 17th December 2020, 15:14   #481
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

This may be slightly OT, but is there any news on the BS6 version of the X Pulse 200T, its touring sibling ? This was one bike I was really keen on, seemed quite fit for the purpose as a city/budget grade touring retro scrambler. But Hero has been completely silent on this, other than the 'coming soon" message on their website.
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Old 17th December 2020, 15:47   #482
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
Well this is a soft launch, you got the Rally suspension but when did you get the bike? Congratulations!
Last week! Long story, note sure if i shared it here.
The idea of an Xpulse is been there since almost a year. As a bike to replace my brother-in-laws ageing unicorn. We had gone testing the BS4 variant towards the end of 2019, and my BIL was good with the bike. But the BS6 was announced and as typical Indian, we thought to wait for BS6 as there could be some improvements. Early 2020, covid struck and all plans went haywire, with WFH and travel restrictions. Things started opening up in the last few months, the interest in the bike we re-ignited and i did a test ride of the BS6 as well. We also checked some used Xpulse but price differences were not lucrative enough.
Last week, another friend from interceptor group showed interest in Xpulse, and he knew someone who runs a Hero showroom. As this is year end, he managed to get some decent discounts on the pretext of buying two bikes. So thats how the xpulse came home.
Its Primarily my BILs bike, which i will be using it on weekends. This is in theory, will have to see how it pans out in reality. The rally suspension was my hasty idea and not sure if was a right one in the hindsight. It surely gives a very good stance to the bike, but the height and stiffness even on the softest setting is a bit bothersome. Will need to ride some more and explore with some trials with rally and stock and see how it fares. BIL is 6' so its not a very big issue for him. The GS and interceptor stays.
Took the Xpulse out on a 200 kms ride consisting of some offroading as well, and the bike surely impresses. Feels like a surefooted mountain goat. Too early to say much but capable enough. Main complaint being seat which felt very uncomfortable even in 200 kms of ride to the extent of leaving a lingering pain in the tail bone.
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Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-untitled1.jpg  

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Old 17th December 2020, 17:52   #483
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

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Originally Posted by nasirkaka View Post
Its Primarily my BILs bike, which i will be using it on weekends. This is in theory, will have to see how it pans out in reality.

Took the Xpulse out on a 200 kms ride consisting of some offroading as well, and the bike surely impresses. Feels like a surefooted mountain goat. Too early to say much but capable enough. Main complaint being seat which felt very uncomfortable even in 200 kms of ride to the extent of leaving a lingering pain in the tail bone.
Great! You'll be spoilt for choice now

For the seat options,
- custom seat/cushion
- add on air seat cushion
- cycling shorts

As it's a shared bike nothing too personalized!May you find peace with the suspension.

/surjaonwheelz
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Old 18th December 2020, 00:23   #484
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
Originally Posted by nasirkaka View Post
Main complaint being seat which felt very uncomfortable even in 200 kms of ride to the extent of leaving a lingering pain in the tail bone.
So that's one more thing the xpulse has inherited from the impulse then.

I second the riding\cycling shorts suggestion depending on your budget. When I wear padded shorts, I don't feel much pain. When I ride without them, at the end of a long day of riding, I can barely sit down on a chair.

Another alternative would be to carve out some of the seat material in the centre so that your butt rests on the pelvic girdle rather than the tailbone.

I hear firmer seat material helps with the pain as well.

Anybody tried out the rally kit seat? Any opinions regarding this?
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Old 18th December 2020, 07:47   #485
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
Originally Posted by nasirkaka View Post
Main complaint being seat which felt very uncomfortable even in 200 kms of ride to the extent of leaving a lingering pain in the tail bone.
Custom seat/ air cushion should solve problems. I have done upto 600 kms a day with no problems.

From your previous post - I would suggest you to stick with rally kit, you will get used to it. You are used to soft suspension of GS, hence a bit of hesitation. The faster you go on this suspension, the better it works. Congratulations on the bike though.

Last edited by ast.ggn : 18th December 2020 at 07:53.
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Old 18th December 2020, 11:10   #486
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
So that's one more thing the xpulse has inherited from the impulse then.
The seat is narrow to felicitate easy movement, shifting of weight and also reach to the ground, but ends up compromising on the comfort. Padded shorts may help a bit, but i think the seat may require some mods to make it a bit more comfortable. Mainly increase the width a bit towards the center for, like you said, the pelvic girdle area gets to distribute the body weight. Will give it a try and share how it goes.
Quote:
Custom seat/ air cushion should solve problems. I have done upto 600 kms a day with no problems.

From your previous post - I would suggest you to stick with rally kit, you will get used to it. You are used to soft suspension of GS, hence a bit of hesitation. The faster you go on this suspension, the better it works. Congratulations on the bike though.
Thanks! Custom seat is what i am looking at, as air cushion will increase the height and is a bit risky to leave it on bike all the time. Have identified one place in Shivaji nagar ( not Raos, as i think they have become very expensive over time), will try some mods there.
And i am ok with rally suspension, and the stance of it, but as its a shared bike, so will have to look into my BILs opinion as well as he is the one riding it for most time. He seems a bit uncomfortable now with the height. Will mostly let him take the final call, and if he is not ok with it, will have to switch back to stock and try and sell the rally suspension.
I went for a ride with Bangalore X pulse group (around 11 bikes) and all of them had stock suspension and were throwing the bike around like pros and having good fun. So seems the stock is decent too for most of what we do.
Attached Thumbnails
Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img_20201207_175912.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-untitled1.jpg  


Last edited by nasirkaka : 18th December 2020 at 11:21.
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Old 18th December 2020, 13:00   #487
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
Originally Posted by nasirkaka View Post
The seat is narrow to felicitate easy movement, shifting of weight and also reach to the ground, but ends up compromising on the comfort. Padded shorts may help a bit, but i think the seat may require some mods to make it a bit more comfortable. Mainly increase the width a bit towards the center for, like you said, the pelvic girdle area gets to distribute the body weight. Will give it a try and share how it goes.
Looking forward to it. I've also been looking to get some work done on my seat but the bandaid fix of padded shorts had been good enough for me to forget about it.

But let me just add 2 more paisa here.

From the looks of it, the xpulse's seat seems a bit wider than the impulse. On my impulse, the seat is adequately wide enough to allow my pelvic bones to rest at their widest point (and my butt is fairly wide for a 80 kilo guy). So I'm not sure if increasing the width on your seat will help much.

But on both bikes, the seats have been shaped with a slight bulge at the center and have been angled downward which, along with the way the footpegs and handlebar are positioned, make the back of the buttock and the tailbone the primary points of stress.

So, if I were in your place, I would try to cut out and remove some of the foam from the center so that the tailbone doesn't poke into it. Or I'd add some stiffer foam with a groove at the center. That would make it look a bit like the rtr200 seat under the seat cover, but I suppose the stretched seat cover would still be a minor point of irritation.

If that doesn't work well, I'd try to either remove more foam to reduce the downward angle on the seat or add more foam to flatten the seat so that the tailbone no longer comes in contact.

Here's a comparison of seats between the xpulse, your own bike, and the himalayan. No wonder the other 2 bikes are much more comfortable.
Attached Thumbnails
Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-seat-compare.jpg  


Last edited by drt_rdr : 18th December 2020 at 13:17.
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Old 18th December 2020, 13:24   #488
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
Here's a comparison of seats between the xpulse, your own bike, and the himalayan. No wonder the other 2 bikes are much more comfortable.
Xpulse seat may be wider than Impulse (I have no idea), but its much narrow compared to the GS or the Himalayan towards the back, where riders butt actually rests. And like you pointed, the forward slope the seat also slightly pushes the rider in front. It could be suitable for an attacking offroad posture with body slightly inclined forward and elbows out, but may be a bit bothersome for spending long hours on that saddle.
Cutting and removing some foam from the center was in my plan, along with slightly widening the seat toward riders butt area. Issue is there is not much foam on the center of the seat, and cant really remove much material from there. Can add a bit of foam and reshape it though.
This video is my basic point of reference.


BTW, dont go by the side profile picture of the GS seat as its very misleading. There is good amount of air gap due to single material stretched over seat step. In reality, the side profile is more flat closer to himalayan profile.
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Old 18th December 2020, 18:08   #489
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

The Xpulse seat is designed as an enduro in mind, not as a tourer. It's good for small rides but anything more than 100km is an overkill for the butt.

Even I am also inclined to add some padding to the seats and increase its width.

Searching for good designs on YouTube so as to start the work. Attaching a few screenshots from youtube videos for reference.

Please give your suggestions on these

Mine reached 999 this week
Attached Thumbnails
Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img20201218wa0006.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img20201218wa0007.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img_20201210_115932112.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img_20201210_115919061.jpg  

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Old 18th December 2020, 19:31   #490
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

I don't think the seat is sloping forward per se under load like when the rider sits on it. Coz it looks sloping standing parked. When a rider sits on it, the rear suspension will sag and what's sloping at rest will straighten out. The secret to day long buttock comfort that I discovered years ago was simply not to wear any standard undies. Regardless of design. I wear long John tights under my riding pants and everything down under is really thankful for that. Cotton or wool. Not lycra.

Cheers, Doc

Last edited by ebonho : 18th December 2020 at 19:32.
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Old 19th December 2020, 00:42   #491
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

I haven't checked but I reckon the suspension would not sag enough to straighten out the angle. It looks like about 20-25 degrees or something. And it's not just the rear that sags, there would be a bit of sag on the front too which would counter the tilt at the rear to some extent.

If the rear is soft enough to straighten out, that's good news and might mean less work to fix the seat.

Last edited by drt_rdr : 19th December 2020 at 00:45.
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Old 20th December 2020, 21:24   #492
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Spent the better part of the day on the Xpulse seat. Increased the width of the seat by adding foam on the side, but only towards the 'butt' and not in front as fiddling with the narrow front end would result in reduced ground reach. Added some foam towards front to slightly reduce andbalance the forward slope. finished with a new custom cover, with seam taped from inside to prevent water ingress. The result feelt much better on the ride back as there is more support now. Will have to ride more to get a good idea. The mod was done at BI SEAT COVER at Shivaji nagar and costed 1500rs. Same place, as the video shared in my last post there. Sharing some pics pf the seat mod to get a better idea.
Attached Thumbnails
Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-01-01.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-01-03.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-01-04.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-01-05.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-01-06.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-01-02.jpg  

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Old 20th December 2020, 23:03   #493
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

^^ Oh wow, so you've basically modeled it after the GS's seat. Could you post a side view of it?

-----

I bumped into this video today and this guy's taken a bit of a different approach to modifying the seat. Click on the youtube link to watch from the timecode he starts showing the seat. The embedded video doesn't play from the hashtag timecode.


Last edited by drt_rdr : 20th December 2020 at 23:05.
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Old 21st December 2020, 22:43   #494
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Me and my friend had purchased Xpulse and had it delivered on the same day. He also had bought a rally kit. And look what he received as a surprise gift from Hero!
Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img20201221wa0001.jpg

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img20201221wa0000.jpg

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img20201221wa0002.jpg

Yes. It's a Smart Sunglass!
Got call from Hero Head office Delhi and they confirmed the address as per invoice - sent this free for buying Rally Kit!
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Old 22nd December 2020, 20:14   #495
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Re: Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Quote:
Oh wow, so you've basically modeled it after the GS's seat. Could you post a side view of it?
That was the intent as its tried and tested for comfort and works well. Also, the xpulse riding geometry is not very far from the GS. Sharing side view pics below of the seat.

Quote:
I bumped into this video today and this guy's taken a bit of a different approach to modifying the seat. Click on the Youtube link to watch from the timecode he starts showing the seat. The embedded video doesn't play from the hashtag timecode.
I had see this video and many more on xpulse seat mods. What he is done is increased the seat height and made it narrower. Exactly opposite of what i was looking for.

Got the first service done today, the 500 kms one. Costed only 580Rs.
Also, got the rally suspension removed from the bike and the stock suspension back on the bike. My BIL who will mostly use the bike was not too sure about the rally suspension. He is happy now.

So i have an almost brand new rally suspension (front & rear) for sale. Do spread the word to the enthusiasts.

There is not much change in the bike post the service, except the low stance of the stock suspension. The seat mod is definitely helped. I have a few more things planned for the bike like a pair of basic aux lights, acerbis replica knuckle guard with aluminum spine and the likes.
Attached Thumbnails
Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img_20201221_183510.jpg  

Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200-img_20201221_183521.jpg  

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