[ambarkhan]

Originally Posted by risefully

Thanks for sharing your experiences and mods! Could you mention where you purchased the Ralco tires and the sizes you used? I’ve been unable to find information.

Also, where did you purchase your front brake line? Is it 1100 or 1200mm? I’d like to change mine ASAP but need a referral for a good quality replacement.

the Ralco tyres are of stock sizes. ie 90/90-21 for the front and 120/80-18 for the rear.
I have bought them from Baldo Tyres Pune,(check his number on google he should be able to ship).

You can install the front brake line from the non-ABS Himalayan, it's steel braided and of good quality.

[risefully]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

the Ralco tyres are of stock sizes. ie 90/90-21 for the front and 120/80-18 for the rear.
I have bought them from Baldo Tyres Pune,(check his number on google he should be able to ship).

You can install the front brake line from the non-ABS Himalayan, it's steel braided and of good quality.

Great, that’s exactly the info I needed. Did the RE brake line accommodate the rally suspension nicely?

Michael

[ambarkhan]

Originally Posted by risefully

Great, that’s exactly the info I needed. Did the RE brake line accommodate the rally suspension nicely?

Michael

I have not yet installed it, the length is sufficient to be installed with the rally kit.
I just re-routed the brake line from servo to master cylinder. (not recommended though). The main reason for recommending the Himalayan brake line is they are still braided.

[shaikhmimran]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

My first experience riding XPulse was at a Motocross Track in Pune.

Thank you. For someone learning off-roading & trail riding, can you please suggest some tracks between Lonavala & Pune? Also are there any schools in Pune like Big Rock in Bangalore?

[ambarkhan]

Originally Posted by shaikhmimran

Thank you. For someone learning off-roading & trail riding, can you please suggest some tracks between Lonavala & Pune? Also are there any schools in Pune like Big Rock in Bangalore?

f you are planning to learn start with the basic riding principles. Most of us miss on basics of even street riding.

Just search for off-road riding trails around Pune, you'll get a very big list.

For learning off-road and trail riding there are a couple of schools, not mature like BigRock yet. You can try connecting with Pro Dirt Adventure or Dirt Circuit (MX track).

[risefully]

I’m wondering if any of you have run out of petrol on your Xpulse?

And, does anyone knows if the fuel lines pull from both sides of the tank or just one side?

The other day, the E fuel bar started flashing on my Xpulse around 380km. I filled it up full with 9.8L of petrol. So it makes me wonder when the bike will run dry? Especially when it shows near empty, when it has a whole 3 liters before actually empty.

Has anyone had experience with this?

Michael

[jaymanrides18]

Hey hey hey everyone! I saw this really extensive thread a while ago (before I got the Xpulse) and some of y'all inputs were suuuper helpful with making a decision. So, I decided to say hi to all of you!

You can call me Jayman, I am 26 years old and have been riding motorcycles since '17. In the duration of 4 years, I've raced 3 off road rallies (SJOBA 2019, SJOBA 2020, Rally of Chamba 2021) and a few local events comprising of motocross, enduro and flat tracks. My friend, Neel also mentioned me on this thread a while back and there's many of you here that I know or know of, so hello to all of you.

This post is an extensive-ish review of the how I got to the Xpulse, so feel free to ask me anything - I am basically a monkey with tools and anything that's not related to riding, but I'll try my best to answer.

I started riding on the Bullet 350 CI (left side brakes) for a few months then moved onto a new Himalayan that I got after graduating from college, I got the REH because my father got one and I rode it and absolutely fell in love with it, he also got the REH because the off road bug bit him, and watching him, I got bit too.


(Picture from a trip to Spiti)

As we started riding every weekend, we found ourselves leaving the road more often - we wanted to go off road, sweat it out and do something fun. So we started pushing the Himalayans (in 2017, we used to have a huge group of REH riders - and like any other, it slowly dissolved). As I got faster on the REH, I realized it was never the right bike for my weight - with me weighing only 60kgs (and 5 feet 5 inches tall) then, I couldn't deploy the basics of weight shifting on this hunkering 411cc moto. But that doesn't mean I didn't send it, I had good jumps on the bike, and I got two podiums on this bike as well - in local events.



But like I said, as I got faster, the bike got harder to control - the riding started to exceed the bike's desired function. After removing 15kgs of stuff from the bike, and still having the same feedback from the moto, I decided to move onto my dad's old Impulse, called Rage. Moving onto the Impulse made me realize just how many bad things I picked up trying to make the REH go faster; early braking (to account for the front heaviness and laggy brakes), pushing the moto in one gear/not shifting in time (because of my personal fear of too much power) and the weight distribution.


(Picture from the SJOBA Rally 2020)

The Impulse, even though not a perfect bike, had one thing right, which was it's build. The Japanese inspired build, saw the weight of the engine being in line with the rider - maintaining a good center of gravity. The Impulse too had it's problems, the biggest one being the amount of tinkering it asked for - jeez, it was like every evening of the day you ride, you get to it and start sorting the moto. And I just couldn't give it that time. I raced one rally, got 5th position in my category, rode it for maybe 9-10 more months and decided to buy something that's new, all mine and with good suspensions - both the Himalayan and Impulse had suspensions I didn't enjoy; the stock on Himalayan were too strong for my weight, the Zedlings on the Impulse were earlier tune for dad then before the Rally I got my own rear mono, the front was still soft.

So I started thinking about the Xpulse while also looking for people to sell my Himalayan too. The Xpulses I tried didn't impress me (I think they were all BS6s). The ergos felt wonky, the gearing felt odd - at this point I was not impressed but I still wanted to try a carbureted Xpulse (BS4) and I got a call from a friend who owns a Hero dealership, letting me know that there's a demo bike, with 150 odd kilometers on the odo, that he'll sell to me for 95k with insurance and all.



And, man did I feel a connection with this one. It just felt different, I don't know what it was but this one felt like no other Xpulse I've ridden before. I was still not happy with the ergos, but everything else was just a charm. So I kept the bike for 3-4 days, and meanwhile sold my Himalayan. With the money I got for the REH, I bought the Xpulse and I've not looked back since. The bike was developed as a rally variant first, which was then adapted into a road model, which is why the road variant out of the showroom feels kinda stunted. So I swapped the seat with a flat seat, slapped an off road handlebar, removed the ginormous tail and swapped it with something cleaner - and I got myself a beautiful dual sport that is incredibly fun to ride off road and in cities as well.



(Pictures from the Rally of Chamba)

Before you ask, here are some questions which I am pretty sure are answered here a million times, but still - my 2 cents:

Is the highway riding underwhelming?
Yes, highway riding is meh.

With your use, do you need a rally kit set up?
No, I didn't feel the need to get the rally suspension with my weight (now 58).

Does the bike feel underpowered?
A bigger sprocket helps, I haven't found a need for it yet though. To me, the bike has ample power in it's power band.

[drt_rdr]

Nice write up, Jayman.

Not sure what you meant by the Impulse needing daily TLC. Had it run a lot of kms? Were you running a custom tune?

I remember there was a post by urban_nomad (not sure if here or elsewhere) saying the quality of the parts on the xpulse were not good enough for rougher use, particularly the quality of the rims, handlebar and levers.

How's has your experience been so far? Any bent rims, bars, levers, etc?

[jaymanrides18]

Yeah sorry, the Impulse had an origin story I completely glossed over. My dad got a 2012 Impulse from a scrap dealer in Delhi, it wasn’t scrap - it was a bike that a scrap dealer owned but it was pretty much scrap in terms of its condition. So my dad fixed it up, raced 2-3 rallies + every weekend trail ride so yeah it did have a lot miles on it + it had custom tuning too.

And yes Nomad and I are buddies and we’ve been riding together for the better part of the last 3 years. He’s not wrong, the part quality is formidable when you see something go bad. I had a cylinder kit replaced before the rally, the Hero staff still hasn’t shared with me why the problem happened - but funnily enough, it happened to 5-6 bikes in our group all one after another. Then I had my cush rubbers just completely done for when I got my tyres swapped before the rally.
These two were my experiences, I understand the cylinder kit replacement on a bike that’s pinned quite a lot, as long as it’s replaced I’m happy - it’s the delay that I wasn’t happy with. And the cush rubbers, I don’t know - maybe extensive wear caused them to get depleted? Because someone said I should get them changed every 2-3 months, but I’d been running them since I got the bike, which is 6-7 months.

So yeah, the part quality isn’t the best - but I feel like the bike has a great base to build stuff upon. Slap some aluminium rims if you have the money or just get new ones - hero is damn cheap! Get an exhaust system, the stock is anyway such an eyesore.

My point being, the issues are issues that you can expect from a 1.3 lakh rupee bike being pushed to the limits, these issues are also being resolved as time goes on with better R&D. Hero’s active interest in cultivating domestic rally credits is great to see and I’m hopeful it’ll reflect on their future bikes as well. The heart of the X is solid, the engine is great and the chassis too - other parts are either inexpensive to replace or easily swappable. So depending on your budget and freedom, I’d say go for it - use the base. It’s a good base.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

Nice write up, Jayman.

Not sure what you meant by the Impulse needing daily TLC. Had it run a lot of kms? Were you running a custom tune?

I remember there was a post by urban_nomad (not sure if here or elsewhere) saying the quality of the parts on the xpulse were not good enough for rougher use, particularly the quality of the rims, handlebar and levers.

How's has your experience been so far? Any bent rims, bars, levers, etc?

Don't want to repeat my entire post but in summary, its a fun bike with excellent dynamics at a reasonable price point. Thats where the good news ends im afraid

But part quality is terrible (as mentioned by Jayman too, we have a fair sample size and its not just one or 2 bikes).

This is a bike meant to be ridden off road. Why is the engine busting its guts when ridden at high rpm? That too after monthly oil changes. Does hero think riding off road involves mid rpm speeds while in 5th?

Why do the rims bend so easy? Does hero think riding off road involves smooth paved roads?

There a lot more but don't wanna go on and on

In conclusion (the not so good)

It's underpowered no matter how you cut it (price, cc, application), its heavy for what it is, part quality is shite, involves a lot of maintenance if ridden off road mostly and barring the oil and filter change from hero, its not cheap upkeep. I would have happily paid 50 to 70k more than what hero was asking if it had

25 ish bhp like the NS
Better part quality like the Apache

Both the above bikes btw are on sale at similar price point to the xpulse, are 200 cc and make considerably more power than the X

Bonus tip:

An impulse, with a big bore or simple engine swap with a karizma plus rally kit will be more powerful, lighter, better built and I've no doubt; will run circles around the xpulse

I went for the xpulse thinking I'll have something built straight from the factory and won't have to worry about jugaad mods to make it faster / better. But here I'm; thinking about nmw big bore kits and fuel controller and high lift cams and... you get the picture

Why did I sell my impulse again??? Ahh, factory reliability of the X

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

I went for the xpulse thinking I'll have something built straight from the factory and won't have to worry about jugaad mods to make it faster / better. But here I'm; thinking about nmw big bore kits and fuel controller and high lift cams and... you get the picture

What are your thoughts on the NMW Racing Big Bore Kits? Have you or any in your circle put in those big bore kits?

Are they reliable? Do they fit into your use of off roading or are they good only for paved rides? Do they develop torque at much lower revs when compared to the stock?

Apologies a lot of questions cropping up my mind but since you mentioned NMW thought will check. Not much of YouTube reviews on the Big Bore kit so far.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

What are your thoughts on the NMW Racing Big Bore Kits? Have you or any in your circle put in those big bore kits?

Are they reliable? Do they fit into your use of off roading or are they good only for paved rides? Do they develop torque at much lower revs when compared to the stock?

Apologies a lot of questions cropping up my mind but since you mentioned NMW thought will check. Not much of YouTube reviews on the Big Bore kit so far.

The first thing I'm gonna do once the lockdown is over... is ride this guy's bike

https://youtu.be/5_jq5yR7_is

Unfortunately there is absolutely zero info available on this kit in terms of dyno graphs. I spoke to the owner as well and honestly didn't get much beyond "you'll see a huge gain". Seat of the pants feedback from the owners says that the mid range is very strong. Since these haven't been around for too long, reliability is unknown. Again hearsay but results in that respect are patchy, with many in Bangalore needing a top end rebuild

I'm fairly certain though that I won't be going for I. Don't wanna spend any more money on this thing. Gonna ride it as is till such time something better comes up within my budget

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

The first thing I'm gonna do once the lockdown is over... is ride this guy's bike

Hi Nomad,
Will wait for your feedback and I understand it will be more of the feeling rather than anything else. Mid Range gain is what I have seen from his videos as well.
So if you are more into non competitive trail riding then stock should suffice is what i get from your post.

Thank you, will await for your thoughts post the ride.

[jaymanrides18]

@Nomad, I did ride one of his other buddies bikes - big bored 230 cc, it had one or two things missing when compared to Abhinav's bike but honestly, didn't feel that much of a difference. I only did 500-600 meter laps, 2-3 times but it wasn't a "huge gain" imo. I'd love to ride these upgraded Xpulses more but I think these changes need to be deployed with extensive riding too.

I feel like Bandidos have a great build template, of course - a lot of the things are similar but I feel just because the purpose is purely racing, the performance will hold up as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDOFxs4di0w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEHKjtxSZbg

The problems that I had with my X all come down to build issues and service staff irresponsibility:
1. Chain roller crack - this happened a month or two (Oct-Nov) after I got the moto. Small crack on one chain roller. Replaced immediately under warranty.
2. Carb slider picking up sand - this happened because one pipe/tube was put wrong. Replaced by a new carb. (December) This one was disappointing because new bike and it just wouldn't start after a point.
3. ABS unit (company recall).
4. Tappet sound, got fixed then became into white smoke coming out, snowballing into another thing which saw me getting the cylinder kit replaced, under warranty. (March)


About the rims, man I don't know - I've never bent rims except for once where I intentionally hit a pot hole on a road thinking I'd do something and that was on the Impulse, now I could've positioned myself better to get out of the hole or figured entry better but I just hit the edge of it like an idiot. This almost flattened the rim from the place I'd hit it. Apart from that, the SJOBA river bed stages did create some ripples, but nothing that couldn't be fixed (same, for the Impulse). The Xpulses rims seem pretty okay to me right now, even after all the jumps and whoops at OTR.

And about the power, I don't think the engine loses power at higher revs, if you're in the right gear + rpm range, it gives you a solid output.

Now all of this could very well be because of my weight, it could also be because of carb vs FI, it could be a bike to bike difference or it could just come down to the running in of the moto. But nothing is to deny that Hero does use the cheapest possible manufacturing, I wonder if their Columbian variants are also the same.
Considering RE, they do have better builds in other countries (so I've heard).

[DevOnWheels]

Guys, what's the engine oil quantity required in BS6 version after opening right side Crank case?

Got 3rd service done, but the service center filled 1170ml, but as per manual 1360ml oil is to be filled if engine is opened and 1170ml if Crank case not opened. It's confusing whether opening the right Crank case is considered as the engine being opened.

Regards,
DevOnWheels.