Team-BHP - Hero teases small adventure bike. EDIT: It's the XPulse 200

Hero MotoCorp has released a teaser image of its upcoming small adventure bike. The bike is expected to be unveiled the 2017 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy.

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

The blurry teaser image shared by the bike maker doesn’t reveal much. However, the proportions of the new bike seem similar to those of the erstwhile Hero Impulse. The riding position appears to have been designed with off-road riding in mind with an off-road-spec front fender and raised ride height. The bike has a telescopic fork suspension at the front with a noticeably larger front wheel, a monoshock suspension setup at the rear and disc brakes at both ends. The suspensions appear to have a longer travel than those on road bikes.

Media speculations suggest that a 200cc engine is likely to be used to power the bike. However, there is no official word about the same from Hero MotoCorp yet.

I will believe it when I see it in a showroom. Looks exciting, but the saddle height looks short (understandable considering it is designed with Indian riders in mind). I just hope it doesn't affect the bike's offroading ability.

I also didn't like the utilitarian fuel tank that looks like its from one of their budget models (Splendor iSmart perhaps?).

Basically, too little too late. They should have brought this bike within 2-3 years of launching Impulse, not 8. :Frustrati

How well it does will depend on pricing. Between 1.2 and 1.4L will be the sweet spot.

Another observation: Because of the simplistic styling and short height, it will probably look like a commuter motorcycle with a tall rider. Turn the teaser image upside down and you'll notice what I am saying. I hope I get proved wrong on this one.

Okay, so here are my 2 cents:

19-inch front tyre, 17-inch rear. Same setup along with the same front suspension and front disc brake. That's a small disc on the front wheel and it doesn't even get braided brake line. That means it's not going to be a very powerful bike. My guess is ~18 BHP.

The Impulse has its issues. Like weird gearing. The first is a little too short and the Gear No. 2 feels more like Gear No. 2.5. The fourth and fifth are appropriately spaced out. Climbing up a fairly steep gravely trail, I have to choose the gear wisely as the first feels out of breath and shifting up results in significant loss of power. Hero had played with the gearing to mask its limited power output. Expect the Xpulse to have better ratios as it'll have five more horses to help.

I just couldn't find a new set of tires for my bike. Those Ceat Gripp XLs are out of production. Looks like Hero too couldn't get those for the display bike. That's why it's wearing Metzelers of the same spec (90/90 19 & 110/90 17). We won't get the Metzies. We'll get the reasonably priced and fairly competent Gripp XLs.

I'd prefer a 21-inch front tire as it makes it easier to go over obstacles. The Himalayan rides in the rocks effortlessly. Blame it on the limited power and/or strange gear ratios and/or my limited experience off-road.

The concept bike appears to be a half-hearted effort. There's nothing ground-breaking in this bike. Look at the aftermarket crossbar with the Hero pad.

It's the Impulse with blacked-out parts and perhaps a bigger engine. I was hoping to see something much-improved. Like bigger front wheel, bigger brake, thicker suspension with longer travel. But all that they give is a windshield, a bash plate, a usable mudguard and a centre stand.

Royal Enfield started from scratch and built the Himalayan. Hero had a competent base and all they came up with is an Impulse facelift. The Xpulse is destined to doom if it comes out with anything short of a 200cc.

I like the name though. It's a little different from Impulse, which should bring in buyers turned off by the older bike. At the same time, it'll attract the fans of the Impulse looking for something more powerful.

ET has confirmed that it'll enter production in 2018. I'm expecting a price tag of Rs. 1.0-1.2 lakh ex.

Part sharing is good news for me and other Impulse owners.

Hope it comes here, I'll buy it. Reasoning being that apart from the REs, which bike can carry a rider and pillion and some luggage to Ladakh in relative comfort with enough pulling power and below a price of 2L? Personally, I can't consider the D390 because of the pillion seat and just tooo much orange for my age :), the CBR250 is out again for me because of fairing. The Dominar looks good, but I'd love the GC of the Impulse. So, if Hero comes up with a decently powered 200cc Impulse-type bike, I'm certainly in to switch from my 10-year old RE TB. Hero's after-sales support and QC can't possibly be as bad as RE's and in all my trips around the country, I've seen Hero service centers in quite a few places.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaheshY1 (Post 4301733)

I like the name though. It's a little different from Impulse, which should bring in buyers turned off by the older bike. At the same time, it'll attract the fans of the Impulse looking for something more powerful.

The name is well thought out, but hope they figured it out.

Impulse, after getting step motherly treatment from Hero for all these years, has truly become ex-pulse of the market now! :Frustrati

The world has moved on. Even India did! It's sad that this was one of the exhibits that represented India at one of the most awaited motorshows in the world. Looks half hearted at best!

I saw this is in person at EICMA, there were two bikes next to each other. I spent some time talking to the "Platform Project Manager".

From the size of the engine by looking at it, i could guess it is 150 and not any greater than 200 CC. They are just checking feedback and a concept. I was totally surprised by hearing this. Largest 2W manufacturer in the world was flashing on screen at the booth, and just checking feedback ? (that's a gorgeous risk appetite). This Himalayan clone was only worth looking.

There was no plans or anything of sorts to bring this bike. Hero didn't display any merchandise along with this bike. They do not address the Europe market. The entire EICMA presence for HERO is a big mistake. Like TVS & Bajaj, they should stay away from EICMA.

Adding videos from my personal vault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WHb1cnL1P4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA0HDU6-PaI

Others have said it all... But I think anything near a lakh for an aircooled 200cc bike would be too much. Compare NS200.

Incidentally, 18-20 bhp would be sufficient, if it still weighed around 135kg, like the Impulse.

Personally I find it unattractive appearance-wise - really the tank looks commuterish. Even the graphics are poor. Impulse was far better IMO.

But is there even any point in discussing this?

I am imagining the Hero top brass as a bunch of nail-biters sitting silently in a boardroom ... Too conservative to take any risks, obsessing over the Impulse's failure (itself a product of that fear, so easily averted if they'd done the 225cc to begin with, or added it immediately when the complaints started coming). They seem to be frozen / indecisive: "Should we do something or not?" Nobody takes the call, or maybe there is disagreement at the top, so nothing happens...

The original CBZ and Karizma were both bold, risky, forward-thinking ventures that paid off handsomely for the company.. Can't believe that six or more years since Honda let go of Hero's hand, the latter still doesn't seem to have learned to walk on its own.

A lot of wasted time / opportunity there. Very sad.

-Eric