[timuseravan]

Hero MotoCorp will launch the new Xtreme 200 at a press conference in Delhi on January 30, 2018. Powered by an air cooled, single cylinder, 4-stroke 200cc engine, the bike delivers a maximum power of 18.6 PS at 8500 rpm and maximum torque of 17.2 Nm at 6000 rpm. The engine is mated to a five-speed gear box.

Source: https://www.motoroids.com/news/hero-...ils-announced/

The only "Xtreme" in this bike is its name. Could Hero not come up with a better design?

[Neeraj1903]

Here's the link to live streaming of launch.

https://www.facebook.com/HeroMotoCor...8051371292341/

[ani_meher]

This should be launched on Holi The color scheme is crazy. But isn't this a new engine? What other 200CC bikes do Hero have? Good to see they are finally launching new engines.

[kumarshah]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

This should be launched on Holi The color scheme is crazy. But isn't this a new engine? What other 200CC bikes do Hero have? Good to see they are finally launching new engines.

This should be using the new vertical engine that HMCL has developed, it started coming in the new Glamour, Super Splendor, Passion Pro, Passion X-Pro.

[abhi7013]

With after 11 years of the competition launching 200cc variant of their bike, hero now comes up with this finally. After all these years!
Sorry to say but with the same old design language and their inability to launch exciting products, hero has long lost the train.
Wonder how they still are world's largest 2 wheeler manufacturers!

I still own the old gen ZMR. Just wish they come up with better engines and designs.

[Nilesh5417]

Overdrive has done a spec comparo with RTR 200. I think Hero should price this like a 150, promise 50kmpl and some eoc-tec start-stop feature to sell it by spades in rural India. It looks like a hobby project for kids of lifetime Hero engineers who were given a used parts bin to build the bike around a new engine.

[Pratzgh1]

I hope they give serious attention to design and release a much sharper look. That look is dated and we understand the need to use similar components across the line-up. But, subtle changes like panel redesigns and headlight assembly redesign are need of the hour for Hero. There were some good concept designs like Hastur and let's hope those ideas are considered for 2018. Maximum share of the Hero fleet does come from tier 2 and tier 3 locations across India and I am sure they deserve a facelifted Hero motorcycle. Something modern and fucntional is all we desire.

[Amit_breakfree]

As an owner of Cbz Xtreme 2009 model, this makes me sad. This bike is at least 6-7 years late and that too with nothing out of the box. Especially the design looks totally in your face with those huge Xtreme graphics. Even the body panels seem bulbous to me and Hero should have made this more sharp to stand out.

This coming from a company which gave us Karizma and CBZ is just plain sad. But the worse part is, Hero doesn't even seems to be interested in redemption.

[Nilesh5417]

Hero acknowledges its been a laggard in the premium bike & scooter segment and has plans to fix this. Here is a report from Moneycontrol with some more details.

"Despite the first to launch a 150cc in the form of the CBZ way back in 1999 — full two years before the Bajaj Pulsar — we have not been able to develop that segment. We are now readying a portfolio that will allow us to target a bigger a share of the premium segment," said a senior executive from Hero Motocorp.

To build such a strong portfolio, the company is boosting its 600-engineers strong research and development team. It also has the Neemrana facility in Rajasthan which is capable of building bikes having engines up to 1000cc. It also has a technological tie up with Austrian company AVL engines.

Hero Motocorp has also admitted that it has been slow to capture the scooters market adequately and feels it is under represented in that segment. "We will have more products in the scooters segment going forward," said another senior executive.

With the launch of the Hero Xtreme 200R on Tuesday, Hero ambitiously announced that for the next 18-20 months it will focus on the premium bikes (150cc and above) — a segment from which it hopes to connect with the youth who are increasingly drifting towards foreign brands like KTM, Benelli, Kawasaki, Aprilia and Honda.

"The first step was renewal of our entire core commuter brand and that ended in December. The year 2018 will be about being in the segment where we are not present. Today, we take the first step towards that with the Extreme 200R targeting the consumer group of below Rs 1 lakh. There is much more to come , it is all a matter of priority. For the next 18-24 months, the focus will be growth in the premium motorcycle segment and scooters," Malo Le Masson, Head Global Product Planning, Hero Motocorp told Moneycontrol.

Its a tough market now and with the Xtreme 200R, which could very well be looked at as a Glamour with a new engine, Hero really needs to get its game together. If those 600 engineers are a part of the Xtreme & even the Xpulse project, they look like a dead investment to me already. Hero really needs to do what Tata & Bajaj have done - get a Halo brand (and leave it untouched!), get access to technology and then bring out next gen products that appeal to consumers. Even this road has its pitfalls and is a long haul but am sure Hero has deep pockets to go down this route.

[SoumenD]

There's not too much wrong with the vehicle per say but it is indeed atleast 7-8 years late to the party and doesn't really stand out to make people take notice. A friend rightly pointed out Pulsar 200 had such specs a decade ago (minus the abs/mono-shock)

However 2 points are in it's favor IMO:

1. The kick-start. It's indeed a very handy feature specially for situations when the bike is left unattended for sometime. Having had personal experience more than once when my bike's battery went dead due to lack of use, the kick Start helped immensely.

2. ABS is always good to have.

Guess they anyways don't target the urban market as there's plenty of options but this should do Ok in rural markets where they still have a brand-pull

[sukiwa]

With auto-expo not too far & Hero participating in it, what's rationale for separate unveil/showcase event (no price announcements)?
OR is it Hero's way of differentiating between bikes to be launched and bikes to be just showcased (not to be sold)?

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

With auto-expo not too far & Hero participating in it, what's rationale for separate unveil/showcase event (no price announcements)?
OR is it Hero's way of differentiating between bikes to be launched and bikes to be just showcased (not to be sold)?

Because the likes of TVS and Honda would have juicier launches and steal attention away with ease! It might be big deal for Hero whose R&D dept. are only beginning to stand on its own two feet, but in terms of the market it is nothing new.

[Nilesh5417]

So now OD has published the first ride here and the verdict is pretty positive. It is not a bad looking motorcycle - at least not in this color combination.