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Old 5th July 2022, 17:39   #121
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

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Originally Posted by ajay0612 View Post
Friends, Please help me out:
Does Xpulse have Alloy wheels as option?

Has anyone experienced punctures in Xpulse? Are they less frequent than commuter motorcycles (due to tyre design)?
If you want the 200 cc engine (pre 4V version) and alloys, you will have to look at the 200T. You get alloy wheels and tubeless tires with that.
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Old 18th July 2022, 07:00   #122
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

After one of my services the bike came back with the front fork corroded like this. What has happened here and how do I correct it ? Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_20220709_152225763.jpg
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Old 18th July 2022, 08:49   #123
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

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Originally Posted by Akilan1597 View Post
After one of my services the bike came back with the front fork corroded like this. What has happened here and how do I correct it ? Attachment 2335445
It looks like the paint peeled off. You may have to repaint (steps: sanding, primer, 2 coat paint, clear coat) to bring back the looks.
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Old 18th July 2022, 09:08   #124
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

@Akilan1597: Did you have any brake works done during that service? It could possibly be due to spillage of brake fluid and careless cleanup. I'd say take it up with the SVC if you're sure it appeared only after you gave it for service.
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Old 18th July 2022, 09:18   #125
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akilan1597 View Post
After one of my services the bike came back with the front fork corroded like this. What has happened here and how do I correct it ? Attachment 2335445
Unfortunately, looks like a careless technician dropped brake fluid on your forks.

Did they top up / replace the brake fluid during this service? If yes, I think you should talk to the service advisor / manager and get it repainted free-of-cost.
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Old 18th July 2022, 09:24   #126
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Thanks for the responses. I didn't ask for any work to be done on the breaks. I am not sure why they would mess with it.
Anyway I did the sin of bringing the bike home without noticing what they had done and several days passed. I don't think I can haggle them to do it for free. The only option I now have is do bear the cost myself.
But is it really paint ? or is it anodised ?
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Old 18th July 2022, 10:23   #127
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Since the damage is just superficial, you could just leave it be. If you intend to use the bike offroad, it'll likely pick up a lot more blemishes all over it during its lifetime, and this shouldn't bother you so much.
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Old 18th July 2022, 15:42   #128
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Has anyone tried this new headlight swap by Bandidos Pitstop for their Xpulse? Looks promising if they are able to meet their claims.

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Old 8th August 2022, 15:47   #129
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

https://www.rushlane.com/new-hero-xp...-12445711.html

According to Rushlane, a new Hero ADV or Xpulse 300 has been spied. This is exciting news.
Im waiting for the limited edition Rally Edition bookings to reopen as I missed the booking window. Now contemplating whether to wait for this new ADV or the Rally edition.

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-newheroxpulse300adventurehimalayanktmrivalspied1.jpeg

Last edited by harsh_66328 : 8th August 2022 at 15:57.
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Old 13th October 2022, 07:41   #130
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Speaking of headlights, is anyone else having this problem. With a pillion, my headlight beam aims for the trees above and with high beam , its aiming for the heavens.

I adjusted the preload on rear shocks from 5 => 3 . the suspension is now as hard as apache's. The headlight throw is better but still very high and annoying.
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Old 17th October 2022, 09:28   #131
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Quote:
Speaking of headlights, is anyone else having this problem. With a pillion, my headlight beam aims for the trees above and with high beam , its aiming for the heavens
This is normal for a bike where the rear wheel has a lot of suspension travel. The only way you can fix this is to readjust the headlight beam (point it down) when riding with the pillion. That is better than dazzling oncoming traffic and not being able to see the road.
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Old 26th October 2022, 16:04   #132
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Has anyone tried NGK iridium spark plugs for Xpulse 4v ? Looking for the feedback and suggestions as i am willing to upgrade in my bike. Thanks in advance.
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Old 18th November 2022, 23:55   #133
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Finally got the much needed modification on the Xpulse yesterday - the rally seat. So I am 6 feet tall and with the stock seat, i feel that i am sitting too low with my legs bent more than required. With this setup, it required a considerable effort to stand on the footpegs when you have to go over a bad patch or when you have to just stand to give your bum some rest. Yes, it's a considerable effort since i am on the heavier side too at almost 100 kilos.

I was thinking of getting some refoaming done to the seat to increase its height and the width to some extent. But the only worry was that the seat frame is narrow so any additional foam to widen the seat would not be very comfortable.

The Xpulse was due for its 3rd free service this week so asked them to fit the rally seat and took a short ride. And boy oh boy - it felt so nice and so comfortable. Although i am not able to flat foot , i can feel that the strain on my back and knee has reduced considerably. It's a similar feeling when you are sitting on a low sofa and then suddenly move to a higher setup. No doubt, i had to add the handlebar risers as well.

The ride has improved, i don't feel the bumps too much, the seat is a bit softer because of more cushioning. It's easier and effortless to stand and ride or just lift your ass while you Wade through a bad patch.

I was wondering if just the rally seat could make my ride so comfortable - how would it be with the complete rally suspension. And then i read this
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...-fun-bike.html (Hero Xpulse with Rally Kit is not a fun bike)

Enjoying my daily ride to office and I care a damn about the potholes now. BMC - bring them on!!!

One piece of advise of you are looking for a small light motorcycle for Pothole-city commute - get an Xpulse!
Attached Thumbnails
Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_20221117_211156_947.jpg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img20221117124948.jpg  

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Old 22nd November 2022, 16:20   #134
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Long post alert: Hi everyone, here’s an update on my Xpulse 200 4V purchase and 6 months / 6,000 kms ownership including a long ride.

Short summary
  • Decent power for most mountain trails, especially for riders new to off-roading. The bike does what it’s meant to do i.e. mild off-roading and then some more with great ease.
  • Good combination of compliant stock suspension and nimble handling makes it very fun to ride on broken city roads as much as the trails
  • The spares and service experience so far has been good. Nothing to complain
  • Triple digit highway runs for sustained period are indeed doable, if one can ignore the vibrations and fuel efficiency. There’s not much loss of power/performance even in scorching summer heat when the bike was ridden for hours and 100+ km at a stretch
  • Braking is pretty good for the off-road but strictly okay at highway speeds (80-90+)
  • The dual-purpose tyres are surprisingly good on all sorts of tarmac
  • When ridden sedately, 400-450 kms is easily doable on a single tank
  • Stock seat is just okay for short rides. Long trips on stock seat is really a pain.

Little background on the purchase and requirement
I’ve been riding to the mountains since 2012, but not on the most appropriate bikes meant for the job. Last I did Mumbai-Leh-Mumbai in 2021 on my CBR250R and I struggled a fair bit on tricky off-road sections / water crossings. This year, we had plans to do more off-roading with Spiti and Sach Pass on the cards. I started looking for a small bike with better off-road credentials, which could come in handy for the annual trips to mountains. I am not a RE fan so the choice was simply between KTM390 Adventure and Xpulse 2004V. I was very close to getting a 390Adventure but the 1.5-2 months of minimum wait period in May 2022 was a deal breaker. I test rode Xpulse2004V with very little expectation considering it was less than half the OTR price of my other alternative. A smooth test drive experience and ready stock availability sealed the deal further. The booking and delivery details can be seen in this post (The "I Booked my Bike / Scooter" Thread)

My experience with this bike has been largely very good so far. So most of the things that I’m going to write down below are positives attributed to this machine. But the negatives do exist and they are very well summarized in this thread (Hero Xpulse with Rally Kit is not a fun bike) by a fellow bhp’ian.

Short review of the bike on highways and off-roads
Off-road: A lot has been said here and elsewhere on Xpulse’s off-roading prowess and based on my hands-on experience with this machine in Spiti and Sach pass, I agree with most of the views shared. I’ve never been so comfortable or confident off-road on any other bike as much as I am on my Xpulse. I rode my co-rider's Dominar400 and Himalayan for quite some time during this trip to Spiti and Xpulse was a clear choice for my liking though Himalayan wasn’t too far behind as well.

The ride experience is extremely good even with stock set-up and I had sort of made up my mind to upgrade to rally suspension soon. However, many comments from fellow members on RiderZone's thread do suggest that the stock suspension is indeed a much better choice for average folks so I may eventually give the rally suspension upgrade a miss.

There’s ample torque for most tricky terrains, the gearing is decent and riding position with handle-bar mod is amazing, so I have very little to complain here. The stock combination was more than sufficient to breeze through most of the tricky terrain in the mountains. The stock tyres are pretty good as well on most off-road surfaces.

Most of my other riding buddies too tried the Xpulse off-road and the overall feedback for this bike off-road has been very good.

Highway: I rode the Xpulse from Mumbai to Himachal Pradesh and back so ended up spending most of the miles on highway. I did not have any big expectations from this little motor for highway duties to begin with. My fellow riders were on Versys 650 and Dominar 400 so I was a bit doubtful on keeping up with them on highways. I expected sub-100kmph speeds when bike was fully loaded. However, pleased to say I could maintain good highway speeds and decently keep up with others. Vibrations are felt aplenty, especially on the handlebars but manageable with some aftermarket grips and good riding gloves. I feel 80-90 kmph is the sweet spot for a smooth cruise. We had almost planned to ship our bikes back during the return journey and take a flight back. Axe77 helped me with some details on shipping the bike back to Mumbai. But when the decision-making time came, I was just happy to ride it back home than to ship it back.

Braking: Braking is average at best, especially on highways. I could feel the ABS unit working really hard on a couple of occasions when I was caught off guard by stray cattle on highways. I absolutely love the Nissin brake setup on my CBR250 so I expected something similar (especially considering the brake pad prices for Xpulse). However, the brakes are strictly okayish on highways. For off-road though, I had no issues at all and they seemed absolutely okay. Even the rear brakes seemed to be very well calibrated as I hardly remember ever locking them up unintentionally.

Mileage: With the triple digit highway runs, I could barely get 250kms in one tank before I had the reserve indicator on and I would end up refueling below 300 kms from tank to tank. By my rough calculations, the max highway mileage I could achieve was 30-32 kmpl with spirited riding. No complaints as this was as expected. However, in the mountains I could extract 40+ kmpl most of the time. Haven’t had much chance to test the mileage in city but I could say its easily between 35-40 kmpl.

Some other good bits:
  • The on-screen navigation works pretty well if you can read and anticipate the directions decently. I used it extensively during my ride in unknown cities.
  • I extended the USB cable from under-seat charging slot to reroute the USB close to the handlebar. The charging is slow but works decently and I did not need any additional chargers throughout my ride
  • The stock headlight is decent. I do have the Maddog scout X installed for highway duties, but I ended up being just fine with the stock headlight on quite a few occasions.
  • I got the Xclan membership too on an impulse. The goodies that I received were okayish and the complimentary hero Goodlife membership got me some decent rewards too (service coupons, amazon or uber vouchers etc.)

Some not so good bits / nitpicking
  • At times the throttle response is a bit uneven, and the fuelling seems abrupt especially at slow speeds below 30kmph. Hoping that this is sorted out with the ECU update in next service
  • The ABS light malfunction indicator came on twice so far and remained on for a couple of hours. I could feel the front locking up easily during that time meaning it wasn’t just a false alarm. This happened twice at some of the difficult places (Chitkul and Chandratal). I panicked a bit first time and explored various troubleshooting options I could research on but thankfully the ABS error went away after the bike was resting for a couple of hours. Have to get the ABS system thoroughly checked in next service.
  • I completed my service at 3k kms as per the schedule and the service indicator came on again at around 4.7k kms. Solved this false service error through a Youtube tutorial
  • Don’t know if its only on my bike but the cone set needs frequent adjustments (2-2.5 k kms). May go for a replacement soon to see if this was a case of bad cone set from factory

Accessories and preparation for long trip
A brief note / review on the accessories that I got installed for those who are interested.

1. OEM Main stand: The installation was done during first service, and it was a 10-minute job. It does take away some GC, which is a concern if you ride often with pillion. But I faced no issue throughout the ride since I was riding solo. Goes without saying that this makes the chain cleaning and lubrication task very convenient.

2. OEM Gear lever extender: Very easy to fix and came in very handy with my full sized (44) adventure boots. Unlike the issues faced my few members here, I did not face any shifting issues whatsoever in my 6k kms with it so far. It did take some time to get used to with regular shoes, but I have now been accustomed to it and do not plan to go back to stock gear lever.

3. Maddog Scout X Auxillary lights (price INR 9.5k with all necessary switches, harness, mounts etc. and installation) – Little pricey alternative to cheaper options but went with it since it had great recommendations all around. This is my first experience with auxiliary light so I have no benchmark to compare but personally this has been an amazing upgrade. It came in very handy on nights when we had to ride post sunset inadvertently.

4. Art of Motorcycle wide handlebars (INR 2.5k with installation) – Got this installed straight away when my bike had 150-200 kms on ODO so can’t really compare it against the stock but independently speaking it is a great addition. The ergonomics on this handlebar are pretty good. Felt immediately at home in city or off-road sections. However, I am not that comfortable with saddling, but I guess it’s more to do with my technique than the handlebars itself. No major fatigue or shoulder pain even with being in the saddle for 10-12 hours almost on a daily basis for 14 days. The handlebar is a touch wider than the stock handlebar so one needs to be careful while riding in city traffic

5. Formula X Gel (Rs 1200)– Since this was the first-time I was touring on a bike with tube tyres, I did almost everything to overcome my paranoia of being stuck with a flat in a remote location. Happy to report that I had no punctures, air leaks, disbalanced tyres or any other issues so far. I keep inspecting my tyres regularly and don’t see any nails in there yet so it may also have been sheer luck so far.

6. TPMS with solar screen (Rs. 2,500) – Picked this up from Amazon and it came in very handy throughout the ride. The display is pretty prominent even in direct sunlight and charges with solar power seamlessly. Had it running for 14 days * 10-12 hours daily without plugging in ever to a power source. The air pressure readings were pretty accurate when compared to the readings I took at a trusted petrol pump and my MI portable tyre compressor). Shows tyre temperature too so I rode cautiously or took some cooldown breaks when the tyre temperature soared in the vicinity of 50 degrees on some afternoons during highway rides.

7. Viaterra claw mini (Approximately 3.5 k): I had good rynox saddle bags but they could not be used without saddle stay on Xpulse. I didn’t like any existing saddle stay options for Xpulse so borrowed Claw mini from a friend. It fits almost perfectly and stays put nicely even during off-roads. It does touch the exhaust shield a little but no irreversible damage was noted to either the bag or the exhaust shield. I also had a casual laptop backpack robustly mounted on the claw mini using their mounting mechanism for viaterra pod bags and the arrangement worked brilliantly throughout the ride.

8. Luggage rack (Rs. 1000): Decently sturdy addition from Amazon again, didn’t have much use for it as my tail bag and tank bag turned out to be more than sufficient for my luggage requirement.

9. Generic knuckle guards (Rs. 1500 with installation): Bought and installed from a local shop in Andheri, Mumbai. They look good and feel pretty sturdy. We had little difficulties while fitting but they held up pretty well throughout the ride. Did not have any fall or tumbles as such so couldn’t comment of their usability to save the levers or hands.

10. Other small generic items of great utility which I already had or bought:
  • Generic blind spot mirrors (INR 200): Much needed as the stock mirrors do not help much with riding jacket on, as is the case for most if not all bikes
  • Fego float seat (INR 2000): Have used this on most of my long rides and came in very handy on this one too. Fits perfectly with stock Xpulse seat.
  • MI tyre compressor (INR 2000): Not the most efficient but really comfortable and convenient to use. I did not have much use for it as I could monitor my tyre pressure real-time but my other riding buddies used this little handy compressor at times.
  • Spare tyre tubes (INR 900): Amazon did have the stock tubes in stock but estimated time for delivery was about a week so sourced it from a local dealer. Didn’t have any use for them so far.
  • Tyre wrench and puncture patch kit (INR 800): Generic items from Amazon, happy that I didn’t have any use for it during the ride.
  • Generic side stand extender (INR 400): Again a decent addition and came in very handy in muddy patches when I had to put the bike on side stand.
  • The only other accessories that I had planned but couldn’t get is the extended visor from Inscape Dreamz (INR 2000). This could have been really helpful at highway speeds but the owners told me this is a made to order product and will not be available off the shelf so had to forego this due to lack of time.

To summarize, I bought Xpulse as a stop-gap arrangement since I have some plans to upgrade to a large tourer soon. While buying the Xpulse, one thought was that I might sell-off the Xpulse once I upgrade to a bigger bike. However, it is a very difficult decision to let it go now considering it’s the weapon of choice even for my city commutes (preferred over other two wheelers in my garage). Hero has done a good job with this one IMHO and I cant wait to see what they do with the larger Xpulse that’s on the cards.

This post is not a travelogue of my ride to Sach pass and Spiti. Nevertheless, sharing some pictures from this one hell of a ride on this amazingly capable machine. Cheers!
Attached Thumbnails
Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_2087.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_2127.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_2222.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_2255.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_8477.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_8522.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_8524.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_8530.jpeg  

Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh-img_8539.jpeg  


Last edited by camitesh : 22nd November 2022 at 16:32. Reason: typo
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Old 24th November 2022, 17:58   #135
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Re: Hero XPulse 200 4V launched in India at Rs. 1.28 lakh

Quote:
Originally Posted by camitesh View Post
Long post alert: Hi everyone, here’s an update on my Xpulse 200 4V purchase and 6 months / 6,000 kms ownership including a long ride.
Wonderful, real world, long term review post! How would you rate the build quality, and would the bike last a decent amount of time with some bashing?
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