Hero Motocorp XPulse Adventure Motorcycles: 10 things you don’t know about the Royal Enfield Himalayan rival

Hero Xpulse has been the talk of the town since the manufacturer showcased it at the recently concluded Auto Expo. Making it debut at the show, the XPulse 200 will be seen on Indian roads very soon. Here are ten things that you should know about the upcoming 200cc entry level adventure bike.

Cheapest adventure bike you can buy

Hero is planning to price the XPulse at around Rs. 1.25 lakh. Now that will be a great deal for the adventure enthusiasts. The current, most affordable adventure bike is the Royal Enfield Himalayan that retails at Rs. 1.68 lakh. The Hero XPulse will be about Rs. 50,000 cheaper and much more reliable too, which makes it a great deal, not to mention the added features.

Same platform as the Xtreme 200R

Hero showcased the Xtreme 200R a few weeks back. It is a new platform developed by Hero MotoCorp. The diamond type chassis is quite useful and we may see future Hero bikes based on the same platform too. Currently, the Xtreme 200R is the only bike in the market with this newly developed chassis and the XPulse will be the second model to use this.

Even the engine is same but with key differences

Hero is also utilising their newly developed 200cc engine on the XPulse as well. The engine is fuel injected as against carbureted in the Xtreme 200R. However, it produces exactly the same amount of power and torque. The single-cylinder engine produces a maximum of 18.4 PS and 17.1 Nm. It gets a 5-speed transmission and fuel injection will be useful during high altitude riding.

Gets standard safety features

The adventure bike gets standard ABS. It is a single-channel ABS but the motorcycle gets rear disc brake too. Dual channel ABS on adventure bikes can be a damper, especially when you cannot switch them off. Hero XPulse will be an affordable bike and hence, the rear ABS has been omitted. Adventure riders love to lock the rear wheel for quick turns and fun and that is something that they will find in the XPulse.

High ground clearance

The Royal Enfield Himalayan is known as the SUV on two wheels because of its high 220mm ground clearance. The XPulse also gets similar ground clearance of 220mm. Not only that, the XPulse gets upswept exhaust, which makes sure that water entry is restricted even while crossing deep water crossings or a light river.

Full LED lamps

The bike gets full LED headlamp that is partitioned in between. The headlamp case is round that gives it better aesthetics. Even the tail lamp is full LED. The turn indicators are also LED and overall the bike looks quite premium at night.

It is all about suspension travel

The dual purpose adventure bike gets thick telescopic front suspension. To make the ride comfortable even on the bad patches, Hero XPulse gets 190mm of front suspension travel, which is quite good. It gets 140mm of travel in the rear monoshock. The front wheel gets 21-inch spoked rim while the rear gets 18-inch spoked rim. The long travel suspension will make the bike quite stable and comfortable over not so good roads.

Tech-loaded

The Hero MotoCorp XPulse gets an all-digital console, which holds a lot of information. The console has a tachometer, speedometer, fuel meter, trip meter, ride time and also shows turn by turn navigation after getting connected to your phone. Yes, it does not gets a digital compass but who needs one when you get navigation ?

 

Hero’s second adventure bike

This is not the first time Hero has launched an adventure bike in the market. Hero’s first product was the Impulse, which got appreciation from a lot of people but did not become popular due to it underpowered engine. The 150cc Impulse was the first adventure bike from the brand. The XPulse is 4 PS more powerful than the Impulse that makes it a much more capable proposition.

To be launched this year

The bike was showcased at the 2018 Auto Expo and Hero plans to launch it in India later this year. Hero has not officially confirmed anything about the launch but reports suggest that the bike will be launched by the mid 2018.