Hero reveals XPulse Concept at EICMA

With motorcycles like the Triumph Tiger, Honda Africa Twin and Royal Enfield Himalayan doing well in India, Hero wants to re-enter the adventure tourer market with a better engineered product this time around.

Hero MotoCorp has taken the veil off its latest off-road bike concept, called the XPulse. As the name suggests, the XPulse is supposed to be a spiritual successor to the now discontinued Impulse.

Though presently a concept, Hero claims that the production version of the bike will hit the roads soon, both in the Indian and global markets. The concept shown at EICMA sports some characteristic adventure-focused elements like a raised front fender, enduro style raised handlebar flanked by hand guards, spoked wheels, drilled underbelly bash guard, engine crash guard guard, long travel suspension, etc.

Technical details of the XPulse remain sketchy at the moment, but it is speculated that this bike will share its powertrain with the upcoming Hero Xtreme 200, which is a 200cc, single cylinder, air-cooled mill capable of producing 18bhp and 17.2Nm. There are rumours that the production XPulse will be made available in two versions - a dedicated off-roader like the one displayed, and a more road focused model - just like what Triumph does with the Tiger.

Speaking on the occasion, Pawan Munjal, Chairman & Managing Director of Hero MotoCorp said, “Hero MotoCorp has over the recent years, rapidly expanded its global footprint and is present in 35 countries, with manufacturing facilities in three countries. We are constantly developing Concepts for the future – keeping in mind global trends and customer aspirations. I am sure the Adventure Concept motorcycle XPulse gives you a directional guidance on the path that Hero is going to ride on in the future. We created this segment in India a few years ago and we feel it is about time that we start conceptualizing some new thoughts and ideas in this space. And in keeping with the rising global stature of Brand Hero, we are creating such Concepts not just with the Indian user in mind, but also with a focus on the evolved global markets”.

While Hero’s first shot at the adventure touring market with the Hero Impulse was unsuccessful, this market has matured since then. The production-ready avatar of teh XPulse is expected to be displayed at the 2018 Auto Expo, with the bike hitting showrooms by the end of next year. The entry level adventure tourer segment is expected to get a lot more crowded by next year, with motorcycles like BMW G 310 GS and KTM 390 Adventure said to be India bound soon.