Hero Xpulse 200
One of the biggest perks of being an automotive journalist is getting to spend crucial saddle time with motorcycles across the spectrum. This month, I finally got to swing a leg over the Tiger 900 Rally Pro, one of the most capable adventure touring bikes out there. While they are not comparable in any way, being on the Tiger 900 in the dirt, brought new perspective to the time I’ve spent with the Xpulse off-road. I try to make a habit of taking the Xpulse out on trails over the weekends, and I have to say that I’d only take the Tiger on trails where I haven’t struggled on the Xpulse. In the tougher bits, as a novice off-road rider, the Xpulse 200 is more my speed. It’s lighter, easier to maneuver and best off all if you end up with a face full of dirt, repair bills are almost negligible. In the BS6 version, oil cooling and a remapped fuel injection system have brought big changes to the way the Xpulse performs even though on paper it has lost marginal amounts of both power and torque. 0.32bhp and 0.65Nm less, to be precise but thanks to the improved power band, the Xpulse not only accelerates quicker but also feels more composed at highway cruising speeds. Our VBox tests show the Xpulse is quicker to 60 by about 0.3 seconds but is almost a full 2 seconds quicker to a 100 than the BS6 bike. Another thing that has drastically improved are the brakes on the BS6 version or more specifically the ABS. On the BS4 bike the ABS was poorly calibrated, but those issues are gone on the BS6 bike that stops confidently no matter what the surface.
OIL COOLING
AND A REMAPPED FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM HAVE BROUGHT BIG CHANGES TO THE WAY THE XPULSE PERFORMS