Indian two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp unveiled an adventure motorcycle concept titled Xpulse at EICMA show in Milan in the first week of this month. The concept model is regarded as the spiritual successor to the Impulse dual-purpose bike which the manufacturer launched In India six years ago. Though the company was coy about India launch of XPulse during its unveiling, emerging reports shed some light on the launch time frame.
The XPulse has been developed at its Jaipur-based R&D centre, not only for India but also across for a number of its export markets. However, the home country will be the first to get the production version. A report in NDTV Auto claims Hero MotoCorp is planning to launch XPulse in India sometime by June, or July 2018.
The report also claims Hero officials wanted to make the XPulse a mass market product. Hence, performance has been somewhat sacrificed keeping mind fuel efficiency concerns.
The adventure bike is expected to draw power from a 200cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine which is currently under development for the upcoming XTreme 200S while the tuning will be different. This engine is likely to be tuned to churn out 18.5bhp at 8,500rpm and peak torque of 17.2Nm at 6,000rpm and will get two riding mode options - City and Sport.
The motorcycle is rumoured to have a kerb weight of just 140 kg. That will make the vehicle certainly lightweight and more usable bike for new adventure biking enthusiast. The bike is expected to enter the market with a price tag in the region of Rs 1-1.2 lakh (ex-showroom).
The show bike at EICMA sported ideal off-road bike bits such as the long travel telescopic front forks on 19-inch front wheels, Metzeler rubber and disc brakes at the front and the rear. The concept also came with LED headlight, engine bash plate and spoke-wheeled off-road tyres. Accessories such as pannier boxes on either side are also part of the concept. These are also expected to be part of the production-spec bike.
Source: NDTV Auto
