Hero XPulse 200 4V Long Term Review: Introduction

Gallery Introduction The Package The Plan Bike Stats

Introduction

The Hero XPulse 200 2V, as impressive as it was off-road, felt exhausted as soon as you asked it to do enthusiastic speeds, the kind that would keep you intrigued, out on the highway. But the XPulse 200 4V changed the game, and despite carrying near identical power and torque output figures, felt more involving when given the beans. Furthermore, keeping the equipment identical to the 2V version helped Hero MotoCorp price the motorcycle competitively, and there’s nothing in that price range that would give you the versatility that the XPulse 200 4V offers.

Hero Xpulse 200 4V Left Rear Three Quarter

We have already done exhaustive road tests and off-roading reviews of the XPulse 200 4V, and the motorcycle impressed us with its prowess. Now, we will try to live with it as the motorcycle has entered the BikeWale garage as a long-term vehicle. It is here to stay for three months and during this period, we plan to test it in the city and take it out touring. What’s more? We will also try to get our hands on the rally kit and take the motorcycle off-roading with the optional equipment.

The Package

All of the aforementioned reports are going to come over a course of three months. But before that, let us give you a brief recap about the motorcycle. The design of the XPulse 200 4V is identical to the 2V version. Thus, it uses a round headlight, clear flyscreen, tall-set front fender, single-piece seat, high-placed exhaust canister, and wire-spoke wheels. The 4V variant, however, gets bolder graphics that look more stylish and desirable than the 2V version. Furthermore, it gets a 4Valve sticker on the fuel tank.

The feature list, too, is identical to the XPulse 200 2V, and the XPulse 200 4V packs an LED headlight, LED taillight, Bluetooth-enabled instrument cluster with turn-by-turn navigation, and a single-channel ABS. The hardware includes telescopic front forks, rear mono-shock, and petal-type disc brakes on both ends.

While the styling and hardware are identical, there are some differences in the mechanical specifications. While the XPulse 200 4V retains the 199.6cc, single-cylinder, oil-cooled engine, it makes 18.8bhp and 17.35Nm of torque as against 17.8bhp and 16.45Nm on the 2V version. The 4V also gets a bigger oil-cooled unit than the XPulse 200 2V. The engine on the latest iteration feels comfortable anywhere above 3,000revs, and it continues to build momentum at a commendable pace throughout the rev-band, even closer to its 9,500rpm redline.

The Plan

As we told you in the introduction, we plan to use it as our daily commuter and, at the same time, take it out for highway runs. We also plan to go touring on the XPulse 200 4V and cover at least 600km in a single day to analyse the comfort levels after long hours in the saddle and get the highway fuel-economy figures. Lastly, if we do manage to get our hands on the optional rally kit, we would add another report to talk about the practicality of the equipment for everyday use and its perks off the beaten path.