HERO XPULSE 200 4V

Hero’s had yet another go at the Xpulse and have given it more “purpose” as a dual-purpose motorcycle

- CHRISTOPHER CHAVES

The XPulse 200 has always been a special dual-purpose machine. Given its displacement, pricing and most importantly, capabilities off the road, there’s absolutely nothing that comes close to it at this point in time. But remember this is a dual purpose motorcycle, and if there was anything that this bike was lacking it would have to be engine refinement and performance in the mid range and top end. The bike was all there to be felt when you set off down the highway. This was the case when Hero came out with the BS-VI version of the XPulse 200 last year but this year the company has put in even more effort into improving this already outstanding machine. This is the XPulse 200 4V.

When Hero says that it takes the feedback from its customers seriously, we’d tend to believe them, because, the company’s certainly done so with the Xpulse. For instance, take the 2V BS-VI Xpulse 200 that came out last year. Some felt that the switchgear needed to be changed around – things like the rocker-style HighBeam switch kept dropping offfor some reason, so, in steps Hero to address this issue by changing the switchgear around with the Xpulse 200 4V, and while it doesn’t look very special, it all feels built to last and good to use. Then there’s the headlight of the older BS-VI bike which most felt to be weak. In comes Hero with a tweaked unit that’s supposed to be about 20 per cent brighter than before, but I can attest that there’s honestly still room for improvement on this front. Besides this there’s other run-off-the-mill stuff cosmetic changes like some new stickers on the tank and panels and even the new paint colour options that aim to freshen things up a bit too, and it has worked.

Type 199.6cc, single-cyl, oil-cooled, SOHC

Fuel tank 13-litres