Hero XPulse 200T

One look at the XPulse 200T and you can tell that the design is a bit strange. Hero claims that it’s supposed to be retro, but I’m still a bit  unsure of whether the 200T actually manages to pull that look off.  You find the same 15-litre fuel tank of the XPulse 200 but the side panels are styled differently. It does miss out on those off-roady bits like the large front fender, spoke rims and knobby tyres. Instead, you get the same wheel setup as the one found on the Xtreme 200R. There is no aluminium bash-plate as you would not venture out into the wild with this bike. Instead, it gets a normal plastic one. Overall, the XPulse 200T’s stance feels a bit disproportionate, and it doesn’t do enough to immediately turn heads.

The overall fit and finish levels have improved since the last time we tested one of Hero’s 200cc motorcycles - the Xtreme 200R, even though this XPulse variant shares quite a few things with the 200R. The positioning of the choke knob continues to look a bit out of place, but we had no further complaints with regards to switchgear location, or quality for that matter.

The XPulse 200T rides quite well for a tourer. The pliant suspension setup manages to soak in slow speed bumps. If you do encounter bigger bumps, the rear end does tend to kick back. Whether this can be solved by finding a better preload setting, or whether it has more to do with the rebound tuning, shall have to be tackled in our proper road test. 

Given that this bike is meant to do long distance highway riding, it comes with a wide rake and long(ish) wheelbase. So it’s not really meant to feel corner happy, flicking from one side to the other through a series of bends at speed. But be gentle with it, and don’t push it too hard, and the 200T manages to hold a clean line through the corners. Things feel much better when you bring the speeds down even more. In the urban environment, it is surprisingly light on its feet and is able to dart through slow moving traffic with relative ease.

Coming to a halt quickly is not a problem for the 200T. It carries the same brake setup found on the Xtreme 200R, along with single channel ABS. Even though it does not have the petal discs, the 200T manages to slow down better than the XPulse 200 and also, I am going to stick my neck out for this, the Xtreme 200R. But much like the Xtreme, this bike too lacks lever feel.

We are still pretty confused about why the 199.6cc single in its current state would be used in a motorcycle meant for touring as it is not suited for the highway. In fifth gear at 80kmph, you’ll find the motor screaming away at 6000rpm - not what you want if you’re going to be spending hours in the saddle going down the highway. In fact, it struggles to get to 100kmph (at 7500rpm), and getting there (eventually) is accompanied  with a huge dollop of vibrations.

The XPulse 200T rides quite well for a tourer. The pliant suspension setup manages to soak in slow speed bumps. If you do encounter bigger bumps, the rear end does tend to kick back. Whether this can be solved by finding a better preload setting, or whether it has more to do with the rebound tuning, shall have to be tackled in our proper road test. 

Given that this bike is meant to do long distance highway riding, it comes with a wide rake and long(ish) wheelbase. So it’s not really meant to feel corner happy, flicking from one side to the other through a series of bends at speed. But be gentle with it, and don’t push it too hard, and the 200T manages to hold a clean line through the corners. Things feel much better when you bring the speeds down even more. In the urban environment, it is surprisingly light on its feet and is able to dart through slow moving traffic with relative ease.

Coming to a halt quickly is not a problem for the 200T. It carries the same brake setup found on the Xtreme 200R, along with single channel ABS. Even though it does not have the petal discs, the 200T manages to slow down better than the XPulse 200 and also, I am going to stick my neck out for this, the Xtreme 200R. But much like the Xtreme, this bike too lacks lever feel.

When showcased at the 2018 Auto Expo, Hero had stated that the XPulse 200 would come with an all-new digital information cluster with Bluetooth-connectivity. The layout is simple and effective. You have useful information such as the gear position indicator and odometer always on display, along with two trip calculators. What it does miss out on is a distance-to-empty indicator, something that should be a no-brainer on a touring motorcycle. 

We also tested out the connectivity part of the display and that worked quite well. The mobile application (available on both Android and iOS) connects to the system in no time. It gets turn-by-turn navigation with Google Maps integrated. It also alerts you in case of an incoming call or if your device is running out of battery. The overall experience is pretty appealing but there are a few bugs in the application that need to be ironed out. While testing it out, the app crashed on the phone after every couple of minutes. Hopefully, OTA updates should solve this issue.