Auto Expo Two-wheeler Concepts From Hero That Didn’t Make It To Production

Here are 5 concepts that have never seen the light of day

Hero MotoCorp does not have a good track record of converting concepts to production. Of late, the only two concepts that have been made available to the public have been the XPulse 200 twins and the Xtreme 200R (which was called the 200S in concept guise). Hence, we take a look back at the five two-wheelers that Hero has showcased at the Expo:

Also Read: Auto Expo Two-wheeler Concepts That Made It To Production

Hero Hastur

After its split with Honda, Hero had a brief fling with Erik Buell Racing. While the relationship didn’t work out as Hero would have expected, it blew our minds away with the Hastur naked concept. The Hastur was properly modern for 2014 with twin-projector headlamps and a TFT dash. Housed inside a tubular space frame was the largest engine that we have seen sporting the Hero badge – a 620cc parallel-twin capable of churning out 80PS. It had a claimed 0-100kmph time of 3.8 seconds and could hit a top speed of 240kmph. It had proper streetfighter components such as a USD fork, an offset-monoshock, dual discs with radial calipers and super sticky Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres. Sadly, the Hastur was part of a chapter, which Hero would choose to neglect from its history but for what it promised, we cannot.

Hero HX250R

From an out-there performance naked, to a more approachable full-faired sport bike, the HX250R. This was supposed to be their flagship quarter-litre sportbike, which would replace the ageing Karizma ZMR. It sported a 249cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder motor with a CBR250R-beating 32PS of power on tap. It was built around a tubular steel frame and featured a rather radical trellis swingarm. And though the Buell influences were clear, this was still a more conventional, and rather good looking motorcycle. It featured an underseat exhaust too. There were some spy shots of the bike in the real world, which emerged in the following year. But after waiting for three years, the then CTO of Hero MotoCorp, Markus Braunsperger, admitted that the market had moved beyond the 250cc category, and the HX250R project was shelved. Somebody forgot to tell that to Yamaha and Suzuki.

Hero RNT

The Royal Enfield Taurus has been the only motorcycle in the world to run on diesel. Hero thought it could add to the list with the RNT. Meant as a utilitarian motorcycle, the RNT had a very boxy design, which could be used to carry load at both ends. It had a 150cc diesel engine that could also double up as a generator to be used in the fields. You could also remove the headlamp and use it as a torch.

Hero ZIR

Joining the list of Hero concepts that have not seen the light of day is the ZIR maxi scooter. India’s only other maxi scooter until then was the Kinetic Blaze and the response was not quite positive. But if there was one manufacturer who could have made the maxi scooter popular, it could have been Hero. The Indian brand wanted to add European flavour to Indian scootering with the ZIR as it got a large (for its time) 150cc liquid-cooled motor. Plus, it had petal discs, LED turn indicators and a semi-digital analogue console.

Hero XF3R

While the plans of shelving the HX250R were announced in 2017, back at the Auto Expo 2016, Hero showed off the XF3R. This was a radical mid-capacity streetfighter that packed some top-notch components - upside down fork, a single-sided swingarm and a liquid-cooled 300cc single-cylinder engine. Even in early 2018, there was talk that Hero was working on getting a production-ready 300cc motorcycle. This was hot on the trail of the XPulse 200 concept first showed off at EICMA 2017, which in fact, was one of the first concept motorcycles from Hero to make it to production.