Hero Splendor Plus Flex Fuel: Top 5 Highlights

The Splendor Plus Flex Fuel is Hero's ethanol-ready take on its bestselling commuter, built to run on blends up to E85 (which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petrol). Here's a quick look at everything that this bike has to offer:

Hero's first flex fuel motorcycle

• The Splendor Plus Flex Fuel is Hero's entry into ethanol-blended commuter bikes. It was launched together with the HF Deluxe Flex Fuel, giving Hero two flex fuel options right from the start.

• Here’s a small, interesting fact: while this is the first flex fuel bike that Hero has launched here, the brand unveiled the Glamour Xtec Flex Fuel years ago at the Auto Expo 2023. It was a prototype that gave us a glimpse of the brand’s flex-fuel plans in India. 

E85 compatible

• The bike runs on anything from E5 (regular petrol with a small ethanol mix) all the way up to E85, thanks to a revised ECU and upgraded fuel system components.

• On E85, the 97.2cc air-cooled engine makes 8.56PS  and 8.3Nm running through the same 4-speed gearbox as before.

• Here is that exact paragraph updated with the numbers smoothly blended in:

• On E85, the 97.2cc air-cooled engine makes 8.56PS and 8.3Nm running through the same 4-speed gearbox as before. That's actually a bit more power and torque than the standard E20 petrol model, as it manages 8.02PS and 8.05Nm.

Looks exactly like the Splendor, except for the graphics 

• Hero has kept the design deliberately familiar: same silhouette with the boxy headlight and simple side panels, as the regular Splendor Plus, so it doesn't stand out as anything different at first glance.

• The one giveaway is the colour scheme. It gets a Black body with Lime Yellow graphics on the tank, hinting at its clean and green demeanour.

Same features as the Splendor Plus, with a small tweak

• Most of the equipment carries over as is: Hero's i3S idle-stop-start tech, a side-stand engine cut-off, and a USB charging port.

• Unlike the full analogue console on the regular Splendor Plus, this one has an analogue speedometer but a digital fuel gauge. The function is still the same, so you’re not really gaining anything as such from this change. Everything else, including halogen lighting, is unchanged. Just note there's no front disc brake - that’s reserved for the Splendor Plus Xtec. 

Price: only a small premium over the regular Splendor Plus

• The Splendor Plus Flex Fuel is priced at Rs 82,710 (ex-showroom Delhi), against Rs 77,777 for the standard petrol Splendor Plus, so you're paying roughly Rs 5,000 extra for flex fuel capability.

• On-road in Delhi, it comes to about Rs 95,446. Yes, that’s a bit expensive for a 100cc bike, but then it’ll be properly future-proof thanks to the ethanol compatibility.