Hero recently launched the Xpulse 200, marking its re-entry into the adventure motorcycle fraternity. It is by far the most affordable ADV in the market; a title earlier held by the Royal Enfield Himalayan.
We bring to you an on-paper comparison of the XPulse 200 and Himalayan to help you decide which one to buy.
Off-road and touring capability
Since these are adventure motorcycles, we begin with that one thing that matters the most; off-road ability. Now, the Himalayan and XPulse 200 have a similar design. They get a high secondary mudguard, tall-windscreen, high-set exhausts, a luggage rack at the rear and an engine sump guard. The XPulse further gets knuckle guards as standard.
Both, the XPulse 200 and Himalayan run on spoke wheels wrapped in dual-sport tyres from CEAT. While the Himalayan gets a 21 inch front/ 17-inch rear combination, the XPulse 200 sports a 21/18 wheel size combination. And evidently, the XPulse 200 also has a higher seat height of 823mm. The Himalayan sits lower and gets a seat height of 800mm. Both the motorcycles offer a fuel-tank capacity of 13-litres.
Suspension and braking
Suspension duties on the XPulse 200 and Himalayan are handled by similar hardware consisting of telescopic front forks and a monoshock at the rear. However, the suspension travel offered by the two bikes is different. The XPulse has 190mm of travel up front and 170mm of travel at the rear. On the other hand, the Himalayan offers a slightly longer travel; 200mm for the front and 180mm for the rear.
Braking on the Hero XPulse 200 is done by a 276mm disc upfront and a 220mm disc at the rear with a single-channel ABS. Meanwhile, the Royal Enfield Himalayan has better braking hardware. It uses a bigger 300mm disc for the front and a 240mm disc for the rear with a dual-channel ABS.
Engine
The Royal Enfield Himalayan is powered by a 411cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine with fuel-injection as standard. This motor produces 24.5bhp and 32Nm and comes mated to a five-speed gearbox.
On the other hand, the Hero XPulse 200’s single-cylinder, air-cooled engine has nearly half the displacement at 199cc. It is offered in two variants; carburetted and fuel-injected which both generate 18.4bhp and 17.1Nm and is mated to a five-speed gearbox.
Pricing
The pricing for the Hero XPulse 200 starts at Rs 97,000 for the carb variant and goes up to Rs 1.05 lakhs for the fuel-injected version. Meanwhile, the Royal Enfield Himalayan costs Rs 1.80 lakhs for the standard version and Rs 1.82 lakhs for the Sleet variant.
The Himalayan, for its extra price, offers a bigger engine, dual-channel ABS and the appeal of a proper, rugged ADV. The XPulse, however, gets a few modern features like a Bluetooth-enabled instrument cluster and LED lighting which the Himalayan misses out on.
