- New Xpulse 421 likely to be launched by March 2026
- Production-model will debut at 2025 EICMA
- Will take on Himalayan 450, 390 Adventure
Hero MotoCorp first teased the much-awaited motorcycle, the Xpulse 421 at the 2024 EICMA Show in Italy. The company revealed a silhouette picture that gave a hint of the motorcycle’s design language.
According to our sources, the Xpulse 421 is in its final stages of development. The testing of almost production-ready models is taking place inside CIT, its R&D facility near Jaipur and also in some northern regions of India.
The Xpulse 421 is built around a new platform. There's a new single-cylinder 421cc liquid-cooled engine inside the trellis frame. The power figures of this motor are likely to be around 35bhp-40bhp and a lot of focus would be placed on delivering great low and mid-range torque.
In terms of equipment, the XPulse 421 could get upside-down forks at the front and mono shock at the rear with preload adjustment. The bike will get a 21-inch wheel at the front, however, it will mostly get tubed-type tyres.
The XPulse 421 will compete with the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, KTM 390 Adventure, and the upcoming TVS Apache RTX. It will be interesting to see how Hero MotoCorp prices this upcoming adventure bike. With the Xpulse 200, it did a fine job of positioning the bike in the Indian market, and with the Xpulse 421, the same strategy is likely to be applied. But within Hero MotoCorp, the Xpulse isn’t a successful project as they believe the overall sales numbers could have been much higher. This company is known to sell lakh of motorcycles every month, however, these are entry-level models. It shouldn’t take the same high-volume approach with bikes like Xpulse, especially when the brand is new to the world of aspirational and premium bikes.
