The Hero XPulse Rally Kit gets a long travel suspension, knobby tires and raised handlebars with a flatter seat to make for an even capable off-road machine.
Hero launched the XPulse in India last year and right from the start, it had us impressed. Its a pretty capable off-roader and it came at a very affordable price. Most importantly, it was a very accessible motorcycle for budding off-road enthusiasts and honestly, there’s nothing quite like it in its segment. Now, Hero has launched a new Rally Kit for the XPulse and its available at select Hero dealerships for a price of Rs 38,000.
Hero has been participating in the Dakar Rally for quite some years now and their experience from the Dakar adventures and trickling down to their road bikes. Hero also showcased the XPlulse Rally Kit at the 2019 EICMA Motor Show and just from the looks of it, you already know its a pretty serious off-roader. Let’s look in a little more detail at what the Hero XPulse Rally Kit has to offer.
But before we go any further, here’s a word of caution. The rally kit is not homologated for road usage. Hero uses the standard XPulse 200 as the base and then further builds on the adventure character of this motorcycle. With the Rally Kit, the XPulse sits quite high off the ground, enough to go over a small hill without breaking a sweat. This has been achieved with longer travel suspension units which are even fully adjustable. At the front, you get 250mm of suspension travel while the rear end just gets 220mm. The standard bike has to make do with just 190mm and 170mm of travel respectively.
The ground clearance of the XPulse 200 with the rally kit now stands at 275mm. Also, the seat has been revised for a sleeker and flatter unit and that further raises the seat height by some bits. The rally kit also gets handlebars-riser for a more comfortable position on the motorcycle when standing going over off-road trails. Obviously, you get a longer side stand so as to keep the bike from tipping over. The motorcycle also gets a longer gear lever to accommodate thick off-road boots. Lastly, a pair of Maxxis knobby tires complete the XPulse rally Kit to make for a pretty serious off-roader.
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Here’s the price list for each of the components of the Rally kit:
| Parts | Price |
| Adjustable suspension | Rs 25,000 |
| Maxxis tyres | Rs 10,000 |
| Flat bench seat | Rs 2,500 |
| Handlebar risers | Rs 500 |
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The motorcycle that was showcased at EICMA even came with Akrapovic exhaust and a revised final drivetrain setup of 12/40T. However, these are not currently part of kit as they would render the bike illegal for road use. Hero will be offering an aftermarket exhaust which will not be an Akrapovic unit. It also has to be cost friendly, you see. By changing the final drive ratios of the XPulse 200, the Indian homologation laws would be violated. But even without these features, the Hero XPulse Rally Kit makes for a very capable machine.
