Hero is on the verge of launching an affordable alternative to upcoming Himalayan 450 and 390 Adventure with Xpulse 440
Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson joint venture has resulted in a brand new platform that both the brands will deploy with their branding. First vehicle to debut with the newly-developed 440 platform was Harley-Davidson X440. What next? Nightster 440 under Harley-Davidson or Hero’s flagship Xpulse 440? Looks like the probability is stronger with the latter.
Hero Xpulse 440 Resumes Testing
India’s largest 2W manufacturer seems to be on the verge of revamping its premium portfolio. We are seeing test mules of new Xpulse 210 that have similar body and hardware as standard Xpulse 200 but pack Karizma XMR’s new 210cc liquid-cooled engine. Alongside it, Hero’s upcoming Xtreme 210cc street naked was seen testing too.
New test mules show a larger Xpulse motorcycle that made its first appearance last year at Khardung La. After that, this vehicle was never spotted testing again, until recently. This time, they’ve been spotted testing in a more urban environment. Particularly, somewhere in Jaipur city. Alongside this new test mule, we can see a KTM 390 Adventure as well, probably for benchmarking.
Overall proportions are much larger than current Xpulse 200 4V and match with the test mules spotted last year. When launched, it will take on bigger single-cylinder ADVs like upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 and KTM 390 Adventure. As of now, there are no real leads to suggest which engine this new Xpulse is packing.
There are two possibilities – a brand-new 400cc liquid-cooled engine, or the same 440cc oil-cooled engine that debuted with Harley-Davidson. We would wager on the latter as it will prove cost-effective and allow them to undercut rivals by some margin. It will be sold via Hero’s Premia dealerships.
Upcoming Hero XPulse 440?
As for finer details on componentry, there are wire-spoke wheels, dual-purpose tyres (probably tube-type), an up-swept exhaust that looks a lot chunkier than the one on Xpulse 200 4V, some sort of trellis frame, USD telescopic front forks and rear mono-shock suspension with longer travel.
On the recent test mules, rear swingarm looks like it is milled from a single piece of metal, and not a generic box-section unit. There are LED turn indicators and previous test mules showed a squarish fully-digital instrument cluster that may be shared with Karizma XMR.
When Hero launched XPulse 200, it primarily rivaled Royal Enfield Himalayan in off-road conditions. Now that Royal Enfield is readying the Himalayan 450, Hero has begun to hone the blades that will clash sometime in 2024 or beyond.
XPulse 440 is likely to be lighter in weight and also affordable when compared to upcoming Himalayan 450 and 390 Adventure. If Hero priced it around Rs. 2.5 lakh (ex-sh), it would be an absolute phenom. It would slot above upcoming Xpulse 210 with Karizma XMR engine in Hero’s ADV portfolio.
