Hero to replace faulty ABS of XPulse 200

It has been reported that most of the Hero XPulse 200 owners have complained about their bike’s ABS. The ABS does not work properly in some situations and increases the chances of brake locking resulting in an accident.

Hero MotorCorp has been communicated about this problem and is ready to take some action.

What’s the actual problem?

The braking duty of the Hero XPulse 200 is managed by 276 mm petal disc at the front and 220 mm petal disc at the rear wheel. A single-channel ABS assists the front brake so that it doesn’t skid in the emergency braking situation on the tarmac. But the ABS system on the Hero Xpulse 200 is very sensitive and gets triggered on even the slightest braking errors. Also, the bike is an offroad machine and ABS is not advisable offroad.

Some owners say that when the bike hits a big pothole or encounters bad roads, its ABS kicks in and jams the front disc brake lever for about two-three seconds. This is actually due to the long-travel suspension and the play in the brake pads which triggers the ABS sensor. All said and done, this can increase the chances of crash.

This small fraction of time where the front brake is unusable can endanger the life of the rider.

The advantage of the single-channel ABS is that in case of some error in the front ABS, one can apply the rear brakes. But even then there is a possibility for the rear wheel to lock up and skid the bike. We always advise bikers to have both the levers of the brakes pressed with 80:20 pressure ratio at front and back respectively.

To address the complaint about this problem, the manufacturer will be now taking some action. We are been suggested that Hero MotorCorp is ready to replace the faulty ABS. However, the company has not made any official confirmation as the current situation due to COVID-19 is not so good to make a business-related commitment.

Powertrain

Currently, Hero Xpulse 200 is the most affordable dual-purpose adventure motorcycle you can buy in the market. It is equipped with 200 cc fuel-injected, oil-cooled unit. The BS6 engine’s power figures are not revealed yet but due to the previous BS4 bike, we can expect somewhere between 18-19 bhp max power and approx 17 Nm of peak torque.

Features

The bike gets features such as full-digital instrument cluster, LED headlamps and taillamps. The bike offers ground clearance at 220 mm, long suspension of 190 mm travel and up-swept exhaust that makes it really a great offroad motorcycle. It also has a comfortable long seat and luggage mounting points so that you can tour comfortably.

Price

The BS4 model of the XPluse 200 costs Rs 99,500(ex-showroom) for the carb model and Rs 1,07,500 (ex-showroom) for fuel-injected model. We expect the BS6 model will be premium over Rs 6,000-7,000 over the BS4 fuel-injected model. The major competitor for the Pulse 200 is the RE Himalayan. The bike also gets a rally kit as an extra fitment to the bike for Rs 60,000 more. See the complete walk-around of the same.