Hero Xtreme 200R Review – Sporty Successor

The Hero Xtreme 200R was unveiled a few months back. This is the latest sporty enthusiast’s bike form Hero. The Xtreme is now more powerful and gets a few upgrades apart from the new engine. We ride this new offering from Hero on the Buddh International Circuit and find out how it is. What we can say is that it is not the same Xtreme as earlier, but a more improved motorcycle, in most departments. Want to know more this bike? Read further for our review.

Hero Xtreme 200R Design

The design of the Hero Xtreme 200R is a mixed back. Starting with the front, the headlamp assemly and the bikini fairing remind you of the old Xtreme. It has pilot laps above the headllamp, which are LEDs . The headlamp is a halogen one and not LED.

YThe bike looks good from the side. The fuel tank is shaped well and gets bold and huge tank shrouds that add a lot of appeal to the otherwise lackluster design. The side panels are typical Hero type brod ones and have the logo of Hero too. The the tail part looks quite good.

The tail section is neat and had 200R written on it. The taillamp though it well designed and is attractive as well. This is an LED unit. The bike gets a blacked out theme, The engine, alloy wheels and exhaust are black in colour. The alloy wheels look good and have a curved spoke design.

The instrument cluster could have been better. It is a simple digital/analogue unit. The tachometer bearing the needle. This bike misses out on a gear indicator but gets a side stand indicator. The switchgear quality is good and this bike also has an engine kill switch. The Hero commuter bikes get i3S technology but this is absent here. What is also worth mentioning is the seat, which has a welcome change in being comfortable.

The earlier Xtreme had a broad seat which had awkward contours. The result was an irritating seating stance. But that get ironed out in this model. The seating stance is not aggressive. It is more suited for daily commuting and thats good. The handlebar though is flatter and adds some agility to the bike.

Hero Xtreme 200R Engine Performance

The Hero Xtreme 200R gets an air-cooled 200cc engine that pumps out 18bhp of power and 17.1Nm of torque. This engine has been derived from the Achiever 150. It is quite a smooth unit and though not as sporty as one would expect, it does offer sufficient power throughout the powerband. The torque of the bike is good but you don’t feel any sudden rush. Clearly, this bike has been tuned for easy commuting and hence the availability of torque throughout the range is a boon, especially when riding in the city. The need for frequent gearshifts is eliminated. There are hardly any vibrations even at 7000 rpm. Hence it seems to be well-engineered.

Hero Xtreme 200R Ride and Handling

This is where the Xtreme 200R surprised me. I never expected it to be a good handler. However, the way it took to corners was a delight. Of course, it is not built for track duty, but on long curves it maintained its poise well enough. There was no jittery feeling and I was able to scrape my foot on the track. This is a big step up from the earlier Xtreme. The suspension is well tuned. It has a telescopic setup upfront and a monoshock at the rear. Neither is it too soft, nor stiff.

I’m quite sure it will ride well on bad roads as well. Another catalyst is the handling are the tyres. The MRF tyres do a good job in providing excellent grip. The rear tyre is a radial.

Now speaking about brakes, it gets single channel ABS. The braking is fine. I wouldn’t call it excellent, but does the job well, in stopping the bike. There is decent bite, which is good enough while riding in the city.

Hero Xtreme 200R Mileage

We haven’t got the opportunity to test the mileage yet, as this was a ride on the track. But I estimate a fuel efficiency of around 35 km/l for this bike, in real life city riding conditions. Hero claims that good fuel efficiency is important to their brand and they have not compromised on this front.

Verdict

The Hero Xtreme 200R is a decent package. Through not very striking in the looks department as compared to some of the new bikes in the market, it comes across as a usable bike with a hint of sportiness to it. The reason to go for this bike is that it feels well put together, with a noce ride and handling balance. The other main reason would b that it comes from Hero, which has the largest service network in the country. While it has exceeded my expectations, the key to the success of this bike will be its pricing. which is yet to be announced. And yes, if only that front look could have been more appealing!