[manishalive]

The bike is a good move by Hero after the breakup (to me), but has the market matured to this level.

Of course we see a striking resemblence of the bike with the Honda and if you see the headlight and faring it is similar to one from Bajaj line up, the font too looks like that of pulsar.

This only shows the imminent lacking in terms of R&D capability for which all of these years they were depending on Honda. And also shows their unprepardness for the breakup.

Why was London choosen the venue, cause they are going global. What about the Indian market, they should have launched the bike first here. And if they want to portray this bike as a global product, the engine part needs to be looked into and they will be dubbed copy cats in markets were honda is already present.

As for now the Indian market is graduating to 250cc class fully faired or half faired bikes where does will this bike fit in. I do see regularly the modified 100cc 2 strokes off road lookalikes, but when you raelly put down the numbers the stastics might reveal a very little population.

Trying to do different and be succesful at that is not everyone's forte, very few succeed. Many have doomed. I hope their strategy and analysis wins.

[athalaga]

Here are the pics of the scooter on overdrive
Hero MotoCorp unveils Maestro scooter: Photos : Overdrive

It is shocking that their 200 R&D guys could only fudge the front from TVS Wego and the back is a mix of pleasure and activa. Guess only Bajaj and TVS does some real R&D. We can only expects such Jugaads from Hero. Good Luck

[manishalive]

Originally Posted by athalaga

Here are the pics of the scooter on overdrive
Hero MotoCorp unveils Maestro scooter: Photos : Overdrive

It is shocking that their 200 R&D guys could only fudge the front from TVS Wego and the back is a mix of pleasure and activa. Guess only Bajaj and TVS does some real R&D. We can only expects such Jugaads from Hero. Good Luck

That is what my basic point is. Hero has been caught unawre. And they want to hide this fact by releasing some copy cat machines. This is not going to work.

Both TVS and Bajaj have gone leaps and bounds in their R&D capability. It will take a while for Hero to catch up with them.

[rajanprash]

The pic looks good, I think that they missed out an engine guard or a "belly". When driven in monsoons, the front tire would splash water and mud on the engine.
Also i was wondering what would happen to someone driving this bike. His pants would be all messed up on rainy days.
IMHO Hero should have made a concept design keeping a commuter bike and a dirt bike in mind , so that it would capture the market of both-minded people.

[tantragna]

Atlast!!! Somebody thought of this market segment, which most of the people (like me) were always finding it difficult to find the right one with the new bikes hitting the market.

Hope they make it in a good package in terms of value for money & the stuff needed in a on-off roader.. just keeping my fingers crossed!

[naveenroy]

Saw the pics from that other site and sadly, looks too much jugaad to me. Hopefully, they will be able to do some real good R&D to scare away competition. Hollow promises?

[girishglg]

Hero Moto Corp is ticking the right boxes in terms of slotting a new bike into a literally untapped segment (SX is long gone) and would showcase their ability of independently launching products in their solo avataar.

On the Maestro scooter launch it seems to be a good move afterall. Agreed that the design is not original but good gearless scoots with reliable engine (must be the tried tested hearts of HH) will sell in the market in good numbers. Just imagine their reach in dealer network and you can do the math for yourself.

However I am really surprised at the fact that they do not have any official website showcasing their new identity/ product line/ launches (or I was not able to find one). I thought these were basics of brand building! Anyone got any update on this?

[sriku]

I am not convinced that this bike will be welcomed with the 150 cc engine. If they had plonked the CRF230 engine directly, or even the detuned Karizma R engine in this, it would have had a chance. 150 cc is simply not enough for a bike that is supposed to be able to tear through terrain.

Its heartening to see them be brave about things, launching this bike shows they are willing to take some risks, but leaving it underpowered is simply sabotaging their own plans, IMO.

The swing-arm, front forks/disc/rims/spokes are promising. If not on this bike, I'm sure the modders out there will make good use of them, myself included.

[manishalive]

I think they tried to be different from the regular 150cc bikes, in a sense this bike is for commuter segment and for short off road use. there are some elements missing of that of a proper offroad bike.

How much are the successful in their adventure / misadventure only time will tell.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by athalaga

Here are the pics of the scooter on overdrive
Hero MotoCorp unveils Maestro scooter: Photos : Overdrive

It is shocking that their 200 R&D guys could only fudge the front from TVS Wego and the back is a mix of pleasure and activa. Guess only Bajaj and TVS does some real R&D. We can only expects such Jugaads from Hero. Good Luck

Its based on the Aviator platform.

Good move from Hero.Looks good even.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by atalaga

Here are the pics of the scooter on overdrive
Hero MotoCorp unveils Maestro scooter: Photos : Overdrive

It is shocking that their 200 R&D guys could only fudge the front from TVS Wego and the back is a mix of pleasure and activa. Guess only Bajaj and TVS does some real R&D. We can only expects such Jugaads from Hero. Good Luck

I remember reading that both the Impulse and the Maestro are infact designed by Honda and not the Hero group.

[adidac369]

Impulse ha? Probably hoping to recreate the success Pulser brought for Bajaj.
Well did they do any market research before they decided that this is what the market needed? I hope they did. I wouldnt buy this bike. But im not the demographic they were intending it for hehe..

[manishalive]

As per this website the engine specifications are,

Hero Moto Impulse bike photo, Hero Maestro scooter photo and specifications, details | DWS Auto India

The Hero Impulse is a dirt bike that looks similar to the Honda NXR 150 Bros as expected and will be an instant attention grabber on the road. The Impulse is powered by a 149.2 cc, single cylinder, carbureted air-cooled engine that makes, 13.8 bhp of max power and 13.6 Nm of max torque. The engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox.
It has been built on a tubular steel frame and its silencer and heat shield run on the right side of the bike’s seat. The dirt bike has a high ground clearance of 244 mm, telescopic front suspension (180 mm travel) and a mono-shock rear suspension (150 mm travel). It sports a 240 mm disc brake at the front and a 110 mm drum brake at the rear.

Now if we compare the specs too that of CBZ Extreme, there is not much of a change (14.4 PS and 12.8 NM), (well some sites state 14.4 as BHP ). Means the same engine with a different state of tune.

Also looking a t the engine of the two bikes you can make out the similarities . All they have done is redone the crankcase end covers.

[Daewood]

Autocar TV show they had a test ride of Hero Impulse yesterday.
The looks aren't exactly like that of a off-roader, but a bit of a cross between a commuter and off-roader.

The anchor was very impressed by the bike's capabilities. He kept on doing wheelies, drifts, off-roading, etc and also mentioned that he normally doesn't do that kind of stuff, but the bike enticed him to try those stunts.

[niks_devil666]

Hero Impulse review by Autocar India - YouTube