[motonomad]

Originally Posted by advtourer

Very wrong suggestion indeed.
Imagine being on a gravel road and you need to tighten the chain, adjust the shock or change the tyre, you'd be effed if you are w/o a main stand under those situations.
For ground clearance issues you just need to modify it a little and your issues would be gone. You're basically handicapping yourself by taking it off.

To each its own but why would you even need to adjust the chain or suspension in the middle of a ride and not before it? The chain requires periodic maintenance and stock suspension is adjustable just for preload so doesn't really need changing once set properly, unless your weight changes drastically. You can very well do that at home. I still have the stand at home for chain maintenance, just not installed to scrape every speed bump or get me stuck on trails. That is more of a handicap than a potential puncture repair, which can (and has been) easily handled by resting on something under the bash plate.

Originally Posted by RiderZone

If anyone asks you "How tall is the Xpulse with the Rally Kit?", tell them it's tall enough that birds think it's a tree and start giving birth on it

Haha, it indeed is very tall. Recently got the rally kit and realised that even at 6'3, I might get surprises due to its height. 2nd visit to the neighborhood dirt track after rally kit, took a tumble just in getting on the motorcycle. I feel the shorter riders were laughing louder than the taller ones as payback for every time I laughed when they fell over the past months.

Originally Posted by Mafia

To all the owners, how is the Xpulse as a commuter?

For commuting purpose, I would say
Positives - Comfortable, efficient, good on any roads, cheap service
Negatives - Underpowered, further magnified with pillion, large turning radius

[nasirkaka]

I suspect the piston rings on my xpulse are busted.

A few weeks back, while revving the bike hard in a slush, i noticed good amount of white smoke from the exhaust.

On 15th Aug, Hero had organized an offroad track event as a part of independence day and for their promotion. It was organized ahead of Tumkur, around 120 kms from Bangalore. I took a few regulation slides/falls. On the way back to Bangalore, boring highway, so was mostly riding full throttle. During this, i noticed a few things. One was the front brake lever, which at times was feeling very hard and at times, getting much softer. apply the brakes a few times, and it gets hard again.. Secondly, i felt there was a slight drop in power through out the range. And at one point, i felt the bike is almost running out of breath.. slowed down for a while and it felt slightly better. Got the bike washed close to home and parked it. Next morning i see a small pool of oil next to the bike. One close inspection, it looked like it was dripping from under the right side plastic cover. Took the bike to service center, and they said, the oil is through the air filter chamber (breather pipe for crank case) and its not very uncommon.. But so much oil on a modern bike definitely did not sound common to me. For front brake, they just bleeded the line and asked to ride and see if the issue is there. If it is, they may replace master cylinder and check.

Looking at all these issues together, i feel the piston rings are not sealing well, hence white smoke at hard revving due to oil entering combustion chamber. It would also affect the pressure in crank case, which is forcing oil into the filter box via breather tube.. Anyone is had similar issues? Or any other deductions? I will continue to the ride the bike and see how it fares. The bike is just about 4k kms old, but i must admit i have not babyed it. It was run-in well though. Another line of thought, If atall i need to change the piston and cylinder, Are there some other better oversized options to improve the performance a bit as well.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

I suspect the piston rings on my xpulse are busted.

Rings going for a toss at 4k Kms just cause you rode her hard doesn't make sense to me, cause if that were the case then my 100 would've gone through 20 rebuilds by now.

The CB150 engine platform has its niggles but if at all your rings are gone then I'd blame Hero's part quality.

I'd suggest you first check for excess blowby by holding a strip of paper in front of the breather outlet after you remove the pipe. If you find oil on the paper then you can confirm there is considerable blowby, also it would leave oil residue around your exhaust tip, just finger it and see if you find anything sticky, another sure shot sign is pulling the plugs and inspecting for oil.

Also, White Smoke means water in the combustion chamber, oil burning emits Blue Smoke, but it's a light shade of blue so it can easily be confused. Best means to confirm is exhaust tip residue or pulling plugs.

As for performance kits there are many I believe who offer big bore kits for the Xpulse. But honestly this platform is too weak to begin with so not really worth the money and effort IMHO, the rest is up to you.

If I were you I'd try to claim warranty and get parts replaced, IF they are really at fault.

Regards,
A.P.

[nasirkaka]

Rings going for a toss at 4k Kms just cause you rode her hard doesn't make sense to me, cause if that were the case then my 100 would've gone through 20 rebuilds by now.

Same thoughts. I have been riding with guys who have been pinning the throttle hard all the time and are doing just fine. I also know of one case here where the guys engine is seized twice, he has a farm land and use to push the bike on those terrains. So could be a handful of bikes/parts are not upto the desired quality.

I'd suggest you first check for excess blowby by holding a strip of paper in front of the breather outlet after you remove the pipe. If you find oil on the paper then you can confirm there is considerable blowby, also it would leave oil residue around your exhaust tip, just finger it and see if you find anything sticky, another sure shot sign is pulling the plugs and inspecting for oil.

Also, White Smoke means water in the combustion chamber, oil burning emits Blue Smoke, but it's a light shade of blue so it can easily be confused. Best means to confirm is exhaust tip residue or pulling plugs.

As for performance kits there are many I believe who offer big bore kits for the Xpulse. But honestly this platform is too weak to begin with so not really worth the money and effort IMHO, the rest is up to you.

If I were you I'd try to claim warranty and get parts replaced, IF they are really at fault.

Will check these points over the weekend and see if i can find some more symptoms. If at all, will push for a warranty.
PS. Know of a rider who is exploring the possibilities of transplanting the engine from CBR150 on the Xpulse frame. Had to make many non-reversible changes to the retro fit the engine, but majority of the work is done. Would be a good case study to keep an eye on, as i feel xpulse had got the riding geometry, frame, suspension, brakes etc right. Just the engine may be the weakling. And if we can do something about it, it would be a very versatile.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Same thoughts. I have been riding with guys who have been pinning the throttle hard all the time and are doing just fine. I also know of one case here where the guys engine is seized twice, he has a farm land and use to push the bike on those terrains. So could be a handful of bikes/parts are not upto the desired quality.

It's a Hero trait I believe cause exactly a decade ago when I got my Karizma the engine partially seized within a few days of ownership.

And take my word for it when I say I was gentle on the motorcycle being uninitiated about motorcycles to the point that I strictly adhered to manual run-in.

Also I missed to comment about the brake issue. It is common and has been reported by a couple of enthusiasts I know who own the Xpulse. The simple remedy is to bypass the ABS unit and go old-school, cause consistency triumphs over wishful thinking.

Will check these points over the weekend and see if i can find some more symptoms. If at all, will push for a warranty.

Warranty replacements were sort of a competitive sport back then among fellow ZMA owners, we would keep score of who would replace the most parts under warranty. It was simpler times when we made sure our moneys worth was met rather that being a poster boy for some random brand.

PS. Know of a rider who is exploring the possibilities of transplanting the engine from CBR150 on the Xpulse frame. Had to make many non-reversible changes to the retro fit the engine, but majority of the work is done. Would be a good case study to keep an eye on, as i feel xpulse had got the riding geometry, frame, suspension, brakes etc right. Just the engine may be the weakling. And if we can do something about it, it would be a very versatile.

Very bad choice I'd say, the most sensible change would be to opt for the ZMA engine due to mounts being identical.

Not to mention the CBR150's power band is quite contrary to what you'd expect from a trail bike, sharing an old meme that'd shown up in my FB memories;



Need I say more?

Cheers,
A.P.

[nasirkaka]

I had my first bike purchased in 2001 and that was a hero splendor and i was very happy with the bike. This is the 2nd bike from hero, and i had no idea things changed so much in between.
Will check for points you highlighted and conform if there is indeed a partial seizure. Was also checking on videos of big bore kit for xpulse, and Bangalore based NMW racing has multiple performance enhancing products, including big bore kit comprising of either only piston or piston + head, High lift cam, Better ignition coil, clutch basket with 6 springs (stock is 4), custom power commander with different maps etc. Abhinav, a Delhi based utuber and his friends have these mods their Xpulse, and he swears by how good the bike feels post some of these mods. If i really have to change piston, might as well go this route. Any gains would be most welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4XbG2319uw

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

If i really have to change piston, might as well go this route. Any gains would be most welcome

Took a spin of this very bike around the block (not trails). Its honestly kinda meh! You'd see better pull with a few hundred rupee worth duke 200 42 teeth sprocket

Definitely claim warranty for the cylinder kit. I absolutely do not recommend going the big bore route unless you at the very minimum plan to get a fuel controller... 15k I think

Ideal scenario... exhaust, airfilter and camshaft. Btw, the ideal scenario I just described is what the bike in the video has. And still left me unimpressed. I know of another bike that only got a big bore done... nothing else. If reports re to be believed... it was a waste

So save yourself some money, don't mod an already unreliable bike and throw reliability completely out the window. Claim the warranty. Free is better than spending money IMO. YMMV

[nasirkaka]

Took a spin of this very bike around the block (not trails). Its honestly kinda meh! You'd see better pull with a few hundred rupee worth duke 200 42 teeth sprocket

That puts the case to rest. Long back, after converting my C5 with bigger bore and forged 535cc piston, free flow filter and exhaust, I did not really feel any big performance difference. Definitely not as much as i was expecting after all the effort and cost that was put into it. So was not too sure this time as well, except i had messaged Abhinav with my query and he sounded very positive in his answer about these mods.

Between the 40T karizma and 42T Duke, which one would you recommend.

[shady]

I found the quoted comment from the below YouTube video, which kind of makes sense for a bored out engine. The youtuber replied to a comment about replacing the head kit to reduce engine noise. Fellow bhpians please share your thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL3xQN0Aql4

i have a theory it could be the cam which is causing all this noise due to high lift since they rebored the old achiever/unicorn engine to 200cc & to meet the power figures it needs more air hence the higher lift & slightly bigger valves imo they should've kept the smaller cam lift and went with 4 valve sohc instead that would have made engine much quieter with similar or better power figures.

As ashwin has mentioned earlier no point in milking more power from this platform.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

That puts the case to rest. Long back, after converting my C5 with bigger bore and forged 535cc piston, free flow filter and exhaust, I did not really feel any big performance difference. Definitely not as much as i was expecting after all the effort and cost that was put into it.

You can install every single part out there but it won't do you much good if your motorcycle isn't tuned appropriately, in fact at times you'd be slower than a factory bike.

I could go on and on about the technicalities but to make life easy for you and save you from a world of hurt and financial loss. Keep things stock, if you want more power swap your block to a ZMA block. Would cost you around 6~7k from a scrap yard.

The ZMA isn't all that reliable per say even though Fanbois swear by it but considering where you are at now it makes the most sense.

So was not too sure this time as well, except i had messaged Abhinav with my query and he sounded very positive in his answer about these mods.

For the love of commonsense, stay clear of him.

The guy doesn't have the knowledge to differentiate a hex nut from a castle nut.

Even in the video you'd shared the giveaway is that he's using maps that was preset. Seriously, there's only one kinda motorcyclist who'd do that and trust me you'd not want to associate with such people.

I'm pretty sure you would've seen the video that had circulated on WA of him flipping his ADV390 and then rotating the rear wheel in neutral as a fix to recovering from a hydro-lock, the sheer stupidity of that video gave me a headache.

Between the 40T karizma and 42T Duke, which one would you recommend.

The 40T of the ZMA can be bought individually.

Having said that keep the sprockets stock, you're not making or loosing performance but rather you're shifting so unless you plan on limiting use then I'd not recommend it cause nothing beats factory configuration when it comes to providing a balanced output.

Once I'd under geared my P220 for KL roads and on a 3 day interstate ride where we clocked a shade over 1.6k on the interstate my teeth almost cracked from clattering at 130kmph @ 10,000 RPM.

Regards,
A.P.

[drt_rdr]

@nasirkaka: Echoing the above comments, I also vote for keeping the engine stock.

Yeah, on highways, it can get boring.

On the dirt though, I bet there's a lot of fun you can extract out of the stock setup before you begin to get bored. More often than not, the capabilities of these kinds of bikes exceed those of the rider.

I happened upon a video where a professional trials rider is giving what looked like a completely stock Honda CRF250L(down to the tyres) a good trials-style workout (not trails, but trials).

This bike didn't even have a bashplate on and the guy is hopping it up big boulders, 4 foot high walls, uphill obstacles courses, and 60 or 70 degree short hillclimbs like it was nothing. And that thing is not even close to a petite 70 kilo trials bike, it's 145 kilos kerb I think.

I've seen similar things done on the very underestimated Yamaha XT250 as well.
Owners and ex-owners in the comments were eyes-popping-out level of surprised that the bike can even do that. Just goes to show how much people are generally aware of their motorcycles' capabilities.

I'm not saying you should go do that too, but this is just an example of the potential that goes unexplored. Some extra power is always nice to have, but it's not the thing you need the most on the dirt, unless you're a competition rider.

[nasirkaka]

Thank You so much guys with your thoughts & great insights.
And i think i may have jumped the gun in connecting dots for all we know, the engine may be fine and not seized.
So last Saturday, went for a short morning ride to one of the lakebeds close to Bangalore. On the way, at one point realized that the brake pads are heating enough to catch the rotor. Went directly to service station from there to sort out all the issues. A few observations at the service station:
* The rotor seems slightly bent (minor warp is visible, not sure if its related to one of the many falls i have had) Will have to be removed, and corrected on lathe.
* The master cylinder is also knows to cause hardness of brake levers, so that has to be replaced, but they dont have the part in stock.
* The brake could be the reason for the feel of lack of power
* There is no oil residue at all on the inside of the exhaust opening.
* There is no oil deposit at all on or around the plugs
* On complaint about the white smoke, the service head started the bike, gave complete twist of throttle, and held it for close to 40 seconds. I was scared that if not before, the bike will seize now.. Thankfully did not notice any white smoke at all from the exhaust.
* The oil can come in the air filter box, if its topped more then required, and esp if the bike takes some falls (which did happen in my case). Also last time, the air filter was not replaced, so will get it done now.
* Handlebar had bent, so replacing that.

Most likely will get the bike today or tomorrow. Will ride some more and see how it goes. Only master cylinder replacement will be pending.

Having said that keep the sprockets stock, you're not making or loosing performance but rather you're shifting so unless you plan on limiting use then I'd not recommend it cause nothing beats factory configuration when it comes to providing a balanced output.

on the 310GS, I am using 15T front sprocket whereas the stock is 16. The feeling of shift of powerband has made a noticeable difference to how the bike rides now. For eg, with 15T front, i really enjoy the city rides where the bike feels more alive and peppy, but on highways, i feel like i am always one gear short. The vibes also seems to have increased, esp towards the higher revs. But will continue to use the 15T now, as it feels nicer on daily office commute. So may try 40T of Karizma of 42T of duke on the xpulse and see how it

feels.
For the love of commonsense, stay clear of him.

chanced upon his channel during the CB350 launch, and he came across as an enthu guy trying our various mods on various bikes including xpulse, interceptor, himalayan, CB350, etc. Most bikes i like, so a natural interest in his videos.

@nasirkaka: Echoing the above comments, I also vote for keeping the engine stock.

Yep, yep!! I was drifted towards Big Bore Kit only as i thought the bike had ceased partially. As of now, all seems on track. Will stock to stock. And yes, xpulse in stock form itself is a very capable bike in an experienced ride's hand. Its us who need to improve and catch up.

[nasirkaka]

Some more updates on the issues:

Last Saturday, at service center, a visual inspection and free rotation of front wheel revealed that there was bent in the rotor. Later when they replace the rotor with a new one, the wobble was visible again and we could visibly see the entire caliper assembly moving left-right due to the rotor being off centered.
On further inspection and some head-banging, we discovered that the central HUB had developed some warpage/bend. (wondering how, as the RIM seems fine when checked the old way with thumb placed closed to rotating wheel)

The entire front wheel assembly including the hub, rim and spokes is Rs. 3150, so got it replaced. The bike feels fine now. Have taken home the old wheel assembly, wondering if thee is a way to correct the HUB. For RIM bends, I know a shop in shivaji nagar "Klassic wheel works" where a local THOR hammers all the bend rims into its place with his fine skills and very basic equipments.

In retrospect, are the xpulse hubs so weak as to get warped/bent? Has anyone else faced this? The rim visually seems fine. Or could this be one-off case as i have seen folks really riding hard and jumping what not on their xpulses.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

In retrospect, are the xpulse hubs so weak as to get warped/bent? Has anyone else faced this? The rim visually seems fine. Or could this be one-off case as i have seen folks really riding hard and jumping what not on their xpulses.

Did you check your bearings before replacing the front wheel?

It would be a colossal face palm moment if you had to change the entire front wheel when in fact the bearings were at fault.

Saying cause I cannot fathom a hub warping as your RIM and Spokes take the meat of the brunt and if at all something was amiss then it would've been your RIM or Spokes that in most cases a truing would fix if not for parts actually breaking.

Regards,
A.P.

[nasirkaka]

Did you check your bearings before replacing the front wheel?

It would be a colossal face palm moment if you had to change the entire front wheel when in fact the bearings were at fault.

Bearings were fine. The the HUB had a warpage. When we place a brand new rotor on the hub (there surface where the rotor sits and get bolted), the rotor does not seat firmly. There is very clear visible play. When we take the same rotor and place it on another Xpulse hub, it seats firmly. The difference was very very clearly visible and like night and day. Should have made a video of it. Also of the caliper assembly moving left and right when wheel rotated. Missed that. Now using the same bearings on the new hub and all feels perfectly aligned.
I was also wondering how the hub can get warped/bent. The Rim was slightly Off-centered, but nothing alarming. That should not affect the rotor alignment which is connected to the HUB, but thats exactly what was happening on my bike. Am guessing somehow, the impact from the rim is traveled through spokes to impact the hub. Another lesson learnt.
Good part about all this is, the spares are not that expensive, so we can to all these mistakes, and still getaway without too much damage to the pocket.