[ast.ggn]

ABS Issue update:

Twitter is finally put to some good use. Hero acknowledged the complaint and immediately got 2 calls. First one I believe was from Hero itself, second was from the dealer. I explained the problem to both and they asked to visit the service center so that they can have a look. I will be visiting them this Saturday and update this thread.

Originally Posted by antihero

About the bash plate, my experience with the factory fitted aluminium plate is taht it suffices.

Thanks for generous words

Will check that choke cable as per your suggestion. I feel that it is not working at all now, mechanic has disconnected it all together

Do you have any idea if the FI aluminium bash plate is a direct fit on Carb variant? I am asking this because I learnt above that draining arrangement is different for both plastic and aluminium. It is a possibility that mounting might be a bit different too.

[petrolhead_neel]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

[b]
Do you have any idea if the FI aluminium bash plate is a direct fit on Carb variant? I am asking this because I learnt above that draining arrangement is different for both plastic and aluminium. It is a possibility that mounting might be a bit different too.

Hey, it is a direct fit. I know people who have bought the carb and immediately fitted the aluminium bash plate. This one just has a hole to drain the oil.

Neel

[VR/46_Chet]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Finally made up my mind for carb variant

Congrats on getting the Xpulse 200 Carb, ast.ggn! Thank you for the detailed review.

USB charger is a good addition but I don't think anyone will use it.

Well, it can be put to good use during lunch stops etc. while on a ride.

Engine idling seems to have a mind of it's own and RPM keeps on fluctuating between 1000-1800. I am sure this problem won't be there in FI variant.

1000-1200 for the FI is what I've been seeing from the past 6 months. In fact, it stays at 1000 most of the time but goes up to 1200 for a second or two max. On winter mornings, it's 1200 but I have not seen it go higher than that in 5 degree Celsius. 1800 sounds like a bit too much, have you got it checked?

Assuming that service center would open at 9 AM, I reached the center at 8:45 AM and get the shock of my life. I am 38th in the queue.

The service center that I go to allows only their head mechanic to work on the bike. This guy is responsible for working only on Hero’s premium offerings viz. Karizma, ZMR, XPulse etc. and gets involved with other motorcycles only if there’s a major issue. So during the first servicing, I didn’t have to go through a queue at all. All I did was call them up one day prior to check if the mechanic is available, went in at 12pm and had to stay until 4pm only because of their lunch break in between. Also, in all my other visits to the SVC may it be for headlight adjustment / ECU Error etc., I’ve never had to wait for more than 5 minutes to get the work started.

Do ask around for a head mechanic next time when you visit the service center, might save your time.

Comparison with Himalayan:

Here's a pic from my side as well.

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by VR/46_Chet

Well, it can be put to good use during lunch stops etc. while on a ride.

I get your point, but I would have appreciated if it was available somewhere near handlebar close to a phone mount. These days phones are with excellent batteries and with fast charge. What is the charging speed via this unit and does it work with engine off (with engine off and ignition on)? Also one problem which came to my mind was the phone would be lying around in the storage box while getting charged, if you are riding and roads are bad, the phone will dance around quite a bit (take care of any phone heating issue in case you want to put a padding below to keep things tight)

1000-1200 for the FI is what I've been seeing from the past 6 months. In fact, it stays at 1000 most of the time but goes up to 1200 for a second or two max. On winter mornings, it's 1200 but I have not seen it go higher than that in 5 degree Celsius. 1800 sounds like a bit too much, have you got it checked?

During cold start, the engine RPM is 1000. After a short ride, engine rpm fluctuates between 1000-1800. I have shot a short video last night, will share here and getting it checked this Saturday.

The service center that I go to allows only their head mechanic to work on the bike. This guy is responsible for working only on Hero’s premium offerings viz. Karizma, ZMR, XPulse etc. and gets involved with other motorcycles only if there’s a major issue. So during the first servicing, I didn’t have to go through a queue at all. All I did was call them up one day prior to check if the mechanic is available, went in at 12pm and had to stay until 4pm only because of their lunch break in between. Also, in all my other visits to the SVC may it be for headlight adjustment / ECU Error etc., I’ve never had to wait for more than 5 minutes to get the work started.

Do ask around for a head mechanic next time when you visit the service center, might save your time.

There is only one mechanic who is trained on Xpulse and he works on my bike. But the problem is that he services all other bikes/scooters as well, so if you are late in the queue, they will allot some other bike to him first and you have to wait till he is free.

Here's a pic from my side as well.

It is good to see so many Xpulse on the forum. I thought initially that I was the odd one out. White looks lovely, congrats Do keep sharing your experiences.

[ast.ggn]

Here is a short clip of how the RPM is inconsistent while idling. This was shot after an hour of ride, towards the end it goes under 1000 also. Choke doesn't seem to work nowadays. Anyone, thoughts on this?

https://youtu.be/jbeL0Xg1Azc

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Here is a short clip of how the RPM is inconsistent while idling. This was shot after an hour of ride, towards the end it goes under 1000 also. Choke doesn't seem to work nowadays. Anyone, thoughts on this?

When the motorcycle is warm and the idle starts to float, then it means you're running lean.

But at the same time if it starts to drop, then it means you're running rich, hence why the motorcycle dies when you pull the Choke on a hot machine.

This is the 101 when it comes to Carb's.

So what next?

Easiest way to confirm the same would be to run a finger round the inside of your exhaust pipe, you should find some dry soot on your finger, which confirms the suspicion. Ideally you're supposed to take a plug chop, but since life is short we finger our way forward!

Now the most obvious(and utterly stupid) reason to run rich is the result of human error or neglect, but presuming that you'd gone through the owners manual lets keep presuming that the obvious would not be the case and move on.

Now we have 3 remaining suspects.

1. Choke Plunger
2. Float and Pin
3. AFR Screw

Your ASC would go straight for the AFR screw but trust me, leave it for last.

First make sure that your Coke Plunger is sitting flush in its cavity, you can unscrew it from the carb and then reinsert it after disconnecting the Choke cable to be certain, this is of utmost importance.

Second, inspect your carb overflow pipe, if it is wet with fuel and you'd not dropped the motorcycle then that'd mean that you'd need to take the float bowl off and inspect and clean the float and its pin.

Finally, after you'd made sure that anything and everything has been checked, you resort to the AFR screw, ideally the thumb rule for a CV carburetor is 2.5+/-1 Turns, and remember this is a Fuel Screw, I'd keep it at 3.5 turns cause I like a little bit of oomph off idle, go with what you feel is adequate but DO NOT go below or above the prescribed range.

And you'd be good to go!

Then again before getting your hands dirty it'd be best if you be certain that there is no error on your part, just saying cause a friend once stuffed his beanie under his seat before leaving my place and called me a while later saying his motorcycle stopped running abruptly, on close inspection it was found out that his beanie was literally choking his intake.

Cheers,
A.P.

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Here is a short clip of how the RPM is inconsistent while idling. This was shot after an hour of ride, towards the end it goes under 1000 also. Choke doesn't seem to work nowadays. Anyone, thoughts on this?

https://Youtu.be/jbeL0Xg1Azc

Check that the carburettor coupling rubber is mounted in such a way that there are no leaks between the carburettor and the engine and also between the carburettor and the air filter or air box. Air leaks between the engine and carburettor usually cause unsteady idling and difficult starting.

[VR/46_Chet]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

What is the charging speed via this unit and does it work with engine off (with engine off and ignition on)?

5V x 1A = 5W is my guess. It's not mentioned anywhere but I've tried it a couple of times and the charging time seems very similar to an old Intex power bank that I have with the same rating. You can charge the phone with engine off and ignition on although I'm not sure about its effect on the battery.

Also one problem which came to my mind was the phone would be lying around in the storage box while getting charged, if you are riding and roads are bad, the phone will dance around quite a bit (take care of any phone heating issue in case you want to put a padding below to keep things tight)

I definitely wouldn't recommend keeping the phone in the storage box while riding. If charging is absolutely necessary, one may get a USB cable long enough that it'll reach the handlebars and have the phone charged on a handlebar mount instead. However, this kind of setup can be best utilized during stops, as rightly suggested by antihero in his thread.

White looks lovely, congrats Do keep sharing your experiences.

Thanks, I surely will.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Check that the carburettor coupling rubber is mounted in such a way that there are no leaks between the carburettor and the engine and also between the carburettor and the air filter or air box. Air leaks between the engine and carburettor usually cause unsteady idling and difficult starting.

The above results in the state of tune running Lean.

Which translates to the motorcycle being hard to start BUT, once warmed up the idle would start to float not drop as seen in the video.

You could confirm the same by blipping the throttle once adequately warm, if its an Air Leak then the tacho would hang for a bit instead of dropping like a log.

The means of identifying a leak is to raise idle and spray WD40 on the intake route, if the RPM shoots up then that is where you have a leak!

Cheers,
A.P.

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Now we have 3 remaining suspects.

1. Choke Plunger
2. Float and Pin
3. AFR Screw

I will brief a bit. During winters, the bike was running normal and rpm were always in range 1000-1500. However bike would suddenly shut down randomly upon slowing down and downshifting, once the clutch was depressed. I explained this to mechanic during regular service and he fiddled with the RPM adjustment screw. It seemed fine at that moment but once the bike had run a bit, it used to idle around 1800-2000. One day, bike was parked on a downward slope and as I turned away for a moment, side stand gave away. There was no visible damage to the bike though. After a week, during a cold start choke didn't reset to normal position and took a few tries to get back. RPM were shooting up like crazy at one moment and at next moment it would die down. Took it back to service center. The mechanic disconnected the choke entirely now and choke switch doesn't pull out as much as it used to before.

So, I guess it is a combination of first two factors which you have mentioned above, bike suffered a fall and choke not resetting properly. I am visiting service center tomorrow for ABS issue, will discuss this too. Thanks for explaining.

[ast.ggn]

Visited the Service Center on ABS and RPM issue:

Complaint on Twitter works and it works like magic.
Entire dealership service staff was lined up to attend the bike. RPM issue was diagnosed to a faulty choke cable. There is a locking mechanism on the cable which ensures that choke returns to it's original position once released. It was broken. During my last visit, mechanic tried to cut corners and disconnected it. Now, even they didn't have the part in stock, they promptly replaced it from some other similar spec part.

They even ordered a replacement fuel tank for seat latch problem, which I had reported in my opening post.

On ABS issue, I explained the problem to service center head. He listened to it and dialled a call to Hero Territory manager who was assigned for the complaint. I explained the problem to Hero gentleman (let's call him Mr. X, I don't want to reveal name here), my conversation with him went as below:

Me: The brake lever gets very hard rendering the brake ineffective once the bike goes over a pothole.
Mr. X : This is how it is meant to work. Once the lever gets hard, you should keep applying the force and it gets ok within 2-3 second. Brake will work finally.
Me: Sir are you aware what you are saying. 2-3 second is more than enough for anyone to crash in a leading vehicle.
Mr. X : you should use both brakes for that.
Me: I use both brakes but majority of braking is through front brake only. Rear is almost as good as nothing.
Mr. X: Sir you please take test ride of our demo vehicle, it is the way the thing works.
Me: (sorry but I lost my patience now) I have two other bikes, both of them are equipped with ABS and none of them has this problem. What am I supposed to do with demo vehicle? Stop trying to fool customers, instead dial a call to your R&D who can work on customer feedback.
Mr. X: which bikes you have?

I gave up on him after this and handed over the phone back to service center head. Service center head tried to calm me down and requested me for some more time for discussion with Hero. I will wait for his revert now and will decide further action.

Apart from this, all the bikes are equipped with MiniMAB unit (Made in China) and the news of old ATE unit is wrong, as reported on other thread. I checked 3 bikes including mine and all of them are with MiniMAB unit.

[drt_rdr]

Great thread! Yet another treat to follow.

Looking forward to your views on the rally kit when you fit it on.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

Great thread! Yet another treat to follow.

Looking forward to your views on the rally kit when you fit it on.

When is the rally kit gonna be available?

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by ast.ggn

Visited the Service Center on ABS and RPM issue:

...

This adds strength to my suspicion that Hero, as well as other manufacturers that have limited technical capability, are simply buying the ABS module as well as fuel injection kits from vendors without understanding the products and technologies. This means that customers are left in the lurch when the technicians and engineers are incapable of diagnosis when there is a problem.

As an engineer myself who is sometimes required to support customers at their factories, I know that a lot of creative and logical thinking is required to solve problems when the standard troubleshooting list is exhausted. This requires a good understanding of the technology of the products. I don't see that level of knowledge or thinking at most service centres.

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

When is the rally kit gonna be available?

It should be available in April as per dealership.