[GreasyCarb55]

Never thought I'd have to make a post like this but here we are.



This is my pride and joy (or at least it was supposed to be), a 2024 XPulse 200 4V Pro that I took delivery of on 4th February 2024 from Automiles Hero Malad in Mumbai.

In a previous post I wrote about how taking an Activa 1G touring and riding a rented XPulse 200 2v made me fall in love with off roading as the latter was one of the only bikes that made my weight (just shy of 110kg) work.

When it was my time to buy a bike I was given a budget of 2L, so the only real choice was the XPulse so I immediately went and bought the Pro.

This bike has taught me so much about off roading and touring, over 7 months I've put 14,700km on this bike.

But in these 7 months this bike has had 3 major issues with knocking. The first time they replaced the entire crankshaft under warranty, the second time they replaced some balancer part. On Saturday I was coming back to Mumbai from the Igatpuri McDonalds on the highway the issue started again. If my math is correct I recorded a mileage of 24 for that stretch.......

I went to Automiles on Sunday to ask what can be done, a mechanic checked the bike and we also found white smoke coming from the exhaust, I was told by the manager that they'll fix it but if there's an issue with the piston or block I'll have to pay for it (why).

And for some reason the warranty repair invoices are now not showing up on the Hero app under Services.

I've crashed the bike a few times off road yes but no major damage, certainly not to the engine. It was serviced at Automiles Service most of the time, a brake pad change and the 12,000 km was done at SGS Hero in Goregaon as both times I was repeatedly told by Automiles staff that they had no space and i didn't want to wait.

No mods the engine either, the only "mods" I've done are ergonomic/utility mods (390 ADV Footpegs, MotoTorque handlebar and HJG Aux Lights)

I'm supposed to drop off the bike for service again this Wednesday to fix the knocking issue. I don't have a backup vehicle in Mumbai or even family but I don't know what else to do.

[b16h22]

Very unfortunate that you had to encounter these major troubles on your 4v. These engines seem to age badly from what I've seen. Have a few close friends who owned them. A close friend owned 2 2Vs in the past and each of them had terrible top end noise under 10k kms. The day I bought an almost new Rally pro for another friend, a guy came to ask me if they've fixed the engine noise on this one because he sold his own 2V because of really bad engine noise and other troubles. Hero really needs to move on from this motor. I hope the LC 210 engine they are testing is a much better package, reliability wise.

[camitesh]

Really sad to know about your struggle. Speaking from personal experience, I had a very enjoyable 11k kms of experience on my Xpulse 200 4v including a long ride to Spiti and back to Mumbai. Never had any major issues and the minor niggles were quickly addressed by same Hero SVC Automiles. I had to let go off my Xpulse last year when I got new Duke 390 V3 but I miss it dearly and have found myself scouting for a 200 4v Pro lately given my past experience. Your post is making me rethink though as it’s a hit or miss with Hero quality I understand.

Don’t get dissuaded by missing history in Hero app, it happened to me as well with Hero and now with KTM as well. I’m living with it since I have manual invoices for my backup.

Your bike is in warranty so I’d suggest be patient and escalate to Hero / Automiles to get this fixed. Sudhir, the SVC manager at Automiles is pretty patient although very busy with the workload. Establish a rapport with him to get a meaningful speedy resolution. Ask for Yogesh to work on your bike if possible since he’s one of the experienced one there and he did a good thorough check on my bike before and after my ride to Spiti. If everything fails, you can try other Trademark Hero in Chembur as a backup, who I hear are pretty good as well. Good luck on this.

[debsena]

Your experience is unfortunate, but you're not alone. I have a 2020 Xpulse 2V FI which has run only ~15,000 km. In that period, I've faced these issues:

- fuel pump replaced under warranty
- rear monoshock replaced under warranty
- Speedo cable, ABS sensor, engine kill switch replaced under warranty (after much debate with the service centre)
- clutch plate, battery replaced at my cost
- Parts like the footpegs are still not available, 6+ months after I ordered them
- Horn not working

The bike has been lovingly maintained, with all servicing work done at an official service centre. It has never been abused and has only been on one longish (~1,800 km) trip so far. A friend had a small accident with it, but the damage was largely cosmetic (to both bike and rider).

I'm coming from an old Pulsar 150 and a Pulsar AS200, so I'm used to niggling reliability issues. But the ones I've faced with the Xpulse are major.

[Somil07]

Clearly the old Hero "Honda" reliability is a thing of past. As such, engine component issues would be the last thing anybody would want in a new motorcycle and Hero needs to get it's act together if they want to survive in anything beyond commuter segment.

[GreasyCarb55]

Originally Posted by debsena

- Parts like the footpegs are still not available, 6+ months after I ordered them

I'd recommend getting 390 Adventure Footpegs and installing those, I've been using those for about a month now and they're superior to the stock pegs in every way and are a direct fit with the stock mount and bolts.

I paid 740 for a pair from KTM Andheri SVC here in Mumbai (although the rubbers are sold seperately at 70 a piece)

[SidharthaN]

My 2022 Xpulse 4v has had the knocking issue since 9k on the odo, currently at 20k. When shown to the service center they changed the balancer shaft as a solution ( they have been changing this part on every Xpulse to my knowledge which comes up with engine noise). That said the knocking issue persisted. I was told the piston had gone kaput and needs to be replaced.
I chose to ignore their advice and continue with the knocking issue at idle rpms. I did a Ladakh trip this May without any engine issues, except it sounded rough towards end of the 3k trip. On a different note I had 3 punctures, the bike had to be towed in a truck till Manali encountering severe external damages, which were not honoured in insurance claims. I resurrected the tank locally, and got a few parts changed without service center help.
On the warranty part even if your app does not show history, you are still eligible for engine parts replacement without any charges out of your pocket. Try escalating to higher Hero authorities if the dealer is showing tantrums.
Lastly don't be too disappointed with the Xpulse. It definitely has a problematic engine but learn to live with it. Matter of fact though the engine feels and sounds rough, it is actually quite dependable. Barring from a bit of lack of power in Ladakh region it performed well without any altitude, fuelling, etc issues. Even after a 12 hours bouncy truck ride through passes, and severe body damage the bike ran from Manali to Delhi non stop without any hiccups. It will still be the best value for money ADV in the market with an awesome suspension, and incredible offroad capability, better than the Himalayan and others in the market,
Also if you follow globetrotters they prefer these light weight dual sport ADV's for the multidimensional flexibility it offers. Honda and Kawasaki will soon be launching CRF and KLR dual sport products which are under testing at a much higher price point. You will find the same Xpulse being sold couple of lakhs cheaper.

Happy riding

[lonleyhelmet]

Originally Posted by debsena

- Horn not working

I face a similar issue on my 2024 Xpulse Pro 200 4v. Whenever the motorcycle gets wet in the rain overnight, the horn doesn't work the next day. Or rather it works, but you can only hear a faint beep which will get drowned out in light to moderate too light traffic.

Another issue is that if I'm stopped at a signal, and the light turns green, as soon as I throttle and switch to 1st, the motorcycle turns off with a noise from the engine (unsure how to describe the noise, it's like a rough version of if you'd hit the killswitch).

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

No mods the engine either, the only "mods" I've done are ergonomic/utility mods (390 ADV Footpegs, MotoTorque handlebar and HJG Aux Lights)

Technically they can void your warranty for any mod. Example if you install a tail tidy and your ECU fails they can void your warranty for mods (tail tidy) which clearly has no role to play in the failure (ECU). That's just the way warranty policies are worded.

Originally Posted by b16h22

I hope the LC 210 engine they are testing is a much better package, reliability wise.

That's the engine on the Karizma. I'm assuming that the LC engine is also a Honda derived unit like the current 200. Honda engines are designed well but Hero as well as Honda India lack quality.

Originally Posted by Somil07

Clearly the old Hero "Honda" reliability is a thing of past.

Honda India is plagued with the same issues as Hero. Somehow any product that is advertised as "Built for Indian conditions" or "Adapted/improved for Indian conditions" is a product of poor quality and extreme cost cutting.

Originally Posted by SidharthaN

Honda and Kawasaki will soon be launching CRF and KLR dual sport products which are under testing at a much higher price point. You will find the same Xpulse being sold couple of lakhs cheaper.

Kawasaki may price the KLR decently but it will be a bare bones product and they'll rip you off on service. Also their service network is not great.
Honda on the other hand will start off with ridiculous pricing and may even decide to sell the CRF only in the Big Wing stores.
Either way the X-Pulse will be the bike of choice for most people looking for a dual sport unless TVS wakes up from their deep slumber and releases the TVS Apache 200 based dirt bike they use in competition to the public.

[GreasyCarb55]

UPDATE

The gear balance had conked out again, same part that had a problem the second time around.

I decided to switch SVC's given my very poor experience with the Automiles Hero SVC.

I decided to go to SGS Hero SVC in Goregaon West, it's tucked in a little gully just off Link Road. The same place I'd gotten my brake pads replaced once and the same place that did my 12,000KM service because I was told the service bay "was full" for multiple days at Automiles Hero.

The team there is absolutely fantastic, I dropped the bike on 5th October (Saturday) in the evening. I was going back home to Bangalore for a week and thought it would be done by the time I was back next Sunday or at least a few days after that. The team at SGS called me back by Friday and said the bike was fully repaired. I flew in to Mumbai Sunday morning and collected the bike.

Total damage to the wallet was 1800 with the offending part being replaced for free. I was charged 1200 for Engine Oil, 105 for what is listed on the bill as a "Maintanence Kit" which I've been told is things like gaskets and 495 for labour and the rest as taxes.

The service manager (I'm really sorry I forgot his name as I'm writing this) even asked me to come in after the initial 1000km for a free check up to see if the bike was working properly after the repair (which it was).

The bike is currently sitting at 18,400km, if the issue doesn't show up in the next few thousand kilometers I'll consider this is a success. Regardless, I don't think I'm going back to my dealer's SVC anytime soon and sticking with SGS Hero instead which I highly recommend if you live in Malad/Goregaon and have a Hero Motorcycle, I wouldn't go to any other SVC except SGS Hero.

[Sensible_Speed]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

UPDATE

The gear balance had conked out again, same part that had a problem the second time around.

Hi can you elaborate on this issue? I had a problem with the gearbox on my Xpulse too. The motorcycle got stuck in 3rd gear once and the lever froze. When I opened it up to rebuild, I couldn't find any fault in it that would cause the seize. I replaced the clutch plates too as one of them looked prematurely worn out. But that couldn't have caused the problem. This engine has some serious issues. As always, I find the first gear to be too short, but can't start in second as the engine doesn't have the power. Low speed fueling is atrocious too!

[GreasyCarb55]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

The bike is currently sitting at 18,400km, if the issue doesn't show up in the next few thousand kilometers I'll consider this is a success.

21,400km UPDATE

Well I guess I spoke too soon. I did a Bangalore-Mumbai and back trip and the bike is currently sitting at just over 21,400km as I write this. The bike started making that horrid knocking noise again starting around 21,200km and a couple of hundred km later. It's shown it's ugly face once again. Now it genuinely sounds like a UCE Bullet 350 motor below 3500rpm with the sound fading as the engine goes past 4000rpm.

And to add to my misery IT HAS GEARBOX ISSUES NOW.

The bike often gets stuck in Neutral going down from second gear to first gear. At a stand still when I try to shift from Neutral to first it takes a few whacks before it shifts into first and it's even more horrible when moving. If the bike is moving, gets stuck in Neutral downshifting from second and I try to shift into first it makes a horrible and borderline torturous grinding sound.

The misery doesn't stop there, when I'm riding the bike the bike suddenly goes to neutral which has caused me to rev bomb in traffic and this is not a first to second gear problem exclusively. I've had cases where I'm riding in 3rd or 4th gear and the bike decides to randomly shift itself into neutral.

I'm officially done trying to fix this motorcycle. I love it sure, the suspension is absolutely beautiful but I can't do this forever. I'll be taking this issue up the Hero foodchain as much as I can. Any help is from Mumbai BHPian's in the Goregaon/Malad would be a boon.

[PistonCrown]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

21,400km UPDATE


The bike often gets stuck in Neutral going down from second gear to first gear. At a stand still when I try to shift from Neutral to first it takes a few whacks before it shifts into first and it's even more horrible when moving. If the bike is moving, gets stuck in Neutral downshifting from second and I try to shift into first it makes a horrible and borderline torturous grinding sound.

The misery doesn't stop there, when I'm riding the bike the bike suddenly goes to neutral which has caused me to rev bomb in traffic and this is not a first to second gear problem exclusively. I've had cases where I'm riding in 3rd or 4th gear and the bike decides to randomly shift itself into neutral.

The gear selector has a spring which when we shift gets it back after a selected point. I am assuming the spring is giving an issue.
One side cover will need to be opened and the gear selector rod spring be replaced .

For Royal enfield UCE and later its on right hand side lower side.So we open RHS cover for it.

I am not a mechanic and i have not opened any hero bike.
Just worked on my bikes.So gave input based on what I felt the issue may be.

Hope it helps.