A year and a half ago, at the EICMA 2024, Hero MotoCorp had unveiled a sketch of its biggest road-legal adventurer in the form of the XPulse 421. Since then, there have been very few developments on that front, and as of now, the company’s XPulse line-up is available in two forms: the air/oil-cooled 200 and the new, liquid-cooled 210. However, what you do do is in these spy images you can see the first and clearest spy shots of the XPulse 421, and there is a lot more to analyze.
- A brand new liquid-cooled engine with a capacity of more than 400cc will be used
- It has a larger TFT display, new switchgear and cruise control
- Gets an all-new chassis and off-road-oriented hardware
Hero Xpulse 421 spy shots: What can be seen?
Like the current XPulse 210, the larger 421 also has more ADV-esque styling cues, with a larger front windscreen, wider bodywork, a larger tank that slopes down towards the rider’s seat and a thick upswept exhaust. The XPulse 421 will use an all-new single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine with a capacity of 400 cc or slightly above. Output figures are still shrouded in mystery, but considering similar options available in the market, expect them to be in the 40hp/40Nm ballpark.
We can see that Hero’s largest liquid-cooled engine to date is housed within a tubular trellis frame, most likely made of steel. In line with the off-road intentions of the XPulse 421, a long-travel USD fork and monoshock are on suspension duties. Similarly, we can see that it has large wire-spoke wheels with tube tyres. The front appears to be large enough to be a 21-inch unit, but we could probably see a 17-inch rear instead of the traditional 18-inch size used on off-road-oriented machines. This is because the rear tire looks quite thick and the sidewall also looks quite thick. Visually too, the front wheel looks much larger than the rear, which supports our theory about the tire setup.
There are some practical advantages to using a 17-inch rear wheel on an adventure bike like the XPulse 421, such as a lower seat height, better road manners and a wider choice of tyres. If we look at off-road-capable bikes of 400 cc and above, most use 17-inch rear wheels, with a few notable exceptions, such as the Honda CRF1100 Africa Twin and the Yamaha Tenere 700.
While we are discussing the chassis of the XPulse 421, the bike uses a strong and heavy swingarm, which is capable of withstanding the rigors of off-road riding. Disc brakes are visible at both ends, the front caliper is radially mounted, and switchable dual-channel ABS is likely to be part of the feature set.
Talking about features, we can see a larger TFT display on the XPulse 421, and it’s definitely larger than the 5- or 6-inch units that have become the norm in this price bracket. New switchgear is specifically placed on the left-hand cube to control all functions of the dash. Two buttons in particular are of real interest. First of all, on the LH Cube, there is a dedicated mode button drawn in red, which points to the fact that the XPulse 421 will have different riding modes. Secondly, there is a cruise control toggle switch on the RH Cube, which means that even Hero’s largest ADV will be equipped with this feature.
Last but not least, the design of the Xpulse 421 is equally purposeful and attractive – at least in this writer’s eyes – and given that all the chassis fixings and visual elements appear to be more or less in place, what we’re looking at is an advanced stage prototype, not an early stage development unit. Keeping all this in mind, the production-ready XPulse 421 could make its official debut at EICMA 2026 and should appeal to buyers in other global markets as well.
However, this is not a definite indication of the market launch time frame of the XPulse 421. Turn your attention to EICMA 2023, when the Zoom 125 and Zoom 160 were first showcased, but with both slated to launch in 2025, wide availability of the 160 (and other Premia-exclusive products) is still not fully resolved. Whenever the XPulse 421 arrives, expect Hero to price it between Rs 2.70 lakh and Rs 2.90 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Image Source: Shifting Gears