Do you remember the Impulse, a dual-sport motorcycle that worked both on normal roads and on rough roads, from Hero Motocorp, which was available for sale in the Indian market between 2011 and 2014?
Recently, they have patented a motorcycle design in India; the image of the same floating on the web suggests it to be a dual-sport motorcycle like the Impulse because it has a slim body, tall stance, raised front mudguard, high-mounted exhaust, and long-travel-looking suspension.
Because its design resembles the discontinued Impulse, we are expecting that they may reintroduce the Impulse nameplate in India.
Maybe exported overseas
Analysing the patent image, we find that it has a fuel tap, a choke knob, and a carburettor, which suggests that they may be working on a double-sport motorcycle for the international market. The reason behind it may be the carburettor, which has already been phased out for Indian two-wheelers due to emissions standards.
All the bikes or motorcycles that are being introduced in the Indian market have fuel injection systems, which deliver a highly precise mix of fuel and air directly to the engine’s combustion chamber.
Domestic launch is also likely
It is also notable that the patent image shows two features that are often introduced for Indian motorcycles: they are the front number-plate holder and saree guard. These two features indicate that they may introduce it in India too, but replacing the carburettor with a fuel injection system ensures emission standard compliance.
Design details
The patented image shows a multiple-spoke wheel with disc brakes, upside-down forks with long suspension travel, a sharp, higher-mounted fender, cowl-integrated headlights, a front fairing-mounted biker, a handlebar-mounted look, a number plate holder just above the headlights, and a large fuel tank with shrouds on the sides.
Other details that we get through the image about its exterior are a single-piece seat, kickstarter around the driver’s foldable footpeg, monoshock, higher-mounted exhaust pipe, grab rails behind the seat for mounting luggage and a secure handhold, taillamps just below the grab rail, a rear-fender-mounted side blinker, and a number plate holder.
What else do we know?
Besides the patent image, no other details regarding it are available in the public domain. One thing through the patent is already confirmed: that it is going to get an internal combustion engine with air collision. It’s tough to say anything about its capacity, but seeing the size of the bike, we are anticipating it to be somewhere between 150cc and 200cc.
If its India launch happens, the model may be positioned below the XPulse 200 4V. The XPulse lineup, which started after discontinuing the Impulse, has a total of two models, which are XPulse 200 4V and XPulse 210, and the new XPulse 421 will soon make its debut in the Indian market.
About the discontinued Hero Impulse
Hero MotorCorp launched the Impulse back in October 2011, which was powered by a 149.2cc single-cylinder Air-cooled internal combustion engine with a five-speed manual transmission delivering the power of 13.2 PS at 7,500 rpm and torque of 13.4 Nm at 5,000 rpm.
The motorcycle has a length, width, and height of 2,110 mm, 790 mm, and 1,160 mm, respectively, with a wheelbase of 1,360 mm, ground clearance of 245 mm, fuel tank capacity of 11 litres, and kerb weight of 134 kg. It was equipped with 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels with 240mm disc and drum brakes, respectively.