It took Hero two years to productionize an already production-ready-looking motorcycle; Xtreme 200S launch date has been revealed by the company.
After the two stroke era which was led by Yamaha, it was Hero which gave us the taste of first blood in the form of CBZ and then Karizma – both of which can easily be termed as icons of performance motorcycling in India! However, the company could not capitalise on that and the scenario after 10-15 years tells us the complete story – Hero MotoCorp was the lowest seller in the 200 cc segment (when Karizmas were present) and is NOT doing well in the 150 cc segment as well.
A recknoner of how bad things have gone – before they discontinued many models, a lot of their products were vying for the top spot in lowest sales in 150 ccs.
Post the break-up with Honda, Hero (MotoCorp) gained a new name and inked collaborations with Eric Buell Racing and others. Their Auto Expo 2014 concept models like HX250R, Hastur, turbocharged diesel TNT etc blew everybody away but sadly things have so far failed to reach anywhere close to production.
The only officially confirmed close-to-production motorcycle in the 200 cc space is the Xtreme 200S which was unveiled at the 2016 Auto Expo. Closer to its introduction, Gaadiwaadi has shared what is claimed to be the leaked pic of the production motorcycle.
We can notice that it carries ‘Xtreme’ branding and almost all the panels of the concept motorcycle pictured on this page. The colour theme is now relatively muted and the alloy wheels are black-painted.
Xtreme 200S Launch
At the Auto Expo press conference, Hero officially announced that Xtreme 200S will be launched sometime ‘next year’ (ie in 2017). Company’s CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Marcus Braunsperger added “for sure before the next Auto Expo (which is in Feb 2018)“.
In a latest update, Hero has shared invites for an event scheduled on the 30th January which is touted to be nothing but the official launch of the Xtreme 200. Recently, they have also showcased a new adventure motorcycle XPulse which is expected to be based on the similar platform and Hero has already hinted at taking it to production.
Also Read: Hero Plans to Replicate Bajaj’s Decade Old Idea Now…
Xtreme 200S: Preview – 10 Quick Key Pointers
- Xtreme 200S, when launched, will become the flagship ‘Xtreme’ in the lineup (now that it gets clearer that ‘Xtreme’ name will be carried over). Hero has discontinued the 150 cc Xtreme but still sells the Xtreme Sports.
- It will be their biggest motorcycle in the lineup after they discontinued the Karizma twins.
- Xtreme 200S concept is powered by a 200 cc air-cooled, single cylinder, carburetted engine which churns out 18.6 PS of peak power and 17.2 Nm of maximum torque.
- This is an all-new indigenous engine developed by Hero and the third one they have unleashed till now for motorcycles. The other two are – the 110 cc engine of Splendor iSmart 110 and the now shelved HX250.
- When compared with Xtreme Sports, there is a marginal 3 odd bhp power increase but a near 5 Nm of torque increment.
- When we talk about performance, Hero claims a top speed of 120 kmph for the 200S as compared to 107 kmph of Xtreme Sports.
- However, when we take the segment as a whole, the Xtreme 200S fails to make a very solid impression, at least in terms of on-paper specs. Among 200 ccs, it churns out the lowest power output, least torque and has the lowest (claimed) top speed! You can check out out Top Speed Comparison of 200cc Motorcycles here.
- Transmission duties are administered by a 5 speed manual gearbox. Most of the other motorcycles in this segment sport 6-speed gearboxes.
- In terms of features it gets a rear mono-suspension, rear disc brake, diamond type chassis and LED lights.
- But the most important bit – Hero has officially announced that Xtreme 200S will come with ABS.
- The showcased motorcycle was a production-ready product at least from the looks of it. But it appears that the testing of the engine is left which is why Hero is taking so long to officially launch it here.
Followed by this pictorial view of Xtreme 200S is the 15 pic gallery of the motorcycle.
Xtreme 200S Preview – Pictorial:
Xtreme 200S Price Analysis:
Karizma range started from Rs 85,000 whereas the cheapest 200 cc motorcycle on sale is the Apache 200 Carb (Rs 93,205). The current Xtreme Sports (rear disc brake) has a tag of Rs 80,369. Based on these figures and the specs announced by Hero, we believe Xtreme 200S should start at around Rs 87,000- 88,000 for the non-ABS version. The ABS version can be placed at a premium of about Rs 10,000-15,000 (not clear if it is a single channel unit or a proper double-channel system) over this price.
This way Hero can project it as an evolved and more powerful Xtreme (commuter) rather than a competition against the 23 BHP Pulsars or even the very agile Apache.
Xtreme 200S Pics Gallery
[tribulant_slideshow gallery_id=”7″]
