Hero has almost always stayed on its path. They have not tried to do anything offbeat apart from Impulse – the first and the most affordable on-off road motorcycle. After the older-gen Karizmas and CBZs, Impulse was the motorcycle which attracted enthusiast motorcyclists to Hero’s showrooms or whatever interest that remained.
However, this ‘interest’ did not convert to sales because of various reasons. Impulse never gained ground and was a weak seller all through its life span. Production of the motorcycle was suspended many months back and it was discontinued from the market. But Hero kept it alive on its website.
But now, it seems it is a formal end to the motorcycle as well as the brand! Hero has taken off Impulse from its website, once and for all (most probably)! It was on display in the list of motorcycles at least till last month but it is nowhere to be found now. In fact, the complete dedicated page has been taken down.
The last time we thought Hero will give it a shot in the arm was when they promised “global launch” of a new motorcycle at the culmination of Dakar 2017 in January. The stage was set only to be ruined by Hero as they unveiled the new 125cc Glamour, instead. Only Hero can introduce a bare basic commuter at the backdrop of something as grand as the world’s toughest off-road rally – Dakar!
200 cc Impulse? – Future
I do not think there is any future of Impulse – the brand, or in fact if Hero will consider venturing into the adventure (or adventure tourer) motorcycle segment in the near future.
They have already made this 150 cc engine (which originally belongs to Honda) BS4 compliant on the new Achiever so emission compliance is not the issue but they are simply not interested and confident in the brand or this niche. Which also leads us to believe that there may not be any bigger capacity Impulse in the making… Bye bye Impulse… we will miss you…. 🙁
You can read the following old ownership reviews of Impulse in remembrance at BikeAdvice..
- Ownership Review: Cletus Talks About his 6500 kms Tryst With Hero Impulse
- Hero Impulse First Ride Experience by Vikas
And finally, an IIM student has shared an analysis on why Hero is in Danger and may get lost...
