Royal Enfield Himalayan vs Hero Xpulse: So which one do you need?

The on/off road market today is dominated by the Royal Enfield Himalayan and the Hero Xpulse. So what makes them different and which one should be the one for you. We try to answer the question.

Motorcycling is like ice-cream and needless to say that there are a multitude of flavours available. However there is one predominant thing about any ice-cream you choose; they are all rather cool! Similarly the predominant flavour in motorcycling these days is on/off road bikes. Right from the Hero Xpulse to the gigantic BMW 1250 GS, everything is available here in India. However the biggest contention here is the fact that most Indians work on a ‘budget’. Hence the two most viable choices include the entry level Hero Xpulse and the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Even so, the two bikes here are priced generously apart. But the big question is that whether you pay Rs 2 lakh for the Himalayan or should you save nearly Rs 85,000 and get the Xpulse instead. This is the question we plan to answer in this feature. The Hero Xpulse to begin with sports a design which mimics dirt bikes. It gets minimal bodywork and all the hardware to make it impeccable off the road. The front end is dominated by the large 21in spoke wheel which is linked to the chassis using 190mm telescopic suspension. Up above sits a top of the line LED headlight as well. The flyscreen is small and this means a lot of wind blast at high speeds. The Xpulse also gets knuckle guards as standard and the instrument panel is all digital. It offers a multitude of information and also offers Bluetooth connectivity and turn by turn navigation. The 13-litre fuel tank is designed to be simple and the seat flows in smoothly much like a dirt bike. The single seat also allows a lot of movement space which works wonders in its favour. The seat height though is slightly higher at 823mm. But the best bit is once astride, the bike sinks down thereby making it comfortable even for shorter riders. The rear section is also kept simple and there are very few things which can be damaged if the bike falls over. The rear comes with an 18in wheel and tyres are decently treaded to tackle dirt. The brakes on the Xpulse are all discs and the front comes with a petal type one as well. But ABS is single channel and not switchable.