The adventure segment of motorcycling is picking up pace like its nobody’s business and reasons like practicality, ground clearance, and comfort help it garner more attention
In this article, we look at 3 adventure motorcycles that will be launching soon and some details that will help you consider them or remove them from your hotlist.
1. Hero Xpulse 210
The biggest change the Xpulse will receive is the bigger 210cc engine compared to the 199cc unit in the current model. The new 210cc engine is already serving duty on the Karizma XMR and is a liquid-cooled unit which produces 25.15 bhp of power and 20.4 Nm of torque and mated to a 6-speed gearbox. We expect that Hero will change the tuning of the engine characteristics to provide the adventure-oriented motorcycle with a punchier low-end torque delivery.
Other features include a 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear spoke wheel, long travel suspension, subtle cosmetic tweaks to differentiate it from the previous model, maybe new colours, and digital speedo with navigation assist. The current model is priced at Rs 1.46 lakh (ex-showroom) and the new Xpulse 210 will be more expensive for sure but by how much is something we will have to wait until launch.
2. 2024 KTM Adventure 390
In recent times there have been hundreds of spy shots of the new KTM Adventure 390 running around the internet while it was being tested in India and Europe. The upcoming adventure motorcycle now looks sleeker and meaner than the current version. From the pictures, we can see that it gets a taller windscreen, sleeker, sharper fuel tank extensions, high-rise front fender, dual vertically stacked projector headlamps, and the instrument console seems to be placed higher.
The biggest highlight is the engine which is borrowed from the recently launched new Duke 390 and it is a single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that puts out 47 bhp of power and 39 Nm of torque. Hopefully, this time at least KTM will tune the engine a little to suit the character of an ADV and provide more low-end grunt that is usually missing on KTMs. Other mechanical bits include an offset monoshock at the rear, a split-trellis frame but with a different sub-frame at the rear which looks sleeker than the one on the Duke.
It looks like it will get a different swingarm, a single-piece contoured seat, more suspension travel at the front, which is also adjustable, 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels. When launched, the price is speculated to be around Rs 3.80 lakh (ex-showroom).
3. Honda Adventure bike
That’s right Honda is developing an adventure bike that will be built ground up here in India and will be sold in India as well as other Asian countries. A few weeks back, there were leaks of a design patent that Honda had applied for and with this Honda will foray into the entry-level adventure motorcycle segment in the market.
The leaked picture is interestingly similar to the Royal Enfield Himalayan as it features a tall windscreen, high-rise front fender, fuel tank extensions and a metal frame surrounding the headlamp and fuel tank, a low seat height, telescopic front forks, dual rear shock absorbers, and spoked wheels. It is rumoured to get the CB350’s 348.36cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that churns out 21 bhp of power and 29 Nm of torque, paired with a 5-speed gearbox. We expect the engine tuning to be slightly modified to suit the character of an ADV motorcycle and it may gain one more gear that would help it in touring as well.