Hero Motocorp officials have confirmed that they are building their largest capacity two-wheeler ever, which could be a Hero 300-cc-plus adventure motorcycle.
This is the news that we’ve been waiting for since Hero threw their hat in the ring to compete in the gruelling Dakar. After a few experience-rich seasons, it looks like the manufacturer is ready to use its learnings from the Dakar to build a larger capacity production motorcycle.
During our recent trip to Hero Motocorp’s Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT), Jaipur for the Hero World 2020 event, the company gave a teaser of a new motorcycle prototype in its skeletal form. From the looks of it, this could be a larger version of the Hero Xpulse. According to the company, the new Hero bike will draw heavily from the Hero 450 Rally Dakar machine and is expected to be powered from a 300-cc-plus engine.
The Hero 300-cc-plus adventure motorcycle on display at Jaipur sported a steel trellis frame, with a separate subframe, which is a first for a Hero Motocorp product. The prototype has a beefy up-side-down front fork and a rear mono-shock. As expected, there’s generous suspension travel and ground clearance to take on challenging road surfaces.
To make it an accomplished on-off-road machine, the Hero 300-cc-plus adventure motorcycle will be equipped with spoked wheels with knobby-type tyres. The new Hero concept bike comes equipped with Bybre brakes – radially mounted callipers up front and a single-piston unit at the rear. In all probability, it will come with switchable ABS when it gets launched.
Earlier, Hero Motocorp showcased the Hero HX250R concept at Auto Expo 2014 which was a joint effort between Hero MotoCorp and EBR (Eric Buell Racing) of the United States. An ambitious project which was shelved in 2017. Since then Hero Motocorp have invested heavily in their research and development, including setting up of the state-of-the-art CIT in Jaipur and a global R&D centre in Germany.
The Hero 300-cc-plus adventure motorcycle is expected to be unveiled in 2021 and could be offered in two versions – a more affordable road-biased version and a fully-kitted ‘Pro’ version. Considering the success of the Hero Xpulse 200 in the Indian market and the brand’s experience in the Dakar, this project of a larger and more powerful off-roader is something worth watching out for.
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