The Impressive Hero Impulse- User Review By Mayank Sagar

I own a 2012 Hero Impulse and it is one of my favorite rides for the highway as the design and the frame of the bike is just superb and one can never be tired on long rides as the bike cruises excellently on highways without any disturbance or issue. Back in 2011 when Hero Honda separated its hand with the world’s famous motorbike company HONDA, soon after the break-up of the company new name came in front i.e. HERO-MotoCorp and launched it's one and only of its kind motorcycle in India- IMPULSE, the bike with on-off road capability on 9th of August, 2011 in London’s O2 Arena. Bike is highly inspired by the Brazilian HONDA'S NXR 150 BROS. So here is my owner review for the very Impressive Impulse.

Styling, Design and Looks At First look itself Impulse looks amazing and moreover different from all bikes present till date with its on-off road design which comes with off road capability tyres (thanks to CEAT Grip XL series), skinnier in appearance, the exhaust peeks out near the right end of the single-piece seat which is inspired from motocross. The tall 19-inch front and 17-inch rear spoked wheels, mounted front fender and led tail lamp with a carry-stand which can take load up to 7 Kgs Wow! and all this takes the bike miles apart from all other 150cc segment in India and yes it is a true eye catcher whether you are on street or on busy road or on a highway, everyone will be like "Ye Modified hai??" and make you feel a proud owner of Impulse and make you feel like a boss. When I myself got this bike back in 2012 everyone was like shocked and amazed to see this kind of bike in India.

Engine & Performance

Impulse engine is as same as CBZ X-TREME, HUNK, UNICORN, and DAZZLER but a little tuned for on-off road performance. The bike is powered by an Air Cooled, 4-Stroke Single Cylinder, OHC 149.2 cc motor that pumps out 13.8 bhp of power and 13.6 Nm of torque as it wear new cam, new balancer shaft and yes crab with special specs, which further helps in smooth and very calm performance both on street as well as highway and trust me you will feel better riding Impulse than any other 150cc siblings. Positive Impressions
1. Power to weight ratio - This machine is just 134 Kg which gives you a decent power in the segment and it helps rider to keep a good pace in traffic as well as on highways.

2. Torque - You can enjoy the torque at every point whether a low rev or on redline you can the enjoy thumps of this Indian offroader.

3. Handling - Handle bars are designed and positioned perfectly for you to handle it both on and off road, it is quite big as compared to other Indian 150cc bikes and helps one to handle the bike in every terrain without any problem but yes one should not take any risk with the handling on the big heights.

4. Power - For 150cc bike you will feel you have more in it, though it’s not designed for speed above 100km. Within that limit you can see the power of this bike. Especially when you go from 0-60 you will find yourself ahead of other 150cc bikes. BINGO!!!!!

5. Suspension - SPEECHLESS, with those long front forks with a mono at rear gives an excellent ride quality whether the terrain is rough or soft, suspension takes it all without any issues.

6. Design - Mounted fender which looks perfect for an off-roader although creates issues during rain but who cares when you are riding an IMPULSE. Right side uplifted exhaust is excellently fitted and never disturbs the pillion rider, LED tail lamps looks good, tyres from CEAT also looks perfect.
But surprisingly this Indian on-off roader never made it to the market and was failure, as only bikes lover tried this experiment from Hero Motocorp and one can rarely spot the bike around the town. Its major drawback was the height of the bike and under powered engine but one can go for special mods for the same we will get back to you for the special mods which can be done for impulse and can make their owners happy.

My Wishlist

1- Rear Disk Brake
2- Bigger engine adding more horses (ZMA ENGINE IS THE BETTER OPTION IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MOD :P) A punctured tyre on Impulse can be your NIGHTMARE as bike has only side stand and can create issues on long ride if punctured as tyres are not tubeless. The height of the bike can also disturb you during your tour as you will feel that the bike is drinking water on heights and seems to be under powered and at this point of time you miss HERO'S KARIZMA Engine which could be a better option for the same. Make sure you make special changes in your bike if you are going towards High altitude area.

Overall, Hero Impulse is actually impressive and is a best deal one can get, if you need to look different on road as well as off-road.

GO PLAY THE ROAD!

By: Mayank Sagar
See full details of Hero MotoCorp Impulse »

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