Best bike for off road and daily use in India, Royal Enfield Himalayan or Hero X Pulse?
Who doesn’t love to ride a motor bike and travel long distances?
Some of us are hard core riders in our blood and we just love getting up wearing those gears and ignite our engines to just disappear from our life issues or just for fun, it’s a great escape for some of us from worries and tensions that life brings to us.
Travelling to new places can change our perspectives of life and can make our tensions vanish, that is why most people now look for best bikes that are comfortable for long rides.
A long ride, may not be comfortable on your hero honda splendor or bajaj chetak because a long ride may take us to unknown territories and places where we are strangers and where roads may not be the same as we used to in our home land, so we need a machine that is different from the regular ones which packs some power and good suspension plus off road riding capabilities.
In india, by the time of writing this content, we have 2 special bikes that are capable for long rides and off roading, yes the Royal Enfield Himalayan and Hero Motocorp X pulse
Both bikes pack their own advantages and disadvantages and today let’s discuss which one you should choose.
Royal Enfield Himalayan
- Power – 24.3 bhp
- 411 CC
- BS6 Engine
- ABS Dual, Switchable
- Halogen Headlight
- Torque 32 Nm.
- Mileage – around 36 Kmpl
- Price around 2,20,000
The himalayan, is a powerful bike specially designed for long riders in mind which has currently a 411 cc BS6 Engine that is capable of producing 24.3 bhp power and a torque of 32 Nm. The engine is powerful enough to take you anywhere with its power and it has dedicated consoles for trip meter, fuel and others.
But it lacks some features that could have been useful in the long ride, such as A Kickstarter, LED Headlights, tubeless tires etc.
A Kickstarter would be useful if your battery dies in the middle of your journey and LED light would provide higher brightness and efficient energy use.
The himalayan also costs significantly higher than xpulse, about 50% more than xpulse.
And if you would finance, it would cost around 3 lakhs and higher, mileage is also lower and maintenance cost can be Higher.
While xpulse can provide a mileage around 49kmpl, himalayan provide only around 36Kmpl.
In youtube reviews, i have seen some guys mention a mileage of only 26KMpl, this is very low and matters in the long rides, unless you are a rich kid.
Personally, i love the look of himalayan, it looks big and powerful, but the cost makes me think twice.
Himalayan Maintenance, service and parts cost can be higher than xpulse. But i do not say this to discourage you, himalayan is a powerful bike, if your budget allows to use it.
Hero X Pulse
- Power – 17.8 bhp @ 8500 RPM
- 199.6 CC
- BS6 Engine
- ABS single channel
- 16.45 Nm. Torque
- LED headlight
- Mileage – 49 KMpl
- Price – around 1,20,000
The hero Xpulse seems to be affordable to people who are on a budget, but it has lower CC than himalayan and also power is around 17 bhp, which is low than himalayan.
It has a Kickstarter and LED lighting that are useful in the long run, maintenance and servicing costs are lower and affordable.
Users who reviewed the xpulse mentioned that the bike is nice and has enough power for its price.
200CC isn’t bad, It’s just that they wish it had a little more power.
But the less power compared to the himalayan pays back in the fuel economy, you get more kilometres for the fuel
The Kickstarter and LED lighting can be proven very useful.
Kick starting can get you back on the track if you ever lose your battery or face electrical issues in the middle of a long journey
LED light uses less current and is Power efficient than the old halogen lights, thus it will not overload your batteries
Conclusion
Both bikes have their own advantage and disadvantages.
If you are on a budget, and wants save money in the long run, you should go for xpulse.
If budget isn’t an issue for you, and wants a powerful machine, but forgiving its limitations, go for himalayan.
So which one you want?, Let us know in the comments!
Also please share your experiences about the bikes if you own them, that will help other admirers of these bikes
