Double Decker Dual-Sport

Is the Hero Xpulse 200 4V the dual-sport motorcycle that India always needed? Does the 4V Pro variant make sense for the extra money? We took it out for a spin to answer these pressing questions

- Abhinav Jakhar

India is a two-wheeler market, through and through. Whether it's commuters, scooters or even electrics, two wheels are where it's at in our country. As far as cars are concerned, the whole market has made a monumental shift towards SUVs, given the state of our road infrastructure. In my mind, and I'm sure the mind of many others, the obvious marriage of the two has to be a motorcycle and SUV. In theory, that should be a match made in heaven for Indian roads. Over the past few years, the ADV market in India has also seen quite a leap, but there aren't really any affordable adventure bikes that can handle some weekend trips in and around one's place of residence. Thankfully, there is one brand that believes in the appeal of an affordable, rugged and barebones ADV. Hero MotoCorp must be appreciated for the Xpulse as a product. It offers masses a chance to explore the wilderness without breaking the bank. Not too long ago, the Xpulse got a four-valve version and with it a 'rally kit' which basically allowed customers to jack-up the suspension and make this venerable ADV even more off-road ready. Hero then further updated the Xpulse 200 4V and now there's a standard variant along with a 'Pro' variant, which encompasses all the add-ons from the rally kit version and then some. But, does it really make sense over the standard version of the Xpulse? Before we get into choosing one over the other, it makes sense to run you through all the differences between the 4V and 4V Pro. First thing that comes to notice is just how much taller the Pro variant is, and it's not visual trickery either.

This variant comes with 270mm of ground clearance, compared to the 4V's 220mm, which is a lot to begin with in the first place. The seat height in the Pro sits at 891mm, which is significantly more than the 825mm on the 4V. In terms of dimensions, the 4V Pro is 2,255m long, which is 33mm longer than the 4V.