Just recently there was a report that Hero would launch the HX250R in India in November 2014, that isn’t true as the company will only launch the bike in early 2015. The HX250R is an all new bike grounds-up and is Hero’s first product without any involvement of Honda. The launch is still sometime away as road testing of the bike is yet to commence. Hero will have to extensively test the HX250R and once the production version hits the road for testing, we will all spot it like it happened with the updated Karizmas.
Hero has already revealed the specifications of the HX250R and the production model is likely to be very close to those specs. The HX250R is powered by a 250cc, 4-valve, liquid-cooled engine which has an over-square layout. It produces 31 PS of peak power at 9000 RPM and 26 Nm of torque. The bike uses a trellis frame and weighs just 139 kgs. It is likely to get ABS as an option and the price is expected to be around Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Competition for the HX250R will come in the form of the upcoming Honda CBR300R and Bajaj Pulsar 200 SS.
The Hero HX250R gets an under-seat exhaust which is a first for an Indian bike. It runs on 110 section front and 140 section rear tyres. The bike has been designed by EBR and the American automaker has done the complete development too with inputs from Hero engineers. India’s largest 2-wheeler manufacturer is working on its R&D and is investing heavily in the same with a centre coming up in the near future. The automaker also showcased a middle-weight motorcycle called the Hastur, the bike being far from hitting the roads.
