Rally Kit - Hero XPulse

Abrar Bin Ayub
Jul 19, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Oct 10, 2020

The primary reason I purchased Hero Xpulse was that I knew about development of Rally kit long before the news broke out. To me a bike with 21 inch and 18 inch wheel combination along with bigger diameter front fork was a good platform to invest on. So, I waited for the rally kit for over 10 months and got it on the first day of sale here in Bangalore.

The Rally kit raises your seat height by 110 mm out of which ~50mm is from the higher seat and ~60mm is from suspension which means you can always ride with stock seat in city or all the time if you are some concerned with height of the setup. Because of the longer fork the wheelbase increases by 10mm to 1420mm which makes bike less agile in tight manoeuvres but more stable in straight line. The ride height also goes 50 mm higher to 275mm which is fantastic for offroad riding. The kit adds about 1.5kgs weight roughly excluding tyres which is not a big trade for what you are getting I believe. I would shed that by just running a lighter battery. The kit retails at Rs 38,000 today including taxes. The components in rally kit are as under.

1. Front fork

The kit comes with a longer front fork now that has total travel of 250 mm, 60 mm more than stock. The front forks also come with 28 step adjustable compression damping as well as rebound damping. The adjustment can be easily made by clickers on top of fork. The red colour knob on top of right leg is for rebound damping and the one on the top of left leg colour coded to white is for compression damping. The weight of these forks is 10.08 kgs which is about 830 gms more than stock 9.25 kgs forks.

2. Rear Shock

The rear shock is also longer to provide that extra suspension travel. New shock provides 220mm travel at rear wheel now which is 50 mm more than stock. The shock has a preload adjust like the stock one but now comes with 10 step adjustable rebound damping that can be done using a flat screwdriver. The spring rating is lesser as the travel is higher. The weight of this shock is 3.51 kgs which is 500 gms more compared to stock 3.01 kgs.

3. Seat

The seat is taller by ~50 mm now and is flat to make the movement on the bike easy while riding off road. The seat is made using firmer foam that retains the shape. The weight of seat is 1.81 kgs. I was not able to measure stock seat weight since I had already modified it.

4. Tires

The Maxxis off-road tires are mid-hard and meant for pure off-roading. The tires are ISI approved and come with Maxxis tubes. The sizes of tires are under

Front 90-90/21 weighed 4.69 kgs including tube

Rear 110-90/18 weighed 6.08 kgs including tube

Since I ride the bike on tarmac also so I am using Timsun dual sport tires and have kept these reserved for race days.

image courtesy - Hero Moto Corp.

5. Handlebar Risers

The aluminium risers are 40 mm high which needs some rerouting of cables to keep them free from interference. The weight of pair of risers is 180 gms. I am iterating with different bars to find right ergos on bike so this isn’t installed yet.

image courtesy - Hero Moto Corp.

6. Gear Lever.

The kit also comprises with extended gear lever for use with riding boots.

7. Side stand.

The extended side stand is part of the kit since with new suspension the bike will be standing taller. Simplest part but hero managed to mess up the length. The bike stands almost vertical and you need to lean bike forcefully every time you park it.

All the above parts can be purchased separately as well. As per my knowledge the kit is not road legal today, and the communication from hero around it also has not been clear. The presentation at the media launch event did mention ‘Competitive racing only- Not road legal’. The installation is undertaken by the dealership, but I choose to do it myself. It hardly took me an hour or so and was a very simple process.

I must say that i am very impressed with the performance offered by the kit at that price point.