Wayfarer Unbound and Unwinding

One month since the North East India adventure on the new Hero XPulse 210, Wayfarer gets to talk about it to a crowd of customers in Mumbai for introducing this motorcycle to those aspiring to do more on two-wheels.

Hero MotoCorp is the exclusive distributor and service provider for Harley-Davidson in India.

Hey folks,

I was one of the lucky few who was selected by Hero MotoCorp to ride the XPulse 210 to Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam for their 2025 Unbound North East tour. These States border China or Burma or Bangladesh or sometimes two of these three nations at different locations.

We were all given white colored base variant of XPulse 210 and the most thrilling moment was of course Tawang and Sela Pass on black ice.

Since childhood I wanted to see what I heard and read about Kaziranga National Park. Finally I received my chance to tour this national monument in India on a motorcycle.

Lot of photos of course and then tons more from the Media Team hired by Hero for promoting Hero XClan , Hero XPulse 210 and the few lucky ones selected to be in promo with showbiz celebrity Rannvijay who is best known for his work on MTV Roadies (Hero MotoCorp sponsors MTV Roadies).

A very few of us had our safari timed luckily to spot the golden tiger of Kaziranga — this tiger does not have a single black stripe, hence the title of “golder” — he just majestically strolled and crossed the road behind us. Too many rhinos there–very easily found–spotted a mother and calf as well as two male rhinos fighting over a female.

This was the frst time i rode with a group as diverse as possible with riders from all over India. Otherwise i had been restricting myself with riders from Maharashtra, Goa and maybe Gujarat. All of us got along well and rode in formation.

Funny how I talk about these instead of Hero XPulse 210 –because you hardly notice the vehicle when it is providing you all the power and performance and features you need for such a diverse terrain and climate that we experienced in those Three States.

We were on good roads, bad roads, no roads, rocks, wet mud, rubble, etc — then also hot sun, rain, windy weather and snowfall too.

Once riding from Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh) to Tezpur (Assam) in a single day — which is not easy when there is a large group plus need to stop or go slow for Media Team to capture its targetted photos and videos — and experiencing four different weather situations in a single day. From Tawang– We rode the Heros from bright blue skies to snow, to hot sun, to wild winds, to heavy rainfall in pitch black mountain roads– we did that in a convoy in a single day’s ride with plenty of captured moments to showcase on Instagram.

I booked the XPulse 210 on 20-March-2025 as soon as the booking was announced (online booking). I was hoping to ride it a few days before the Unbound North East expedition to familiarize myself and prepare. I hoped to maybe snatch an edge on the other participants. We were all so competitive initially and then we really opened up and embraced each other’s priorities and conveniences and limitations.

I cancelled my XPulse 210 booking because

1. delivery was not happening before i left for North East (25-April to 5-May 2025)
2. I saw the beautiful powerful Hero Xtreme 250

So, while waiting to test ride the Xtreme, as an XClan member I attended an event organized in Mumbai by Hero for dealerships and customers. I ran into an opportunity to appreciate the XPulse and its possibliites and potential on Saturday 24-May-2025 marking one month since the adventure in the East.

Having traveled by road from Mumbai to Rajasthan (right up to Longewala border and Sam desert) in December 2024, thanks to The Musafirs motorcycle club, on my XPulse 200 (2V), I knew I could handle just about anything on varied Indian roads and wide-ranging riding conditions with an XPulse. It is PERFECT for city conditions and long-distance, road / highway / freeway and flyover access allowed. The XPulse handled the terrain. The cost effectiveness of parts, maintenance, repairs — and even gas mileage was impressive for its speed of 125 KMPH with full tank of petrol, heavy tail-bag and heavy tank-bag loaded on to it.

While I love XPulse 210 after utilitizing it thoroughly at North East, I don’t want to have two motorcycles, so if I choose XTreme 250 — i will neither have XPulse 210 nor the current XPulse 200.

Of course, there are more handsome and more powerful motorcycles out there on my wishlist, such as Aprilia RS 457 and Royal Enfield Interceptor BEAR 650 and Shotgun 650.

BUT I AM NOT A M****** MILLIONAIRE (as the song goes) or not yet, so one car and one motorcycle is all I am gonna enjoy for now.

I recommend the XPulse 210 highly to people wanting an all-round motorcycling exprience— and after 15 years of riding Enfield Bullets (350 cast iron engine, 500 uce engine and again a 350) — I am sticking to Hero MotoCorp for now (past I did have a 100cc cafe racer from Hero called Classic Pro Splendor— what a zip zap fun that was).

Hero and the tour management of Maxperience were awesome as well — they accepted us with our various skills, diversity, moods and changing needs and made us feel privileged — putting us up in 5-star hotels and twice at two different Vivanta by Taj hotels and the very best restaurants while riding between destinations of the day.

I was riding motorcycle numbered 5 on the convoy.

Emotional aspects of the tour included a visit to HQ of Assam Rifles — the oldest and most decorated Regiment of the Indian Army– and the visit to Tawang War Memorial. Those who have been there and understood it would empathize.

Hope people check out the two new rides XPulse 210 and Xtreme 250 — I wish I could have them both.

—Wayfarer
Associate Editor
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