Thats true. Payeng had already posted his similar views on this thread that this will become a second bike in garage but will never be the first or only bike one will have

Yes, the Impulse isn't practical to commute to say to office or to the market, especially with not so young ladies as pillion.

It will remain a niche bike. Therefore the 223 cc engine of the ZMA would have made the Impulse much more appealing though.

see the review by Autocar at youtube. its the best review so far

I agree

The host Kartikeya Singhee, pulls off his first ever wheelie and stoppie on the impulse in that video review.

Just checked in on this thread. First of all , kudos to hero for bringing the fun bike to India. Time will show the full extent to which this bike finds its buyers. Who knows if it goes on to become a dhoodhwala favourite bike.

I will buy this for its fun factor. Saree guard on such bikes has to be made of cheaper materials like plastic for eg. , I have seen a lot of comments in the thread beginning where people want to take them off.

Does anyone know what is the dry weight of the bike? BI has surprisingly said its 139 kgs :O

according to maximum autoshows the dryweight is approx 120kg

Hero Impulse - Not for shorter riders...

Hi all,

Had a glimpse of the Hero Impulse in flesh today at a dealership in Hyderabad. The bike was not officially displayed as they are waiting for final approval and also training of sales and service folks with regards to this bike are to be completed. As this was on display during the India-Eng match, I was shown the bike by the manager whom I have been bugging him to see a bike in flesh. After a visual test, this is what I felt

1. Great looks in the 150cc segment. I ride a FZ and this is different and should definitely be a head turner when it hits the roads. Very different when seen in flesh than seeing in photographs on the net. I personally liked it.

2. Might not be the bike for short riders. I am about 5' 10" and it was just perfect for me when sitting on the saddle and my foot could comfortably rest on the floor. Was just perfect for me. So I doubt how it will suit shorter riders. Even when I was getting off the bike, I had to lift my leg a bit high consciously ti avoid hitting the rear tail.

3. Found the saddle quite comfortable and the view of the tank is quite different as the saddle goes up to the middle of the tank. Check one of the pics in the Impulse library.

4. The instrument cluster is decent but not great. The switches and plastics used are decent.

5. The seating position is very upright and seems straight. I do not think it needs the rider to lean forward a bit like how I do on my FZ. This should not cause any wrist pains.

6. Some joints are not welded with perfection. The finish near those welds are not great. But I noticed this in the CBR 250R as well. So I do not think it is a big deal. The same with many other bikes.

7. The exhaust comes out from the side of the engine. Might rub your lower thigh but there is some protection and you also find the kick lever coming between.

8. No center stand on this one.

9. Dry / kerb weight is 136 kgs and the bike felt a bit heavy as good as my FZ. Not sure if this is a extremely light bike. But because of the linear thin build, it might be easy to flick in traffic.

10. The tyre threading is absolutely brilliant. Should be great for both off and on roading.

12. The protection on the exhaust is thick fiber. I dont think this will heat up and cause some uncomfortness to the pillion rider. Loved the design and does not project out much.

13. The pillion grab rails are quite thick and big unlike many other bikes. This makes the think bike look a bit wider at the rear. I am not sure why they made it this way. But looks good though and very sturdy.

14. The sari guard does not look that bad. Can be removed after registration for enhance the looks.

15. Hero should provide a engine guard as you might end up cleaning the engine area everyday as there is no proper mud guard protection for the front tyre.

16. If you dress formal, this might not be the bike to ride to office.

17. The knuckle guards look good but the quality felt a bit cheap and very flimsy.

18. In flesh the black front mud guard looks good but a body colored one might make it even better.

19. Paint job is good but I am not sure if the red and orange were metallic. I could be wrong though. Blue and Green were not there to check out. I think both will look great.

20. As per the manager there the engine is more refined than the CBZ Extreme and the on road price in Hyd would be 79000.

Overall I think HERO MotorCorp has given the Indian bikers something different than the usual stuff and hats off to them to have taken this route. This could sell well with the younger and adventurous riders who like to have some fun. And with majority of the roads in Hyderabad an off roading experience, this could sell well here.

My verdict - A good looking and different bike that could carve a niche market for its own. How they market it now is key. Need a change from the usual, this is the one to go for. Hoping to test ride very soon. Bookings are yet to commence in Hyderabad.

Some pics are here Hero Impulse | Facebook

Ride Safe...
Siva A N

My friend today took delivery of India's first Hero Impulse. Here are my impressions on the bike.

The first time you see the bike u will be blown away by its looks. Its looks really beautiful in flesh. Pics dont do justice to this bike. It attracts crowd wherever it goes. We had a huge pile of people gathering around the bike in karol bagh when we took it to our mechanic to install HID. And yeah, this bike has full DC headlight.

Some Points to notice:

1.) Bike has a digital speedo with a analog tacho and a digital clock.
2.) Front brake cable is routed over the fairing.
3.) Reflectors on front forks
4.) Toe only shifter
5.) led tail light.
6.) Place to tie ur luggage on bike's tail.
7.) This bike is very very light.

Once u thumb the starter you know this is typical hero honda bike. She starts with a very smooth sound and idles smoothly. Gears were not that smooth as this bike had mere 8kms on the Odo. With time she will get better. Pick-up is what u expect from a 13.5Bhp bike. The real deal here is just how fun this bike is. It is very agile and she will do everything u ask her to do. Let me tell you, this bike is a pure wheelie machine.

I`ll upload pics later. Right now i am badly in need of some sleep .

Ask him to keep his keys in a safe place
Let us know about his/urs experience

nice points brother but your friend's bike isn't India's first Impulse..here in Delhi i know at least two Impulse which already got delivered before festive week of Diwali.

@riot: Nice!!....I'm also keeping a close watch on this thread.

Any idea about the sizes of sprockets used?

EDIT: Any information on real offroad skills?...will the bike handle the thrashing?

nice reviews !

btw riot says its v.v.light , sivan says its heavy ? :0

already in my wish list. and hope to have one in a couple of months.

@Niks...regarding how light / heavy the bike feels could be dependent on what bike the rider is currently riding now. I ride an FZ16 which has a kerb weight on 135 kgs. The impulse is almost the same in terms of weight may be 5 kgs lesser (overdrive has mentioned in their review in mag that the weight is 130kgs). Hence I felt the bike not to be light when I sat on it or was trying to move it. May be riding the same could prove to be a different experience in terms of weight.

@riot - which color did your friend pick up?

Ride Safe...
Siva A N