Over two and a half years ago, at EICMA 2024, Hero MotoCorp showed a sketch of its largest road-legal adventurer yet in the form of the Xpulse 421. Since then, there has been little development on that front and so far the company’s Xpulse lineup is available in two guises - the air/oil-cooled 200 and the newer, liquid-cooled 210. However, what you are looking at in these spy images are the first and clearest spy shots of the Xpulse 421 and there’s a lot to dissect.
- Will use a brand-new, liquid-cooled engine displacing more than 400cc
- Has a big TFT display, new switchgear and cruise control
- Uses a brand-new chassis, off-road oriented hardware
Hero Xpulse 421 spy shots: What can be seen?
Like the current Xpulse 210, the bigger 421 also has more ADV-esque styling cues with a large front windscreen, comprehensive bodywork, big tank that swoops downwards towards the rider’s seat and a chunky upswept exhaust. The Xpulse 421 will use a brand-new liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine touted to displace 400cc or slightly above that mark. Output figures remain shrouded in mystery for now but going by similar options available in the market, expect output figures to be in the 40hp/40Nm ballpark.
Nestling Hero’s biggest liquid-cooled engine yet, we can see is a tubular trellis frame, constructed most likely of steel. A long-travel USD fork and monoshock are on suspension duties to suit the off-road intentions of the Xpulse 421. Similarly, we can observe that it also has large wire-spoke wheels with tubed tyres. The front appears large enough to be a 21-inch unit but we could perhaps be looking at a 17-inch rear, instead of the traditional 18-inch size used on off-road-oriented machines. Reason being, the rear tyre appears quite fat and the sidewall also appears to be pretty chunky. Visually too, the front wheel appears to be much larger than the rear, further solidifying these findings.
There are quite a few practical advantages to using a 17-inch rear wheel on an adventure bike like the Xpulse 421, like a lower seat height, better road manners and a wider tyre choice to choose from. If we look at off-road capable bikes around 400cc and above, most use a 17-inch rear wheel, with some noteworthy exceptions like the Honda CRF1100 Africa Twin and Yamaha Tenere 700, to name a few. The Xpulse 200 and 210 both use 18-inch rear rims and if the 421 uses a 17-incher, it will be the first Hero adventurer to do so.
While we are discussing the Xpulse 421’s chassis, the bike uses a rather sturdy and chunky swingarm, likely to cope with the rigors of off-road riding. Disc brakes at both ends are visible with the front caliper radially-mounted and switchable dual-channel ABS is likely to be part of the feature-set.
Speaking of features, we can observe that there’s a rather large TFT display on the Xpulse 421 and it is certainly larger than the 5-in/6-in units which have become the norm in this price bracket. Complementing the dash is new switchgear (particularly on the left hand cube) to control all its functions. Two buttons in particular, are of real interest. Firstly, on the LH cube, there’s a dedicated mode button (finished in red) which alludes to the fact that the Xpulse 421 will have different riding modes. Secondly, on the RH cube, there’s a cruise control toggle switch which means that Hero’s biggest ADV will come equipped with this feature too.
Last but not least, the Xpulse 421’s design is equal parts purposeful and appealing (at least to this author’s eyes) and considering that all of the chassis fixings and visual elements appear to be more or less in place, what we are looking at is an advanced-stage prototype, not an early-stages development unit. Considering all this, it could be that the production-ready Xpulse 421 will make its official debut at EICMA 2026 and it would also be a product that should find good appeal in other global markets.
However, that is not a certain indication of the Xpulse 421’s market launch timeline. Cast your minds back to EICMA 2023, when the Xoom 125 and Xoom 160 were first showcased and both were launched only in 2025 - with widespread availability of the 160 (and other Premia-exclusive products) still not sorted entirely. Whenever it does launch, expect Hero to price the Xpulse 421 around the Rs 2.70 lakh - Rs 2.90 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) ballpark.
Image source: Shifting Gears
Rishaad Mody
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
