Hero Xtreme Sports review, test ride

The tank has angular scoops on either side, which protrude forward till the headlamp cluster when viewed from the side. These make it look yet even leaner than the previous generation, when it still carried the CBZ brand, despite its slightly larger dimensions over the Xtreme. The large, sculpted tank leads to a split seat. The padding on the seats looks thin, and appears to be uncomfortable, but surprisingly our ride confirmed that they were not. The tail section is well designed, with a meaty, ergonomic split grab-rail for the pillion. We rode the motorcycle in Pune, and couldn’t find reason to complain about this.

The engine on the Hero Xtreme Sports remains unchanged. It still uses the 149.2cc, air-cooled, four-stroke engine that mills out a maximum power of 15.6bhp at 8,500rpm, and a maximum of 1.4kgm twisting force at 7,000rpm, slightly more than the other model. Power and torque delivery feels smooth, but there is a noticeable surge once the engine gets spinning at around 6,500rpm. Spin it harder than 8,500-9,000rpm, and the engine protests quite noisily, and harsh vibrations envelop the handlebars. Bridging the engine and the butter-smooth gearbox is a light clutch, which can be used in moderate to heavy traffic with no complaints. All we felt was a silent click, letting us know that the next gear was ready to spin into action.

The Hero Xtreme Sports might have dropped the CBZ badge, but it still retains the characteristic Hero Motocorp ride quality. We had asked the showroom guys to set it to the hardest, to optimise handling when riding through a large bit of the twisty sections in the ghats, and it proved to be a good decision. The front is quite soft, but not too soft to snatch away much of that confident air. The rear too, although set to the hardest, worked quite well to absorb what could have been nasty jolts.