At the 2014 Auto Expo, Hero had unveiled the HX250R — the brand’s first attempt to make a 250cc faired motorcycle. Now, a decade later, the Indian two-wheeler giant has introduced another quarter-litre supersport — the Karizma XMR 250.
Hero MotoCorp didn’t just plonk a bigger engine in the 210cc Karizma XMR, but instead reworked almost the entire motorcycle. The quarter-litre Karizma shares its headlight with the smaller bike, but the fairing is completely different and looks much beefier, too. And if you ever doubted its intentions, the winglets on the front fairing should clear the air.
Under the fancy clothing sits a new 250cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled DOHC engine that generates 29.5 bhp and 2.5 kgm. While Hero has not revealed any details about the gearbox, it is likely to be a 6-speed unit.
The Hero XMR 250 gets height-adjustable clip-ons that sit on USD forks. For the rear, Hero has deployed a monoshock to deal with our roads. For braking, Bybre calipers at both ends have been used and the bike runs on 17-inch wheels at both ends.
Though the company has not revealed any details of the instrument console, it appears to be the same 4.3-inch TFT unit from the XPulse 210. Hero has however said that the dual-channel ABS can be switched off for the rear wheel.
Hero had introduced the XMR 210 with an initial offer price of Rs 1.73 lakh (ex-showroom), and we expect this one to be priced just under Rs 2 lakh, at least for the first few months. The bike could be launched at the next Hero World 2025. Interestingly, even at that price it will be almost the same price as the Yamaha YZF-R15 M.
