The pros: Robust looks, ‘wolf eye pilot lamp’ gives it aggressive looks, 150cc engine is quick and agile, good grip provides by the tyres, brakes gives good response.
The cons: Engine produces rough sound and vibrates between 3,500 to 6,000rpm. Shifting of gears is quite hard, bike feels a bit heavy.
The crux: If price is your concern and you are looking for powerful 150cc bike, then Xtreme sports fits the bill. Bike generates nice mileage of 55 kmpl.
Rating
There’s a lot of competition in the 150cc motorcycle segment and so far the Suzuki Gixxer is the only motorcycle that has actually been impressive. But Hero MotoCorp have been tiring hard away at their workshops to come up with a new motorcycle that can wow us. Hero had kicked off the 150cc motorcycle craze back in the 1990’s with the CBZ and over the years, the motorcycle has seen many updates. Now they’ve launched a beefier and more powerful motorcycle – The Xtreme Sports.
The tank shrouds fit well in with the tank and aren’t too big as some of its competitors. The side panels extend all the way up to the rear split grab handles. The pointed taillight looks a bit odd with its sad faced emoticon like resemblance. The underbelly cowl and the sharp design lines are the only parts that lend this motorcycle a sporty look. Now Hero claim that the Xtreme Sports has Street fighter looks and graphics but they’ve gone a little over the top with the design of the instrument console. I’ve seen funky instrument consoles before but this one takes the cake. The geometrical box shaped semi- digital instrument console has an analogue rev meter, an analogue fuel gauge but an electronic speedometer, Trip A and B and will also show you the time of day.
Now Hero have said that they’ve worked on the engine but the engine still sounds very rough. Slotting it into gear is no piece of cake either. The gear box feels hard and clunky and this is something Hero should surely look at fixing. Acceleration is mediocre till 6,000rpm but beyond that the power deliver is wonderful. Its taller gear ratios make it easy to ride long distances and once in the power band, the Xtreme makes you want to go faster.
Verdict: The Hero Xtreme Sports is priced competitively at Rs. 69,687 for the standard model and
Rs.72,787 for the double disc brake variant both ex-showroom Mumbai. When tested, it returned us a decent mileage of 55kmpl. There are many other competitors in this category but if you’re on a tight budget and you’re looking for a fast 150cc decent looking motorcycle then the Xtreme Sports fits the bill.
