What about the Upcoming 250cc Bike of Hero MotoCorp?

Hero MotoCorp, India's leading two-wheeler company, had recently put into news columns that the company was working on a 250cc engine by themselves. After parting with its erstwhile partner, Hero might have tensed at least for a while, thinking about the production of engines. Because, Honda was the only enngine provider of Hero. Now, it looks that Hero has taken a step ahead. Along with 100cc and 110cc engine, Hero is getting involved itself with a new 250cc engine. This biggest engine in the timeline of Hero will make it equipped in its upcoming 250cc class bike, which will be replacing the Karizma ZMR for the flagship position.



Bringing on a 250cc sports bike will mark a milestone for the Indian giant. At the same time its challenging too. Because, Hero has to compete against the world class machines built by world class brands. Yup! I'm talking about Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, Hyosung, and KTM, and their machines Ninja 300, CBR 250R, YZF-R250, GT250R, and the Duke 390.



Hero Engineers will have to work hard in order to bring on motorcycle riders' impression. First impression is the best impression. Appearance is the first stuff that matters a customer to fix which bike. Performance, features and other qualities are secondary only. Though the market is stunned by the sportiness of Ninja 300, a different design with interesting look will catch many riders who always wanna own newness. Hero can make their business in this lane.

Recently, Hero had bought 49.2% stake in Erick Buell Racing (EBR). The firm had a tie-up with the American company early onwards. That relationship resulted in a partian acquisition. Meanwhile, AVL (Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List), and Engines and Engineering are the other partners of Hero.



As EBR is an expert for designing and developing engines, it is expected that the company is assisting Hero in working out a perfect engine. However, Hero hasn't given any clue or confirmation about it. The company say that they are making the engines themselves. Sometimes, it will be Hero alone. Sometimes, it could be Hero with EBR (EBR is a part of Hero MotoCorp after stake acquisition). Meantime, Engines and Engineering, who are the best motorcycle designer in Europe might be sketching the design of the bike. Remember, Europeans are the best automotive designers in the world. So, we Indians can surely expect more than we can.

Coming to the engine and performance, the Ninja 300 is powered by a 296cc, Four-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC, parallel twin engine, that produces a max power of 39 PS @ 11000 rpm and a max torque of 27.0 Nm @ 10000 rpm. The Duke 390 is mated with a massive 372.3cc, Single-cylinder, 4-stroke, spark-ignition, liquid-cooled engine, delivering a peak power of 43.5 Ps @ 9000 Rpm and a peak torque of 35 Nm @ 7000 Rpm. At the same time, the Hyosung GT250R is capable to bring out thrilling performance with its 249cc, Air / Oil cooled DOHC 8-valve 75° V-twin engine. Last but not least the CBR 250R is coupled with a 249.6cc, Liquid cooled, 4 stroke, DOHC 4 Valve, SI engine. Generating a max power of 25 bhp @ 8500 rpm and a max torque of 22.9 Nm @ 7000 rpm, the bike proclaims itself as a good option in the 250cc sport bike class.

These numbers and names display that Hero has a long way to go to cut down the market of above mentioned bikes. If Hero could make it with the help of its partners, dear I tell you that would be great and world class. This may even beat the best in its class. Meanwhile, TVS-BMW venture is to start up with a 250cc sports bike, which will be a great headache for the New Delhi based firm.