Upcoming Hero Xpulse 421 Spotted Testing in India

The upcoming Hero Xpulse 421 has been spotted testing after a long time. This test mule is seen parked at what looks like one of the high mountain passes in Ladakh, undergoing cold-weather runs.

Wrapped in camouflage to hide the body style and colours, what is immediately evident is that this is a purpose-built bike. Its on-off-road intent is evident in the high-mounted LED headlight that sits in a fairing with some cuts and creases.

The tank and the seat are also shaped in a way that allows purchase for the rider’s knees and ankles to hold on to the bike while standing on the pegs and riding off-road. In comparison to the front end, the side and rail sections are slimmer and in keeping with the application of the Xpulse.

Under the fairing, there appears to be a steel trellis frame, suspended by a long travel USD fork and a monoshock. While the images are not very clear, we can expect the suspension to offer some amount of adjustability, perhaps compression and rebound at the front and preload at the rear.

The wheel sizes appear to be a 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear, shod with dual-purpose tyres. These tyres may be tube-type, or Hero may have also gone the KTM 390 Adventure S way by offering tubeless tyres. Braking will be taken care of by a disc brake at the front with radially mounted callipers and a single disc at the rear.

Coming to the heart of the matter, one can spot the new liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine. Power and torque figures are under wraps, but expect these figures to sit in the range between what the Royal Enfield Himalayan or the KTM 390 Adventure’s engine produces. This engine will be paired with a six-speed gearbox, and it looks like it will have a quickshifter as well.

As we can see from the spy shots, the bike features a digital console, likely to be a TFT unit with smartphone connectivity for features such as call/SMS alerts. In terms of riding aids, we expect Hero to throw a long list of features that include ride modes, cruise control, traction control, and switchable ABS.

With the test mule being spotted, we could hope to see the Hero Xpulse 421 appear at the 2026 EICMA in Milan, Italy, in the month of November. That will make it one of the biggest reveals at the motor show.

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