Hero XPulse 210 vs Lander 250: Which One Makes More Sense?

The Hero XPulse 210 has been launched in India starting at a price of Rs 1,75,800 (ex-showroom). But now, it has a new competitor on the horizon, Yamaha’s Lander 250 dual sport. In this article we will be going over what each of the two has to offer and also answering the question, which one makes more sense?

Hero XPulse 210

The Hero XPulse 210 is the newest dual-sport bike from Hero MotoCorp. Compared to the XPulse 200 4V, it has undergone a lot of updates in terms of design, performance and features. The bike features a design and styling which makes it look like a rally-bike in many ways. 

It gets a large beak-like fender and a muscular tank which goes well with the overall slim profile. The bike manages to stand out quite a bit thanks to the styling and flashy colours. In terms of performance, the bike is powered by the 210cc, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine which offers 24.6PS and 20.07Nm. 

The bike gets a long travel suspension setup which comprises a telescopic fork and monoshock. The telescopic fork offers 210mm suspension travel at the rear, whereas the monoshock offers 205mm travel. The XPulse 210 rolls on a 21-inch front and 18-inch rear spoke wheel setup, with braking duties being taken care of by a 276mm front and 220mm rear petal disc setup.

Ground clearance comes to 220mm, which is similar to what the XPulse 200 4V offered. Weight wise, the bike comes to 170kg kerb (Rally Pro variant). In terms of features, the Rally Pro offers a TFT console with smartphone connectivity. It also offers switchable ABS, which will allow for controlled slides offroad.

Yamaha Lander 250

The Yamaha Lander 250 is a dual-sport offering which Yamaha has been selling in the Brazilian market for a while now. Now it looks like the manufacturer is planning on bringing it to India.

The Lander features a typical dual-sport look and styling. The headlight and tail light section are similar to the ones that were used on the now discontinued Yamaha FZ-25. The bike overall looks decent. It is nothing special, but feels like it’s ready to hit the trails.

Powering this dual-sport is a 249.5cc air-cooled, single-cylinder engine which outputs 20.7PS and 20.49Nm. 

In terms of underpinnings, the Yamaha Lander 250 features a long travel suspension setup. It comprises a telescopic fork and monoshock. The bike has a ground clearance of 275mm and a kerb weight of 143kg. This will make it quite capable off-road. That said, it still has quite a tall seat height coming in at 875mm. This will make it a bit harder to manage for shorter riders.

The bike has a simple looking LCD console, which offers essential readouts like speed, fuel level, time, odometer and trip meter readouts. It could be launched in India by the end of 2025, with an expected price that is around Rs 1.70 to Rs 1.80 lakh ex-showroom.

Which One Makes More Sense?

Both the motorcycles have a lot to offer on paper. But the Hero XPulse 210 would seem like the easier pick given the better performance and features. But the Lander 250 still has a few advantages of its own, such as the higher ground clearance and lower kerb weight.

The higher ground clearance will make it easier for the bike to handle off-road obstacles. The lower kerb weight will also make it easier to ride on the trails, and also a lot more forgiving. If you are someone who is just starting out on their offroad riding journey, there will be times when you will drop your bike. 

The lower kerb weight will make it easier to pick up in such cases. We really hope Yamaha does bring this bike to India. It will be the perfect dual sport for both beginners and advanced riders. The bike will offer a good platform on which beginners can learn how to ride offroad, and for advanced riders it will offer an capable offroader which they can push to the limit.

The Hero XPulse lags behind in this department, but will make for a really good touring bike thanks to the better performance it has to offer. This will allow the bike to travel at highway speeds without much stress. So if you want something which you can use to go touring on, with decent performance offroad, then the Hero XPulse makes more sense.