Hero Karizma XMR 1,000km Touring Test Review

The Plan

I have ridden the new Karizma XMR extensively in city traffic. A daily commute of 130km has made me like that bike quite a bit. But the brand ‘Karizma’ has always been associated with long-distance touring. So, it was my duty to take this new Karizma on long and winding roads and that is exactly what I did. I rode to Goa from Mumbai and explored a new route, which is truly beautiful and also where a lot of riders could be seen scraping their pegs. I ended up taking the same route while returning

The Ride

I’m a big fan of covering long distances in a single day, and when there’s a bigger displacement motorcycle, things become much easier. I decided to use the same approach for this ride as I truly believed the new Karizma had the potential to churn out a great touring experience.

During the 1,200km journey, there were a lot of things that worked in Karizma’s favour and a few things that did not. The motorcycle offered a good amount of comfort, and that allowed me to ride continuously for hours. The overall seating triangle is pretty good, even though the bike falls in the ‘sports bike’ segment. I could easily filter through the early Pune traffic in no time as there wasn’t any pressure on the wrist. On the highway too, while cruising consistently at 100kmph, the spacing around the fuel tank for the knees and the moderately upright ergonomics made sure that my overall fatigue was minimal. The seat was well cushioned and I don’t remember adjusting myself in that 12-hour-long journey. However, the windscreen didn’t really help me. It could prove to be useful for someone who is on the shorter side. Also, the button to adjust the screen was really hard to work with. It got extremely hard and it could be due to its exposure to dust.

NH4 has a lot of diversions due to road widening work and thus, the quality of the road has deteriorated. This is where the Karizma proved to be a great companion. The ride quality is really good, and with the extra weight from the luggage, the motorcycle churned out a good experience. The overall setup is on the comfortable side as the rebound is slower and that resulted in a much more comfortable ride.

For touring, this Hero allows decent storage to mount the tail bag. While the pillion seat is quite narrow, a 50-litre Rynox tail bag could easily be installed. The bike also comes with two spaces on each side to insert the strap hooks. But I did see a bit of change in the paint as the straps kept rubbing off the panels during the long ride.

Now, let’s discuss the engine performance. This 210cc, liquid-cooled motor on the Karizma XMR is a new one. We have already discussed the city experience of this engine in our road test. So here, we’ll only talk about the highway performance. One aspect of the engine that I liked a lot is the refinement, especially at the higher revs. There was not a lot of buzz, contrary to my expectations. The overall NVH is controlled and when you combine these two aspects, the overall fatigue drops down drastically. While this engine could manage to cruise at 100kmph, it takes a lot of time to reach that mark. Then, the acceleration was a bit disappointing. The revs built up slowly and the engine doesn’t feel that it is in a hurry. This is quite bothersome, especially post overtaking when you have to build that riding momentum again. This spoils the average riding speed. I could sense some frustration among my friends who were on a much faster motorcycle. However, there was one plus side of such an engine tuning – fuel efficiency. I was getting around 35-40kmpl, considering the fact that I was revving to the max to get that required performance out.

In regards to braking, the front lever does require additional effort to stop the bike at high speeds, and over a period of time, the brake fade is clearly visible.

Verdict

After this touring encounter, one thing is clear – the new Hero Karizma XMR is definitely not for seasoned riders. This bike makes perfect sense for people who have been riding 125-150cc commuters for years and now want to upgrade to a bigger Hero. It has all the necessary ingredients to keep that segment happy, and they are in great numbers. But seasoned or experienced riders won’t enjoy taking this bike on a long tour.