RF FEB 2021 ONLINE

1984 seems to be one of the best years around, think about your
favourite 80’s song … go Google it’s year of first release … don’t
be surprised if it is 1984. So, here is a quick history of the HERO
Moto Corporation:
1984 - The company is founded by a visionary young man by
the name of Dr. Pawan Munjal
1985 - The first production facility starts producing the iconic
CD100 under licence from Honda
1987 - They achieve their first milestones with the 100 thou
sandth unit rolling off the production line
1994 - They introduce the world to the ‘Splendor’ model and
achieve their next milestone, their 1 millionth unit rolls off
the line … let that sink in for a bit … 1 million units in 10
years
1997 - They start opening new plants around India
2000 - They are now the biggest manufacturers of motorcycles
2004 - Their 10 millionth unit rolls off the production …
10 million units in 20 years!!!
2011 - By now they have opened 8 plants in total including a
tech R&D plant in Germany.
2015 - 2018 - They participate in the DAKAR Rallye and win
Rookie of the Year title with Oriol Men in 2018.
2021 - The 100 millionth unit rolls off the production line, 100
million units in 37 years, that is an average of around
7,400 units per day give or take and assuming they work
a full 365 day year, which they probably don’t, so bend
your mind around that!
A couple of years ago the HERO Moto Corporation struck out on
their own and is now the biggest motorcycle producer around. We
were chatting to Craig of Hero Motorcycles South Africa and he
mentioned having visited a Hero dealership in New Delhi.
He says the entire dealership was about the size of an average
double garage with a couple of bikes on the floor. Most notably
however was a lean to built around the dealership, which
reminded him of government department waiting area here in
S.A. with people shuffling along from chair to chair, waiting for
their turn to order and pay for their very own Hero motorcycle and
waiting for delivery thereof in around 2 months’ time.
EXCUSE ME, a queue around the building waiting for their turn to
order and pay for a bike and quite happy to wait two months for
delivery???
And that is just one small little dealership. To top it all as part of
a Licensing agreement, Hero MotoCorp will develop and sell a
range of premium motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson brand
name.
And now they are on their way to South Africa.
Yes, it might not be a big, exciting superbike, but it is a very
important bike, especially in emerging economies, to get bums in
saddles and the nation mobile. Craig invited us to ride the Hero
Eco 150 and the 100.
The 100.
The 100 has hardly changed since it first hit a production line in
1994, yet people still choose it from a shelf of alternatives. There
must be something to it.
It shares a motor with the Honda Super Cub, the most successful
motorcycle ever. The air-cooled single has 97cc and thumps out
8hp and 8Nm of torque, a modest amount for RideFast but more
than enough to take on India’s harshest streets.
Or the streets and potholes of Industria in West Jo’burg.
It is capable of 100km/h at a push, but speed isn’t the objective
here. The projected lifespan of that motor is twenty years and has
a stop/start feature that cuts it when at robots. This, and
generally frugal petrol sipping, has seen it achieve a fuel
economy of 70km/l.
We didn’t get that during our test, partially because we spent
the day revving the mammaries off it with a rider that probably
weighs three times more than the average Indian. Yet, with this
uneconomical abuse, we got 40km/l.
The componentry of the 100 is simple and basic, and probably
won’t win any major motorcycle design awards, yet are all
sturdy, strong and well-made. The brakes are drum units activated
by an old-school cable, something that has been resigned
to the sports bike skip since 1969. It’s a laughable attempt at
stoppage were we attempting to break Kyalami lap records, but
through the streets of New Delhi, or Industria, strewn with potholes,
dirt, old, diesel and organic fluids, anything more would
be suicidal.
It also means no pads and disks that require replacing.
Have you spotted the theme yet?
It weighs just 110kg and is good for dodging lorries trying to
reverse out of warehouses, and Karens driving SUVs in Pick ‘n
Pay parking lots.
Some facts:
The Hero 100 is now the biggest selling single motorcycle
model in the world.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Hero sold 2.6 million
of this model.
Read it again – 2.6 million!
To better understand this number’s enormity, Hero sold more
units of just this model in 2020 than BMW, KTM, Ducati,
Triumph, Harley-Davidson and Indian combined. In three years!
Price is yet to be confirmed, but we are looking in the region of
R13,000 or R14,000. That’s all for a well-made, economical,
cleverly-build city run-around.
The 150:
Walking around the 150, the bike it is very reminiscent of Hero’s
partnership with Honda in styling and in quality of build. Starting
the motor, we had to rev it to make sure it was running. It is so
silky smooth that it has barley any vibration at all, this is due to
the motor incorporating counterbalance shafts into the design
we are told.
Hero uses a full frame design mounting the motor into the frame
and not having it form part of the chassis and with that smooth
motor there is almost no vibration through the bars or the
seat. The chain is completely enclosed, and they use an extra
strength chain, so maintenance only needs to be done at the
3,000km service intervals.
The other thing we noticed is how light and soft the clutch operation
was. Some of the units come with “Stop/Start” technology
to further decrease the emissions and increase fuel economy
emphasising the brands commitment to sustainability.
Then there is the fuel efficiency at claimed 40 to 60 km’s per
litre around town obviously dependant on economical riding
styles and habits… we did not do that, we kept the little 150cc
Hero pinned against the red line the whole day and our resident
hooligan spent a fair amount of time on the back wheel, completely
contrary to what they were designed for and we easily
saw around 30 kays to the litre before we chickened out and
filled up
So, what is it like to spend a day in the saddle? We hear you
ask.
Although these are real entry level commercial bikes, we had
some fun. The seats are kind to your tush, the angle of your
hips and ankles in relation to you shoulder position is really
comfortable even for my 6 foot plenty bod, so the ergonomics
are really good.
The clocks sport a speedo, rev counter and fuel gauge, all
analogue. Almost zero vibration from the counterbalanced motor
significantly reduces rider fatigue. The gearing is quite low
which gives it plenty acceleration off the line… and according to
our crash test dummy makes it really easy to wheelie.
In the real world though it means it gets off the line really well
and can haul reasonably heavy loads and still maintain a
reasonable speed up and down hills, as was evident lugging my
115kg mass around most of the day.
The 150 can be ridden on the freeways legally and can reach
120kmh, but the engine is really working hard at those kind of
speeds at around 9,000rpm but it is more comfortable around
the 90 to 100kmh mark.
You sit quite high on a nice narrow bike with good acceleration
and decent enough top speed, so whipping between traffic
and shooting off from a traffic light and getting ahead of traffic
is really easy. During the course of the day, we must have
been approached by 6 or 7 delivery riders who were extremely
interested in the bikes and our opinions thereof, a lot of them
being foreign nationals have experienced the Hero brand in
their home countries and were really excited to see them on the
streets of Joburg, all boding well for the local importers.
The big take away from the ride for us was the great quality, the
very reasonable price tag of just under R20,000.00 for the Eco
150, the service intervals, and the cheap servicing price, so cost
of ownership is low.
5 year/100,000km warranty as well as their 3000km service
intervals at a mere R599.00 per service.
For more information send an enquiry to
info@heromotorcycles.co.za