This $800 Flex-Fuel Motorcycle Might Be The Most Sensible Bike On Earth. Maybe

A street-legal flex-fuel motorcycle for less than an iPhone might make sense in more places than just India.

Photo by: Hero MotoCorp

By: Enrico Punsalang

Jun 12, at 7:52am ET

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Hero MotoCorp just launched flex-fuel versions of its Splendor+ and HF Deluxe commuter motorcycles in India. Normally, that would be the kind of industry news that gets filed away under "interesting, but not exactly headline material." But then I saw the prices.

The Splendor+ Flex Fuel starts at Rs 82,710, while the HF Deluxe Flex Fuel comes in at Rs 72,792. Based on current exchange rates, that's roughly $827 and $728, respectively. And just like that, I stopped caring about the ethanol part. Because we're now talking about fully street-legal motorcycles that cost less than a carbon wheel set for a bicycle.

Seriously. Go browse enough cycling websites, and you'll find wheelsets that cost more than an entire Hero HF Deluxe. Not the bike. Just the wheels... tires not included, mind you.

Photo by: Hero MotoCorp

That's when this story stops being about flex fuel and starts becoming a reality check. And that's because for years, riders in the Western world have been conditioned to think motorcycles need to be bigger, faster, and increasingly expensive. Entry-level bikes that once cost a few grand now flirt with five-figure price tags. Meanwhile, Hero is over in India selling an E85-capable motorcycle for less than the sales tax on some touring bikes.

Of course, these aren't toys. Nobody at Hero sat down and said, "Let's build something cool for weekend coffee runs." The Splendor and HF Deluxe are transportation appliances. They're built for people who depend on them every single day. If one doesn't start in the morning, somebody could be late for work, school, or both.

And after spending time in India last year, I gained a whole new level of respect for machines designed for that job. Some roads were perfectly fine. Others looked like somebody had accidentally left the terrain generator running. Potholes appeared out of nowhere. Speed breakers seemed engineered specifically to test suspension travel. At one point, I remember looking around and thinking that anything with less than about 12 inches of ground clearance was having a significantly worse day than I was.

Photos by: Hero MotoCorp

Yet motorcycles like the Splendor just keep going.

That's because Hero's engineering priorities are completely different from what many Western riders are used to. The goal isn't maximum horsepower. It isn't cornering clearance. It isn't collecting likes on social media. The goal is surviving years of abuse while remaining cheap enough for ordinary people to buy in the first place.

That might not sound exciting, but there's something deeply impressive about a machine that's expected to carry riders through rough roads, chaotic traffic, questionable weather, and thousands upon thousands of miles without complaint.

The flex-fuel technology only makes the whole thing more absurd. Both bikes can run on ethanol blends ranging from E20 to E85 thanks to revised engine management and upgraded fuel system components. The really funny part is that the HF Deluxe Flex Fuel costs just Rs 172 more than the standard version.

That's about $1.72. Seriously, I've paid more than that for a bottle of water at an airport.

Photo by: Hero MotoCorp

What's interesting is that every time we run stories about small-displacement motorcycles, the comments inevitably fill with riders asking for exactly this sort of thing. Not everybody wants a 150-horsepower adventure bike or a touring rig that weighs as much as a small moon. Plenty of riders just want something affordable, simple, lightweight, and easy to live with.

What do you think?

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Comments

That's why these new Hero commuters are so fascinating. They expose a weird contradiction in the US market. Folks constantly complain that transportation is becoming too expensive, yet some of the most affordable motorcycles on Earth never make it stateside.

Would a Splendor sell in huge numbers in the United States? Maybe, maybe not. But if you dropped an $800 street-legal motorcycle into a dealership tomorrow, I guarantee people would at least stop and take a look.