Testing the Xpulse 200 Rally Kit

I’m in no way a rally rider. Not even close. Unlike some of my crazy riding buddies I don’t rip through trails and jump my motorcycle. But I do enjoy fast stretches of dirt and some technical single tracks as well.

I was very interested to check out the Rally Kit on the Xpulse 200 becasue I wanted to see how comfortable it made the ride as compared to the stock Xpulse 200 and my Impulse. So I took a friend’s Xpulse 200 fitted with the Rally Kit on one of my regular trails and rode the entire trail sitting down on the seat.

I’m a bit of a lazy trail rider. I don’t like to ride standing on the foot pegs. The problem with that is my back takes a beating if the terrain is rocky and I’m riding at a brisk pace. I was pleasantly surprised with the rally kit suspension. It basically soaked in everything that was thrown its way and the ride was very comfortable.

As you can see in the video, I started wandering aimlessly without bothering to see where I was going. I ended up dropping the bike becasue I stopped at one place, put my left foot down and realized there was nothing there. Although the Xpulse is 20 kgs heavier than the Impulse, lifting it up all by myself wasn’t too big of a deal. I have dropped my Impulse many times and picked it up easily. The 20 kgs extra weight on the Xpulse didn’t seem too much of a problem.

One thing to note about the Rally Kit is that it raises the bike quite a bit. I’m six feet tall and if I wear boots I can touch both my heels to the ground with my legs straight. As such the Rally Kit may not be a good idea for shorter riders. But its really worth the upgrade if you are looking for a smoother ride on trails.