Until now, name of Hero Karimza was featured on the official website. This gave hope to fans, that there will be a BS6 update. But not anymore.
Hero MotoCorp has finally discontinued the Karizma from its product portfolio. In other words, the Hero Karizma will not be getting BS6 update like almost every other motorcycle on the Indian market, at present. The information came to light when the company removed the motorcycle from the product listing on the official Hero MotoCorp website.
Towards the end of its production, the Hero Karizma was hardly a desirable product due to its outdated equipment, poor styling and the general lack of a ‘wow factor’. However, the faired motorcycle was once an icon in the minds of Indian automotive enthusiasts.
The Karizma was one of the main products from the era of Hero Honda. The sports motorcycle was launched back in 2003, followed by a cosmetic upgrade in 2007 in the form of the Karizma R. The Hero Karizma came at a time when there were not any single-cylinder sports bikes on offer in the country, except for the original Pulsar range.
Later in 2009, the Hero Karizma was introduced in the ZMR moniker with substantial cosmetic upgrades while its internals remained mostly the same. Hero Cycles and Honda Motor Company parted ways in 2010 and the Karizma came under the new name, Hero MotoCorp. Even though the company had launched multiple products over the years, the once top-of-the-line Hero Karizma never received a worthy upgrade. Many have pointed out that the supposedly ‘new’ Karizma models were just the same motorcycle with different panels. Hero MotoCorp mostly remained silent about the same and at one point, the company had shared that the motorcycle would not be discontinued.
The original Hero Honda Karizma has a strong demand in the used-motorcycle market and for the same reason, finding a good example of the same is extremely difficult. Meanwhile, some examples end up being a donor bike for an engine-swap with the Hero Impulse; the virtual predecessor to the Hero XPulse 200.
The Hero Karizma was powered by a 223cc air-cooled single-cylinder engine that made 19.2bhp and 19.35Nm of torque. This is mated to a 5-speed transmission. Performance figures may not be that impressive in modern-day motorcycle standards, but Honda’s expertise in making smooth and refined engines are definitely evident in the Karizma.
In its final avatar, the Hero Karizma ZMR was priced at almost Rs 1.10 lakh ex-showroom. Today, we have multiple alternatives to the Karizma ZMR from the likes of Bajaj, TVS, KTM, Suzuki and Yamaha, at price points above and below. Chances of it making a comeback are bleak, but at least some would hope for a true successor to the Hero Karizma in the years to come.
