The fallout stemming from the closure of Erik Buell Racing->ke1393 continues to be felt in the motorcycle industry. Hero Motorcycles is one of the companies that have been affected by EBR’s sudden closure and now, reports indicate that the effect of EBR’s decline has affected the expected launch of the Hero HX250R. According to Autocar Pro in India, Hero Motorcycles has decided to delay the launch of the highly anticipated bike to 2016.

No official details have been revealed regarding the reason for the delay, but most believe that it has something to do with the closure of EBR, which actually had a lot of design input on the HX250R with the model considered as the first motorcycle to be fully built through a collaboration between the two companies.

But now that Erik Buell Racing has closed its doors, Hero Motorcycles has lost its design partner and is now left with finishing up the model on its own. There are also whispers that the company is looking for a new partner to help finish the design of the HX250R, a task that EBR wasn’t able to complete before it closed down.

The decision to delay the launch of the HX250R could also be tied into a belief within Hero Motorcycles that not having a distributor in place in North America would be detrimental to its plans for the model. EBR would’ve filled that role if it were still around, but now that it’s not, it didn’t make a lot of sense for Hero to launch the North America-bound HX250R without having a proper network to receive it in that market.

Whatever the company’s real intentions are, it does look like we’re going to have to wait a little longer for the Hero HX250R. It’s a shame considering all the hype and momentum the sports bike has generated in recent months. With EBR closing, that momentum has been derailed, at least until Hero can find a new partner to get it back on track.

Continue reading to read more about Hero Motorcycles’ decision to delay the launch of the HX250R.

Why it matters

Color me disappointed because I didn’t see this one coming, even though the signs seemed to point in that direction. Still, I still found myself hoping that Erik Buell Racing’s closure wouldn’t have affected Hero Motorcycles’ business. The latter did say that such would be the case when news first broke about EBR’s closure.

Turns out, those promises didn’t have as much weight as we all thought it had. The delay of the HX250R now comes as collateral damage to the demise of EBR. While it’s not entirely going by the wayside, the delay is still a bad look for the company. That’s what happens when you build a motorcycle that carries plenty of design input from a company that’s no longer in business.

I honestly don’t know what Hero Motorcycles’ plans are for the HX250R. The company could seek a new partner to help refine the bike without using a whole lot of EBR’s design, or it could just sit back and wait for the drama surrounding EBR’s receivership to subside. That and it has to deal with the new-found problem of finding a new dealership network that could help sell the bikes in the US. All of this are serious problems that should be addressed sooner than later.

Whatever happens, none of us will probably see the HX250R this year. Reports say that Hero will schedule its debut in 2016, although with how things have gone over the past few months, that’s not as certain as we all hoped it would be.

We can still cross our fingers and hope for the best, but at this point, even that doesn't sound like a good idea.