Introduction

Harley-Davidson X440 review

For pretty much the last 10 years now Hero moto has told the world it wants to be a premium player we’ve seen things like 250 CC Concepts 600cc Concepts and they even tied up with an international player but we haven’t really seen any fruits of that until now this is the Harley-Davidson x440 it’s built entirely by Hero in collaboration with Harley-Davidson right here at the company’s CIT or Center for Innovation and Technology this is the first taste of Premium hero and today we’re going to find out what that’s like.

STYLE AND DESIGN

Now everything about this bike is new and in such cases let’s just go in the standard format starting with style this is not your typical Harley-Davidson Cruiser motorcycle and they’ve gone for more of a roadster look the design is inspired by an old Harley called the XR 1200 it’s a Butch street bike with a very large tank a round headlamp and an interesting looking tail section.

Now overall I do find this to be a nice looking bike it’s pretty eye-catching I’m not so sure about the tail there’s a large air gap here it looks a bit boxy but the rest of the bike does catch the attention one nice thing is that most of the parts on this bike are metal but despite that Hero has managed to keep the weight down to about 190 kilos which is about 5 kgs less than the classic 350 overall this is a design that I think will grow on you with time and I also think that brighter colors will really do this bike some justice.

QUALITY AND FINISH

As for quality and finish, certain things are really nice. I think the brake lamp looks excellent. The new switch gear is nice, but overall, it’s about okay, and it’s definitely not at the level of the new age Royal Enfields. Then again, given what you’re getting with this bike for the price, that really is quite all right.

THE ENGINE

There are reasons that you’d want to buy this over the likes of a highness or a classic, and that comes down to what’s underneath one of the big talking points. In the new 440cc Air and oil cooled engine this motor makes 27 horsepower which is a healthy figure it’s a lot more than the classic but the really interesting thing is the torque 38 Newt M at just 4,000 RPM for reference that’s about 40% more than the classic 350 it’s a little more than even the KTM 390 and the Triumph Speed 400 and it makes that talk figure much lower than the liquid cool bikes that is what this riding experience is about.

RIDING EXPERIENCE

Now Hero has given us a good amount of time to ride the bike this morning we’ve been able to ride it flat out down the long Straits we’ve been able to ride it on the handling track the engine is really lovely it’s very flexible you can be in third gear 20 kph it will pull you can hold a steady 80 kph it’s comfortable 100 kph that’s comfortable even 120 doesn’t feel stressed although you will feel some vibrations in the seat in the tank and the foot pegs these are mild vibrations you could sustain those speeds if you want to but the idea here is that this is a very smooth very flat flexible motor another nice thing is that this engine has some character it’s not super smooth you will feel a beat and a mild thump at low RPM and hero says that they put a huge amount of work into the Sound Engineering that’s actually one of the reasons behind this big exhaust pipe it’s not very pretty but it has a purpose now Hero has said that they’ve tried to make this sound like a Harley Davidson you listen to this and tell us what you think.

Microphones never really pick up exhaust sound very nicely but I can tell you that this is a deep loud and raspy sound it sounds more organic than the Honda 350 and it’s louder than the classic but it doesn’t sound like a twin cylinder Harley-Davidson there’s only one way to make a single cylinder bike sound like a twin and that’s to add one more. Cylinder, anyway, there are a lot of differences between the Harley and its single-cylinder air-cooled drivetrain, like the fact that it has a six-speed gearbox and a slip assist clutch, which is quite light. We really want to see what this bike is like to ride in traffic and on bad roads, but we’ll have to wait for now. Things do look good.

SUSPENSION AND RIDING POSITION

Another USB in this segment is the USD it’s a 43mm fork non-adjustable and you have du dual shocks at the rear they are preload adjustable overall this is a very perfect riding environment but from what I could tell the suspension feels quite pliant and the bike does feel very comfortable hopefully this will really gobble up the bad roads out there with ease as for the riding position. I really like this, it’s upright and comfortable, but there’s also a sense of Engagement. The fuel tank feels nice and big, Beneath You.

The Handlebar is wide and commanding, and the foot pegs well; they’re not far from your set, but they’re also not too far forward, and the whole thing gives you a sense of Engagement. This is the sort of riding position that you feel like you could hold all day long. Whether it’s stuck in traffic or out on the highway and the only tiring factor is the lack of wind protection because this thing can hold some pretty serious highway speeds 120 kph is sustainable and for those of you interested the top speed I saw down the long straight was just under 140 kph the 805 mm seat height will also match Riders of all shapes and sizes I fit on the bike quite comfortably but here’s what a 5′ 6 in tall rider will feel like on the motorcycle this is Ashley our photographer he’s never sat on it and Ashley what’s it like you’re on your tiptoes but is it manageable absolutely man there you go absolutely manageable.

CHASSIS AND HANDLING

So the engine turned out to be a very pleasant surprise but so has the chassis this is a brand new frame not used in any motorcycle before this and once again Hero has done a great job the immediate sensation is that this bike hides its weight really well the moment you start moving it feels feels light you don’t have to put much effort into change direction. And that really Amplified itself out on Hero’s handling track these new mrf zapper hike tires have been designed specifically for this motorcycle and they do a good job of looking nice and retro but also performing quite well even though there’s a good amount of cornering clearance available the bike feels so easy and confident that you’ll very quickly be scraping those foot pegs it is a well balanced motorcycle that applies to the brakes as well they’re not super sharp. But they’re more than capable enough for this application, and you’ll be happy to know the Dual Channel ABS is standard.

FEATURES AND VARIANTS

In fact there’s quite a lot of features on this motorcycle that are standard across the range and that is quite surprising for a bike that is priced so close to the Royal Enfield classic 350 there are three versions of the Harley-Davidson x440 and the difference in terms of features across the range is smaller than you might think for example they all get a TFT display they also all get a nice and Powerful LED headlamp the essential differences between the three models are that the base bike gets tube tires on spoke wheels the mid-spec model gets Alloys.

But this top spec bike gets some machine finish on those Alloys and the engine fins there’s also some different finishes for the top bike including this 3D logos the difference between the mid-spec model and the top bike are are really quite small although this top version also gets a built-in eim and that unlocks a whole lot more connected features however even the midp speec model gets Bluetooth connectivity so that gives you control over your music your calls and your navigation. Overall, I think the mspec model makes really good sense, especially at its price, which is just 2 and 1/2 lakh rupees.

CONCLUSION

Overall when you compare it with beautiful rals like the classic 350 and even the Honda 350s the design may not be the biggest appeal of this motor motorcycle but when you ride it you will be thoroughly impressed because it has a whole lot more to offer than its airol rivals in fact the difference is so big over them that you’ll be tempted to compare this with more expensive more powerful liquid cooled bikes for now this motorcycle has made a surprisingly good first impression and the pricing is very tempting we’re really Keen to see what it’s like out on the road.