BREAKING: Most Affordable Harley-Davidson Is Here!

The Harley-Davidson X440 gets a muscular roadster design and comes packed with modern bits

After months of anticipation and a whole lot of teases, Harley-Davidson has launched the X440 in India at Rs 2,29,000 for the Classic variant, Rs 2,49,000 for the Vivid and Rs 2,69,000 for the top-spec Pinnacle variant, ex-showroom Delhi, truly making it the most affordable Harley in the country yet. The retro roadster co-developed with Hero motoCorp is a segment starter, and here’s all you need to know about it.

Variants

The bike is available in three variants: 

• Denim variant features spoke wheels, single-tone colours and blacked-out engine fins. 
• Vivid variant gets alloy wheels and dual-tone colours.
• S variant features dual-tone alloys, more premium colour schemes with 3D decals on the tank and machined engine fins.

Design

• With proper roadster styling with neo-retro elements, the Harley-Davidson X440 gets a muscular design language. 
• It features a beefy fuel tank, clean-looking side panels and a stance the bike looks pretty dominant.
• Seems inspired from its older, but sadly discontinued sibling, the XR1200.
• With rich colours and a striking stealthy finish, the bike looks quite premium. 
• However, the plain-jane blacked-out exhaust is kind of an eyesore.

Engine

• Powering the X440 is a two-valve 440cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine with an oil cooler. 
• It makes 27.4PS at 6000rpm & 38Nm at 4000rpm, which are decent figures for a roadster. 90 percent of the toque comes in at as low as 2000rpm.
• The motor is paired to a 6-speed transmission along with an assist and slipper clutch.
• This makes it slightly more powerful than the QJ Motor SRC’s 480cc single-cylinder engine that makes 25.8PS and 36Nm.

Underpinnings

• Even in terms of hardware, the Harley-Davidson X440 is quite premium.
• It gets a 43mm inverted fork and gas-charged, preload-adjustable twin shock absorber suspension setup.
• Gets ByBre disc brakes at both ends with dual-channel ABS as standard. The front features an axial calliper.
• Runs on 18/17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in new MRF Zapper Hyke tyres. The Denim variant runs on spoke wheels.
• Gets a raised handlebar and mid-set footpegs for a relaxed riding posture. The single-piece saddle looks pretty comfy too.

Features

• Features a very simple and minimalistic TFT console in a retro circular shape.
• It displays all the basic data including the speedometer, odometer, tachometer, DTE (Distance-to-empty), clock, real-time mileage indicator, gear indicator and battery health.
• All three variants get basic smartphone connectivity with message and call alerts and you can also answer calls and control music. It also gets turn-by-turn navigation.
• Also gets all LED lighting, a nifty feature in most modern-day bikes.

Verdict

With an affordable price tag, premium components and a pretty torquey engine, Harley-Davidson has truly made a true blue Harley for the masses. In a way, it is also the spiritual successor to the iconic Royal Enfield Classic 500. With the Harley X440 and its rivals, the Royal Enfield Classic 350, Yezdi Roadster, Jawa 42 2.1 and Honda H’ness CB350, we are now seeing a lot of action in the 300-450cc category, and we expect to see a lot more in the segment. Bookings for the Harley-Davdison X440 start from July 4, with a booking amount of Rs 5,000.