X440

Overview

The X440 is the most approachable Harley-Davidson sold anywhere, which is either its virtue or its crisis depending on the buyer. The 312cc air-cooled single makes 26.8 bhp and 27 Nm in a relaxed, cruiser-geared spread; the seat sits at 765 mm; the pegs are down and slightly forward; and the whole package is arranged so that a rider of average height and modest experience never feels behind the machine. The badge is the largest one that has ever come on a bike this friendly.

The chassis carries more development than the spec sheet suggests. The handling is neutral where the segment’s metric cruisers tend toward boatiness, the disc-and-ABS braking is well judged, and traction control appears on a quarter-litre cruiser — a first-in-price detail this catalogue’s sample listing flags accordingly. At 120 km/h it is settled, and at 90 km/h with a pillion it is simply comfortable.

The honest trade-offs are pace and service arithmetic. 26.8 bhp at this price is fewer numbers than the sport-naked alternatives, the fifth-gear highway reserve is modest on a long climb with two aboard, and Harley’s network is thinner than its Indian partners’ — which is the structural fact behind every cruiser purchase decision in India. This is a motorcycle bought for how it feels, sold on the comfort of that feeling.

• 765 mm saddle — the lowest cruiser listed here
• 37 kmpl claimed with a 12.8-litre tank
• Standard dual-channel ABS and traction control