Another Tiny Harley: Should We Be Excited?
First Look at the X440, a Smaller, Low-Cost Cruiser to be Released in India
Uh-oh, more photos of another teeny-tiny Harley Davidson hybrid have been not-so-secretly unveiled in some far-off Asian country.
Why should we be excited? Why should we even care? Truth be told, there is not one really huge reason why seasoned Harley riders should be excited or even interested.
But, there are many reasons why this kind of news is important not only for the Motor Company itself, but also for those of us who love to ride the motorcycles we hope it continues to supply us with.
Huge Potential for HD
The potential in the Asian motorcycle market is huge. Asians are not big, hungry beasts like us Americans. They’re a smaller people for the most part and they like their motorcycles smaller.
It’s a known fact that the population in Asia is rising dramatically, and the country’s per capita income is also growing, along with the demand for affordable, two-wheel, personal transportation.
Billions of dollars – yes, billions – are up for grabs.
Middleweight Contender
So competition is fierce and Harley Davidson needs to be in the thick of it to survive and thrive here in the good ‘ol USA if we want to keep driving the big hogs.
The Motor Company has partnered with several Asian companies before, including China, and is selling smaller bikes in the Asia-Pacific rim.
This newest bike is designated an X440, and is in partnership with Hero MotoCorp, India’s leading motorcycle maker. It is significant because it is considered a middleweight motorcycle, and will compete against other middleweights like the Royal Enfield Classic 350.
The X440 looks a little like the newer, liquid-cooled HD Nightster with maybe a little XR1200 mixed in. It is not nearly as big or powerful of course. The X440 has a 440cc, single-cylinder, air/oil cooled engine that is expected to put out about 30-35 horsepower.
LED, Digital Instrumentation and ABS
We can deduce other assets of the X440 from the images. It appears the bike will sport an LED headlight, a digital instrument cluster and even ABS.
It has alloy wheels, 17 inches in the front and 18 in the back. Single disc brakes will slow down this little pony, and it also has USD forks.
Indian media is reporting the new motorcycle will be officially unveiled in India in July.
Focus on Torque, Not Top-End Horsepower
You may remember the X350 and X500, two small, low-cost bikes Harley came out with recently in conjunction with Chinese maker QJ Motors.
Those were essentially built on the backs of existing models, with the Harley name slapped on.They were liquid-cooled, parallel twin models, which look nothing like your traditional Harley.
The new X440 supposedly is focused more on low-end torque, which is decidedly a traditional Harley-esque characteristic.
As for the price, estimates vary between $3,400 to $5,000. And just like the small Harley hybrids that came before, we don’t even know yet if either bike will make it across the Pacific ocean to Milwaukee.
Photos: Harley Davidson/Hero
