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Pros & cons of owning a Harley-Davidson X440: 500 km in 4 days

30th April 2024, 18:02 by Rahul Nagaraj

Having owned the Himalayan 411, we did consider the new Himalayan 450 - but decided against it.

BHPian Thmh recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I would like to thank Team-BHP for creating a platform for moto-enthusiasts and most of my moto-gyan comes from this site. Hence, took the plunge to share my experience to help other riders like me!

(The below narration will keep switching between me and my wife’s point of view)

A quick background:

I got my first bike in 2010 which won the Motorcycle of the Year - Apache RTR 180. It was mostly used for my office commute for the first two years and then the usage reduced drastically after I got my car (Punto). The bike was ridden for about 10,000 km before I gave it to my uncle 10 years later.

In 2019, my wife told me that she always wanted to own a Royal Enfield and I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to ride a bike again as I was comfortable travelling in a car. After watching YouTuber Noraly's videos (Itchy Boots) we wanted to test ride the Himalayan and a few days later it (BS4) was home. We did a lot of rides in Karnataka and a few places in Kerala.

Meanwhile, my wife wanted to learn to ride. So on our way back from the gym, I used to sit behind as a pillion on RTR and my wife used to ride till back home. And Covid happened, in 2022 wife rented an Avenger for a month and we did small rides on two separate bikes. After this she wanted to buy her own bike, although I wasn’t too convinced as at that moment I thought she wasn’t going to be a serious rider and I would end up having two bikes to wash now! She took a test ride of CB300 and H’ness and booked her H’ness!

While we were just trying to get used to having two bikes in our parking lot, back of my mind I had this urge to upgrade my Himalayan. Coincidentally one of my friends shared an ad of a used Suzuki V-Strom 650 up for sale. We went for the test ride and we now had three bikes in our parking lot which was hard for me not to be worried about. Luckily managed to find another biking enthusiast to whom I could hand over my Himalayan for a decent price which by then had done 15,000 km. We had a great time on the V-Strom. I managed to add 17,000 km in 1.5 years where I did a Bangalore-Spiti-Bangalore ride (wife as pillion) covering 6,150 km in 15 days! We used to frequent Goa as well.

My wife was getting comfortable with her H’ness and she started doing the longer rides (250+ km/per day) with me. And a few months later she was on her own doing solo rides to Mangalore, Coorg and finally Goa!

Her longest was a South India ride covering 1,500 km in 6 days.

Riding V-Strom was super fun and it was super comfortable on long rides. However, was finding it overkill for rides when me and wife were riding on two separate bikes. Had to always slow myself down to match my wife’s pace. And also developed an interest towards trekking which reduced my bike usage and didn’t want to spend much on maintenance knowing my circumstances have changed. Hence, off it goes to another set of safe hands for a decent deal!

Although the plan was to take a short break from riding, after a week of not having my V-Strom 650 any more, I was doing test rides!

Test Ride experience

Criteria:

A single-cylinder bike with enough grunt to cruise at 90-110 km/h and has to be comfortable for highway touring.
Should be comfortable for my wife too as the plan was to swap the bikes as and when needed.

RE Himalayan 450: I Felt at home sitting on this bike and the ride brought memories of my previous Himalayan 411. It also reminded me that nothing much has changed when it comes to vibration and I was spoilt by Suzuki’s smoothness and the vibrations felt more prominent on the new Himalayan. Although I never had a puncture in my previous Himalayan, the fear was always there and I didn’t want to have the same now. Hence, had to skip this.

Triumph Scrambler 400 X: Skipped Speed 400 due to its size. Scram felt intimidating when I sat on it. Although I am 5’11, found the bike too tall and difficult to manoeuvre in traffic. Just couldn’t connect well with this bike.

Skipped the KTM 390 Adventure as it was nearing a replacement.

Harley-Davidson X440: The bike’s ergonomics were relaxed and the bike had a great pick-up just like my old Himalayan. The engine was smooth and the sound was sweet. Overall, the Hero Premia showroom experience was great. The wife was comfortable riding the bike as well. All in all, it felt like a nice companion to the H’ness.

The bike was ready for delivery on the same day of the booking/full amount. I received it in just two days. The dealership is RT Krishna which is a Hero Premia showroom. The SA Gaurav was super helpful throughout the process.

The bike has done 500 km so far (4 days after the delivery) and was ridden keeping the run-in in mind. The bike was ridden on highways, unpaved roads and city traffic conditions.

Positives

Amazing torque and riding in the city is a breeze
Very easy to manoeuvre and the weight doesn’t pose a problem
Smooth engine with very negligible vibration
Engine doesn’t radiate much heat despite riding under harsh sunny conditions and even in city traffic
Can cruise comfortably although I was keeping it under 4,000 rpm
The headlight is great with very good visibility at night
MID indicates 35 km/l which is nice but will check thoroughly after the first service when the bike can be ridden at 100 km/h speed constantly.
Gear shifts are smooth and the clutch is light.
Braking feels adequate

Negatives

Front suspension could have been better. It sends a jolt when you hit a pothole or speedbreaker at high speed. But we need to remember that this isn’t an adventure bike to have a longer suspension!
The seat’s contour isn’t very comfortable for longer rides and so are the mirrors as they cover less area. Both can be fixed with touring-specific accessories
Fuel gauge isn’t very accurate

Neutral

The Console could have been better and the app requires bug fixes
Limited availability of accessories
Buttons could have been slightly better but I like the soft feel of the indicator reset button

Accessories installed

Crash Guard, Bash Plate from Harley (Rs. 1,400 I think)
I skipped the centre stand to avoid ground clearance being reduced
Saddle Stay from Royal Customs (Rs. 3,600)
Top box rack with Backrest from Royal Customs (~ Rs. 4,000) - If you are installing the top box then the backrest becomes useless. Hence, save yourself some money and opt for a top box rack only
Sidestand shoe from royal customs (Rs. 600)
JB racing 45L top box (Rs. 10,500). I got this from Htrz mods and felt stupid when I found out the same was sold in other stores for Rs. 7,500. So try JB Racing Automotive for any accessories near JC Road.

Pending accessories due to unavailability - full-size Windshield and angular handlebar risers. Please let me know if this is available anywhere in Bangalore.