Breaking: First Clear View Of India-spec Affordable Harley-Davidson Leaked

Harley-Davidson recently launched the X 350 in China, its smallest motorcycle yet for the global market, except for India. Why? Because it has been working on a second small-capacity bike -HD 400- in partnership with Hero MotoCorp which is being designed with India (as a market) in mind. A series of leaked images finally give us a glimpse at what it may look like and here’s what we know:

Design: 

This upcoming small-capacity, India-spec Harley-Davidson will be a member of its Sportster family and takes much of its design cues from the bigger XR 1200X. It features LED lights, a TFT instrument cluster, split grab rail, wide handlebars and a single-piece seat. However, it’s not clear if it gets Bluetooth connectivity. The console displays basic info including the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge and clock.

Engine: 

From one of the leaked images, it has come to light that this bike’s internal code is HD 4XX, hinting at the fact that it could be an all-new 400cc platform with no relations to its Chinese sibling or the upcoming Xpulse 400. Let’s call it the Harley-Davidson HD400 for brevity’s sake. In fact, while the X 350 is based on a liquid-cooled, parallel twin platform, these images suggest the India-spec bike has a single-cylinder, air/oil-cooled motor. Its exact power and torque figures are unknown. That said, the redline maxes out at 8000rpm on the instrument cluster suggesting this could be a relatively sporty bike. 

Underpinnings:

From what’s visible, the motorcycle is seen riding on an upside down fork and twin gas-charged rear shocks. Braking will be managed by disc brakes at either end with the help of ByBre calipers. It’s likely to get dual-channel ABS as standard. The baby sportster is seen riding on alloy wheels (likely a 18-inch front and 17-inch rear) shod with Ceat Zoom Cruz tyres. 

Verdict:

This is the first sighting of this motorcycle, but from what can be seen, it looks almost production ready. This motorcycle is highly likely to make its debut this year itself (mid 2023). Although its closest rivals will be motorcycles like the Royal Enfield Hunter 350, Yezdi Roadster, Jawa 42 2.1 and the Honda CB350RS, we are expecting Harley-Davidson to price the HD400 to cost around Rs 2.5-2.7 lakh (ex-showroom) which will allow it to also compete with the Honda CB300R and KTM 250 Duke.