Iconic American bike maker Harley-Davidson has just introduced a new Indian market only single cylinder machine, called the X440T, as it joins fellow premium brands BMW, KTM and Triumph in tapping into the huge Indian motorcycle market, where almost 20 million powered two wheelers are sold each year.
The X440T is an evolution of the base X440, which was introduced in 2023. It has a more muscular appearance, in line with what you’d expect from the legendary Bar and Shield brand’s bigger models, although whether or not we will see the X440 here in the UK is not yet clear.
However there certainly appears to be an appetite for such machines, as a look at the sales chart would indicate. Honda’s GB350S topped the ‘over 125’ sales charts in 2025 and competitors like Triumph’s 400s and Royal Enfield’s 350 range are consistent best sellers, suggesting the British public would welcome a small and inexpensive Harley with open arms.
Although Harley-Davidson is renowned for big V-twins, small machines are still very much part of its DNA. In the post-war years, the American company made its version of the DKW RT 125 two-stroke (using the same designs as the BSA Bantam) and sold it as the Harley-Davidson Hummer, while the 1960s saw the company acquire shares in Italian manufacturer Aermacchi.
That resulted in a number of small capacity two-strokes and even saw them win four Grand Prix world titles between 1974 and 1974, with Italian rider Walter Villa winning three 250 and one 250 championship on Harley-Davidson branded racers developed by the Aermacchi factory.
Aermacchi was sold to Cagiva in 1978 and Harley reverted back to focussing on its big twins, but in recent years the market has changed and previously ‘premium’ manufacturers have diversified and brought out smaller capacity machines in order to satisfy demand from the huge Indian market.
BMW (in collaboration with TVS), KTM and Triumph (the latter two partnering with Bajaj) have produced sub 400cc machines which have also gone on sale in Europe, and recently Harley joined the fray. It’s collaborated with Hero to create the X440 and although that bike is currently only on sale in India, where it is priced similarly to Triumph’s Speed 400, we would certainly love to see it over here.
Harley-Davidson’s product policy has been somewhat erratic in recent years, with its ‘More Roads to Harley’ strategy, which was aimed at introducing a more diverse range of products to attract a new generation of customer. While the Live Wire electric bike and Pan America adventure bike made it through, the middleweight Bronx roadster was shelved as the Motor Company decided to focus on more profitable big bikes.
But times have changed and with dealers needing to shift metal, not to mention buyers lapping up sub-500cc machines, maybe the time has come to look at bringing the X440 to the UK. Hero has entered the British market with the oddly named Hunk, which just happens to be based on the same platform as the X440, and we were pretty impressed by this cheap and cheerful 27bhp contender. With some neat Harley detailing and design touches, we really think there could a market for the X440 over here.
The company is set to announce its new-for-2026 UK models later this month and although we’re expecting new Street Glides, trikes and an upspecced Pan America 1250 Limited, we’d love to see these X440s make an appearance too.
Come on Harley! Make it happen!
