[FlankerFury]

Hero MotoCorp and Harley Davidson have extended their existing collaboration, and are planning to develop and manufacture a new motorcycle for Indian as well as global markets, the company said in an exchange filing on December 27.

Both the two-wheeler majors also decided to expand the X440 motorcycle range in India into new variants, in an effort to win the market share in the premium segment.

Moneycontrol
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Source

The X440 posted high sales initially but sustaining those numbers have been an issue. Increased competition, customer expectations, production constraints could be a factor behind the decline. Thus, new variants are planned to increase market share.

New variants of X440 range could include a scrambler as reported by c&b
c&b | Scrambler 440 on HD440 in the works

Sometime in Jul 2023, Hero trademarked the "Nightster 440" name.

ACI | Nightster 440 trademarked

The Nightster name has been used by Harley Davidson before for the XL1200N Nightster,


Interestingly, I found an old thread on it in this very forum.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...est-drive.html (Harley Davidson XL 1200N Nightster !! Test Drive!!)

The name is now used as the Nightster and Nightster S, powered by 975cc water cooled engines.

Nightster

Nightster S

I really like the styling of the Nightster S so I hope the styling for the 440 remains as close as possible to it's bigger siblings. Wouldn't be complaining if it ends up looking like the older XL1200N

Remains to be seen which other market gets these 440s.

[BullettuPaandi]

Only goes to show how desperate they are. The issue with this partnership is the sheer lack of value they each bring to it, especially for what they're trying to do. HD has no clue of how to make a small motorcycle, and Hero has no clue even of what their motorcycle design is, let alone HD's; but their entire schtick is a 'small Harley'.

This is quite the opposite of a partnership Honda had with Hero. Hero then, had the network and ability to sell, and Honda basically handed them the platforms, most notably the gem of a 'Super Cub' engine that Hero is still milking with the Splendor. Even in less successful partnerships like Kawasaki-Bajaj, such transfer of valuable platforms, be it engines, chassis, network, etc. can be seen. Kawasaki's Eliminator is what Bajaj built on top of to produce the Avengers; yet it took Bajaj multiple generations to make them reasonably successful. If that's what what it took for Bajaj, on top of a solid platform to have begun with, Hero sure took a lot to chew here.

Such cruiser bikes, in general, see relatively less sales in India. The Dominar with KTM engines, could've been Avenger if that'd make better sales. But Power Cruisers inherit an easy upgrade path from the widely popular Nakeds. If Hero-Harley couldn't sustain in Power Cruisers, they'll only have a harder time convincing customers among the existing niche Cruisers lot, especially given Hero's design prowess.

[EasyRider Suraj]

Originally Posted by BullettuPaandi

Only goes to show how desperate they are. The issue with this partnership is the sheer lack of value they each bring to it, especially for what they're trying to do. HD has no clue of how to make a small motorcycle, and Hero has no clue even of what their motorcycle design is, let alone HD's; but their entire schtick is a 'small Harley'.

This is quite the opposite of a partnership Honda had with Hero. Hero then, had the network and ability to sell, and Honda basically handed them the platforms, most notably the gem of a 'Super Cub' engine that Hero is still milking with the Splendor. Even in less successful partnerships like Kawasaki-Bajaj, such transfer of valuable platforms, be it engines, chassis, network, etc. can be seen. Kawasaki's Eliminator is what Bajaj built on top of to produce the Avengers; yet it took Bajaj multiple generations to make them reasonably successful. If that's what what it took for Bajaj, on top of a solid platform to have begun with, Hero sure took a lot to chew here.

Such cruiser bikes, in general, see relatively less sales in India. The Dominar with KTM engines, could've been Avenger if that'd make better sales. But Power Cruisers inherit an easy upgrade path from the widely popular Nakeds. If Hero-Harley couldn't sustain in Power Cruisers, they'll only have a harder time convincing customers among the existing niche Cruisers lot, especially given Hero's design prowess.

This bike has remained best seller for over an yr if it's launch. They sold over 2k units of it in October 2024. The bike got universal critical acclaim so it's schtick is not just being a Harley, they aren't charging a penny extra for Harley Badge, the specs are worth that much money.

[EasyRider Suraj]

We have already seen pictures of Hero's 440 Scrambler so I hope Harley doesn't release their own. What's the point of releasing two very similar products? This is why Mavrick failed (along with bad design). I hope Harley releases their Nightster 440 which would resemble traditional cruiser unlike X440. Let Hero release the Scrambler under their brand only.

[Rudraksh]

The HD X440 is surely one of the best long-stroke single-cyl motorcycle available in the Indian market.
The only issue is the partnership has not focused on more premium quality.
The 440cc engine is charm and can give tough competition to its rivals if used in better motorcycles.

On the other hand, the Mavrick 440, an affordable version of the 440 engine, has not seen good sales. The reason is that the motorcycle itself is not available for display, test ride, or even for quotation. This is my experience in Bengaluru.

Hero needs to up their Premia showrooms and services for premium products before launching any new motorcycle.