Harley Davidson X440: Booking, test ride & cancellation experience

Many people seem to be expecting to use the X440 in the city as a commuter, which is not what I think it's really meant for.

BHPian CuriousMagpie recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My experience so far:

The booking:

Although the initial email and WhatsApp message mentioned that "the Order will be fulfilled by our authorized dealer as maybe notified to you prior to 15 August 2023", no one ever reached out to me.

Also note this from the booking email: "The authorized dealer shall inform you the date on which your Harley-Davidson X440 shall be available for sale at its showroom Delivery Date which date shall not be later than 90 (ninety) days from the booking date." I had booked the vehicle on 4th July (on the day it was launched), which means the delivery should happen within the next couple of weeks! However, given their progress and response, it seems impossible.

Once in a while I've been receiving wallpapers of the bike on WhatsApp. I suspect that's to indicate that they've not forgotten my booking, which I felt was a delaying tactic than being of any use. I wish the test rides must have begun long ago and deliveries should've started already!

The showroom:

I believe that the bike has been on display for more than a month in the showroom, so I had checked it out a couple of weeks ago. More details in my other post here. Apparently the deliveries would take place from the same showroom. I expected a lot more showrooms would provide test rides and deliveries, but there's just one in all of Telangana!

About the Hyderabad Banjara Harley Davidson showroom: The staff in the showroom was quite limited! Seemed to me that there's only one person who could really help the customers with anything (for information, test rides, filling forms, payments, deliveries, etc.) There were more models the last time we visited, but today the showroom had only four x440 vehicles and nothing else.

The test ride:

The test ride booking experience was sub-par. There were almost no slots when test rides began a week ago. After getting to know that slots for the day after a week would be available at midnight, I managed to book a slot for today (17th) exactly a week back (10th) by attempting to book just after midnight. I didn't receive any email or message. However, I took a screenshot of the confirmation page. That was not needed though, because OTP to the registered mobile number was used to verify the booking.

The form to be filled before the test ride was quite simple (unlike the one at Triumph). Helmets are provided if you didn't get one. There's no dress code (unlike Triumph).

There were a few test ride bikes parked outside, all sitting idle when I went around 12 noon. I thought there would be a crowd since it's a Sunday, but there were just 2-3 others apart from me. All of us went for the test ride at the same time. The suggested route was just about 1.5 km, completed within 5 minutes! A majority of that time went in waiting at a signal since a free left was blocked. The road was fairly good, so I couldn't really get a great feel of how it behaves on bad roads. However, I got an idea of what to expect based on all the reviews and videos I'd seen until now. Perhaps they should've suggested a longer test ride route or at least allowed 2-3 times the number of test rides per slot, given what I witnessed today.

Not that it matters, but I observed that all the test ride and display bikes had RJ (Rajasthan) registration.

My opinion (based on the test ride):

Drawbacks: As I'd noted previously, I felt the heaviness while parking and in slow-moving traffic. Also, for me the wires at right side of the handle bar and the rectangular cutout in a circular console seemed quite ugly. The fit and finish cannot be compared to the superior quality of the Triumph Speed 400. I went with a pillion (as I did with my other test rides - Speed 400 and Classic 350), and the feedback was that the lower back hurts - we were advised to come back for a test ride again early next month because they'll fit the backrest accessory for all the test ride bikes by then, which should hopefully make it better for the pillion. However, the concerning bit for me was that if the back hurts for such a short (1.5 km) ride, then any accessory is not going to help when going long distances. There were no such concerns from the pillion for the RE Classic 350 or Triumph Speed 400 test rides.

Positives: The exhaust note definitely sounded great and turned heads. Also it pulled really well at lower RPMs. If my majority of the usage was to drive long distances without going through a lot of city traffic, then this would perhaps be a great bike. There's negligible heat felt from the engine.

Aftermath:

I went for the test ride to convince myself that I made the right choice despite buying the Triumph Speed 400 already. When I inquired about how to cancel the booking, the SA suggested to transfer to someone else instead of canceling so that they can benefit from the lower price (given the prices have increased by Rs. 10,500 now) and shorter delivery timelines. They're fine to even change the model (I booked the red, but we can get it changed to whatever we want). Those who booked early should expect deliveries as early as October, or worst case in November. Those who booked in August can expect deliveries in January or February. Apparently the Hyderabad showroom received more than 1000 bookings!

I spoke with a few other customers while I was at the showroom as we were all talking to the same SA. I got a feeling that many folks came just because of the low price for the brand. Some of them are not even aware of the competition and different segments - I don't blame them. I realized that it wasn't worthwhile explaining why a comparison of Triumph Speed 400 with the x440 doesn't make a lot of sense.

Comparison:

Although there's a lot of ire against Triumph, I feel they've done far better in various aspects with respect to the Speed 400. Unfortunately, not many people know the Triumph brand.

Many people seem to be expecting to use the X440 in the city as a commuter, which is not what I think it's really meant for. However, that's up to them to decide. I think a comparison with RE Classic 350 makes much more sense than comparing with the Triumph Speed 400.

Suggestion for those who booked early, but want to cancel.

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