Harley-Davidson might be working on a 210cc, single-cylinder bike
Following up the hugely successful X440, it’s thought Harley is cooking up an even smaller capacity bike for the Indian market
The Harley-Davidson X440 has proven a smash hit in India, clocking up 25,000 sales in only a month. It seems Harley is set to ride that wave with an even smaller capacity ‘X210’ for the Indian market, judging by a prototype spotted in the country.
Scooped by Rush Lane, the prototype looked outwardly similar to the X440, but with a small engine - possibly the 210cc, single-cylinder engine from the Karizma XMR 210, built by Hero. As a reminder, that’s the firm which Harley-Davidson has partnered with to make the X440 a reality.
Unlike the 440cc unit found in the X440, it’s liquid-cooled, not air-cooled. It’s also only a little less powerful than the X440’s single, producing 25bhp, but it only develops around half the torque - 14lbft vs 26lb ft in the X440.
It wouldn’t be a surprise at all for Harley-Davidson to offer something smaller and cheaper to complement the X440. It already makes the X250 for the Chinese market, and the 200cc segment is massive in India, as evidenced by market-specific oddities like the Honda Hornet 2.0 we took a look at recently.
It’d also give Harley a rival for Triumph’s 250cc version of the Speed 400, which is currently in development.
The new bike would probably be the cheapest Harley-Davidson by far, potentially coming in as low as under the equivalent of £2,000. As it stands, the X440 starts at 2.3 lakh, which is only about £2,300. The bike would be a lot more expensive if it ever made it to the UK, though.