Things We Didn’t Like
Ride Quality – The X440 T’s ride quality is its weakest link in an otherwise good motorcycle. The front is too soft and easily bottoms out over rumblers, stepped joints, or around sudden dips, which were aplenty during my Konkan ride. Meanwhile, the rear suspension is marginally on the firmer side, and there is a noticeable disconnect between the front and the rear. The softer front feels unsettled over undulations as speeds increase.
Seating comfort – While the ergonomics are well-sorted for touring, the same can’t be said about the bike’s seating comfort. The seat is narrower in profile, and it rises steeply, resulting in you sitting closer to the tank. This translates into less support for your posterior over longer distances. Furthermore, the seat has softer cushioning, which means your backside starts hurting sooner than expected. A wider seat with a less aggressive step-up and firmer cushioning could help immensely on longer multi-day rides.
Luggage Mounting – The hallmark of a good touring motorcycle, apart from its performance and ride comfort, is its ability to haul luggage. The X440 T loses some brownie points here as it has limited options to mount luggage on it, especially if you are someone who prefers tail bags over saddlebags. It lacks mounting points to hook the straps of a tail bag.
You need to run the straps under the rear mudguard to secure the bag. While this ‘jugaad’ works perfectly, you run the risk of scratching the tail panels (as in our case), and there’s also a possibility of damaging the indicators or the straps snapping off due to high-intensity impacts over road undulations at speed. Moreover, Harley doesn’t sell any official accessories that could improve its luggage hauling ability. That said, you can mount tank bags without issues.
