Harley-Davidson X210: All Expected Things Smallest Harley May Get, When Launched

The X210 will benefit from Karizma’s 210cc liquid-cooled engine

• What makes the engine so special is the fact that it’s Hero’s first liquid-cooled engine
• Even for a first attempt, Hero really has nailed the engineering of the motor
• In fact, it is happy to maintain 130kmph on the highway, speeds that no other Hero bike has ever been able to achieve happily. 

The Hero-Harley Davidson partnership has definitely gotten off to a very promising start, for the Harley-Davidson X440 has been an impressive motorcycle and almost everyone who got on it has gotten off thinking about it in a positive manner. That was mainly down to its super torquey motor, fun handling and responsive chassis, something that had been missing in Harley-Davidson bikes for quite a while now. 

And another impressive bike that Hero has been involved with in recent times is obviously the Karizma. The bike is smooth, refined and quite quick, making it quite a good tool for beginners to learn the art of cornering and riding fast on. 

And with that, we all know how partnerships work and how much platform sharing goes on, especially in automotive partnerships. So does that very thing mean that there could very well be a Harley-Davidson X440 in the making soon? Well, here are some reasons why that could happen, but also one very strong reason why it might not: 

Test Mule Spotted

A test mule of what seemed to be the X210 was actually recently spotted. While we’re not a 100% sure that it was the X210, the bike did have X440-like styling, pointing towards the fact that it could be another retro roadster from Harley wearing the X moniker. But when looking towards its heart, it showed that it had a liquid-cooled engine, one with a bronze finish similar to the one on the Hero Karizma XMR, and that really made us wonder if Hero was really testing out an X210 for India. 

What works for the brand is the fact that Indians are fans of retro bikes and there aren’t a whole lot of them in the entry level space. So if Hero and Harley could combine to bank on that, they would have a market with endless possibilities in their hand. A 210cc retro roadster would be the perfect entry point for those enthusiasts who find the likes of the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 a bit too expensive to buy. 

Lovely Engine!

The Karizma’s engine is truly a lovely one and there are no two ways to it. In fact, with 25.5PS, it is the most powerful among its competitors and that includes highly strung bikes like the KTM RC 200 and the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200, both bikes which have been around for a while now. The bike can hold a 130kmph cruise on the highway all day long and interestingly, that’s something even the Harley-Davidson X440 can’t. And let us remind you, the X440 is a bike that boasts of more than double the cubic capacity. That’s what liquid-cooling does to a motorcycle! 

So all those looking to tour on their Harley-Davidson bikes, and a lot of Harley owners do love to tour…will love this very nature of the engine. Not many Harley Davidson bikes have boasted of reaching 130kmph easily and if a 210cc engine can do it, Harley would only be too happy to put it on a cruiser or maybe even a retro roadster, something similar to the X440. 

Cost Saving

The biggest benefit of platform sharing is obviously the cost saving. One of Karizma’s strongest suits is its price…the fact that it’s priced lower than the Yamaha R15 V4, a 150cc bike, is quite impressive! So if Hero and Harley can team up to work up the same magic on the upcoming X210, the X210 could really sell like hot cakes. If Harley does get really aggressive, it could aim for a Rs 1.50 lakh (ex-showroom) price, that would be quite something. 

In fact, such a pricing means the bike would even eat into the markets of the Yamaha FZ-X, a bike that’s claimed to be a retro one but has extremely polarising looks. In fact, a lot of people despise its looks and hence it only makes sense for them to then gravitate towards the X210. The X440 is definitely a good looking retro roadster so if the X210 is made in the same design language, it’d be very nice for the retro bike enthusiasts. 

But The Engine’s Character…

The very engine we talked about earlier could be a bit of an issue for the bike too though. While more modern riders will appreciate the rev-happy nature of it, some old school enthusiasts would want the torquey engines, something that the X440’s air-cooled engine has, and hence they might end up disliking the Karizma’s liquid-cooled one.