Hero Mavrick first ride review: An X440 minus the Harley badges?

The Mavrick is the second-twin to be born of the Harley-Hero relationship, and although it's taken a fair bit of time to come out into the world, as you would expect, it's got a lot in common with the X400 that entered the market more than six months ago. But there's new bits and cues on there as well that help set them apart visually and distinguish each's character.

Three of those major differences here are that the Mavrick gets a smaller 17-inch front wheel, a reverse LCD instrumentation display and rather simple telescopic fork and dual spring suspension units in comparison to the 18-incher up front, a coloured TFT screen and a USD fork and gas charged dual spring suspension on the X440. It may not seem like much at first, but it changes quite a few other things around as well.

The Maverick is designed to be a roadster while the X440 is meant to be a cruiser. Quite evident from their silhouettes, but visually, the Mavrick is a lot better to take in at according to me, with those shrouds that hide the otherwise odd-looking gap between the tank and the fork seen on the X440. The rear of the bike doesn't look like an afterthought too. The differently designed seat and end-can play a good part in this as well. While I'd prefer to have the Harley in the base variant, with its spoke wheels. I can't say the same for the Hero, which looks a lot better with the alloys on.

Both the Maverick and the X440 have their chassis and engine in common. Nestled within the trellis frame, the 440cc, air- and oil-cooled single out here produces the same amount of power of 27PS at 6,000rpm, but is dialed down in terms of torque, making 36Nm at 4,000rpm, which is 2Nm less than the X440. The long-stroke motor produces a lot of shove low down the powerband and the going is all smooth and great till around the 4,000rpm mark after which the lovely sense of refinement begins to fade with vibrations kicking in. At slow speeds the slip and assist clutch felt nice and light to employ and the engine feels tractable allowing you to pull away pleasantly from low speeds in a higher gear without a fuss.

Out on the open road, the bike hits a sweet-spot just under 100kmph, at around 3,500rpm, with a lovely hypnotic thump emanating from the exhaust. You really feels like you could keep this pace up all day. Just like with the Harley, the motor is in its element up to a certain pace, of about 100kmph, after which pushing it beyond the mark begins to feel out of place, albeit very manageable, but you don't get a true sense of the word performance either. The engine begins to feel stretched with a rise in NVH levels. Yes it will take you to higher speeds but it'll require effort in terms of downshifts and road room to accelerate.

The 17-inch wheel up front means that the Hero has a more upright rider triangle in comparison to the Harley. At slow to medium pace wide handlebar, which will have your arms spread out on the bike allows you to turn in faster, and the suspension units at both ends along with the well-padded seat makes riding over uneven terrain quite comfortable. But with, when you pick up the pace, you're more prone to wind resistance, and this may get a bit uncomfortable over a longer stint in the saddle. Also, the rear suspension doesn't feel too great as soon as you up the pace because if you come across even a moderately sized bump in the road you will be bucked out of the saddle, so you'll want to be weary of that aspect. If you're on some well-paved road surface, you'll mostly have no problem at all.

There were a barely a couple of corners to test the cornering dynamics of this motorcycle out here in Kutch, but when we did find some, the bike and its chassis didn't disappoint. The tyres may prove otherwise and let's just say that the urge to swap the stock MRFs for better treads will increase in in conjunction with how hard you intend on pushing this bike. One thing's for sure though, you'll want to slap on some accessories to make the bike more highway-friendly. A pillion backrest is always a great thing to have if you have someone else aboard.

Overall, the level of fit and finish is mostly good, just like the paint quality on this top-end model, but I would have liked had the mode and set buttons on the instrumentation console been better. The turn-by-turn nav function on there is a nice touch though. I also noted that the indicators appeared to vibrate a lot on the go, at high-torque moments, so that might pose an issue later on.

So, although there are certain aspects about the motorcycle that are 'limited by costs', the Mavrick is otherwise a pretty solid machine. A great, easy-to-ride roadster motorcycle that's definitely got its own unique character that sets it apart from its cruiser twin. Yes, it's a 400cc motorcycle designed to appeal to the masses, but whether it actually does is yet to be seen. The competition in this segment won't make it easy.