Hero Mavrick 440 review: A delightful deal

There is a slight hesitation at full throttle at around the 2,000rpm mark, and peak torque is down from 38 to 36Nm on the Mavrick. Both of these are things that you’ll feel slightly from the saddle, but won’t really get in the way of your riding experience. What might, though, are the vibrations here. Once past 4,500rpm, vibrations begin to creep in at the handlebar, and as you keep exploring further up the tachometer, they intensify. By the time you’ve crossed 5,000rpm, there are significant vibrations at the handlebar, fuel tank and foot pegs, with the seat remaining the only smooth touch point. In top gear, this translates into a very smooth and relaxed 100kph cruise, but things begin to get vibey past 110kph, and by 120kph it’s borderline unpleasant. The extent of these vibrations varied across a few different bikes that we rode, ranging from quite unpleasant to not so bad. Nevertheless, the engine’s easygoing nature and broad spread of torque make this a great highway bike up to 110kph. There seem to be a lot of people upset by the fact that here you only get a conventional telescopic fork on the Mavrick, and not an upside down unit like on the X440. And they have a point. After all, Hero’s smaller and cheaper Xtreme 160R sports a nice golden upside-down fork, so why should this Rs 2.24 lakh flagship have to make do with a simple black telescopic unit? Bragging rights aside though, the actual performance of the suspension setup and the chassis package here is excellent. Ride quality is a great balance between composure and absorption, with the Mavrick never feeling out of shape even when tackling undulating stretches of road at highway speeds. At the same time, harsh stretches of road are dealt with quite well, and only very poor surfaces will highlight the slight firm edge of the rear shocks. The Mavrick also feels far more manageable than its 187kg kerb weight would suggest, and it's a predictable and easy handler too. Part of this is also down to the fact that it's running a smaller 17-inch front wheel, as opposed to the Harley's 18-incher. Despite this, it feels like a substantial motorcycle from the saddle. You’re faced with a nice wide handlebar and a sizeable fuel tank between your legs, room on the well-padded seat is in generous supply and your legs are placed comfortably too. Overall, it seats you in an upright and neutral position, and you should have no problem spending long hours in the saddle of the Mavrick. The fork isn’t the only area where Hero has cut costs. To position its Mavrick under the Harley, and have it start at Rs 1.99 lakh, Hero has also done away with the colour TFT display and replaced it with an LCD unit. Nevertheless, the Mavrick is still quite a feature-rich motorcycle and ticks many of the right boxes. All three variants get Bluetooth connectivity, all-LED lighting, a USB charger and dual-channel ABS as standard. That wow starting price of Rs 1.99 lakh is for the base variant that comes with wire-spoke wheels, which you want to avoid. The mid variant offers the convenience of alloy wheels and comes in two great colours, priced at Rs 2.14 lakh. And if you want eSIM connectivity and the features that come with it, it’ll be Rs 2.24 lakh for the top variant, which also throws in a machined finish on the wheels and engine cooling fins. This is very competitive pricing that places the Mavrick on par with the slower, smaller, less feature-rich but incredibly charming and popular Royal Enfield Classic 350. More importantly, it undercuts the likes of the Triumph Speed 400, and starts Rs 40,000 lower than the Harley X440. In summation, the Mavrick is a good motorcycle but an even better deal. Its Harley cousin is slightly more premium and polished, but the Mavrick gives you a largely similar experience from the saddle, for a great deal less money, while only missing out on some of the fancy frills.