A serious small bike contender

Hero Hunk 440 overall rating

3 out of 5 (3/5)

Hero MotoCorp are the latest name in the growing wave of fresh manufacturers making inroads into Europe, spearheaded by their new Hunk 440.

As India’s largest motorcycle producer by volume, the Delhi giant turns out one bike every 18 seconds, supplying 125 million customers across 51 countries. And now, as of October, the UK has joined that list.

Thanks to a partnership with distributor MotoGB, you can pick up a A2 licence friendly Hunk priced at just £3400 (plus £200 OTR) and offered in three colours: blue, black, and grey.

Against its rivals, that makes the newcomer good value, with only BSA’s Bantam 350 matching it – and that’s down to an introductory deal. A Royal Enfield HNTR will set you back an extra £400, Honda’s GB350 is £500 more, and Triumph’s Speed 400 is way off at £5345.

Hero Hunk 440 at a glance

Reasons to buy:
+ The Hunk 440 is very easy and unintimidating to ride
+ The suspension is excellent and the Hunk handles well
+ Build quality and finish are on par with mainstream rivals

Reasons to avoid:
– The standard tyres are poor and should be swapped at the earliest convenience
– Spirited riding sees the foot pegs scrape easily
– The 6000rpm rev limiter is abrupt

First things first, while on paper the bike’s long-stroke 440cc air-and-oil-cooled two-valve motor might only muster 27bhp and 27lb.ft of torque, in the real world – provided you are happy to forgo any dreams of trackday glory – those numbers don’t really matter.

What you get is a charming, laid-back plodder with ample low-down shove for most situations. Just be mindful of the very abrupt 6000rpm rev limiter.

Foremost among the 440’s positive attributes is its sheer usability – with an 803mm seat height, 188kg kerb weight, and unintimidating power delivery, motorcycles don’t get much easier to ride than this.

Fuelling is smooth, the six-speed ‘box plenty slick, ergonomics are just about bang on for everyday riding, and braking – which is handled by Bybre hardware – is perfectly adequate for the performance on tap.

Suspension in particular gets a big tick, with the preload-adjustable twin shock/non-adjustable USD fork combo from Kayaba proving to be more than up to the task of keeping things under control, even when being a little silly on track.

Credit to Hero, because the Hunk appears well screwed together too, and a good look around the bike revealed a fit and finish at least on par with mainstream rivals. LED lighting all around is a nice touch, also.

Now, that’s not to say there aren’t a couple of shortcomings to note. While not quite bad enough to be considered dangerous, the standard-fit MRF tyres are seriously dire. The foot pegs, also, while comfortably roomy, are just too low and deck out easily, even in spite of the sub-optimal tyre selection.

Look past these minor foibles – or just buy new rubber – and what the new Hero represents is an honest, well-valued proposition, reminiscent of what motorcycles used to be: cheap transport.

If the more extreme side of riding is your thing, you’ll have already stopped reading long before this point. But if you’re a new rider, an experienced hand looking to downsize, an around-town commuter, or even an instructor looking to refresh an ageing A2 training fleet, then chances are what you want is an easy-going, cheap as chips runabout, in which case, maybe what you need is a new Hunk in your life.