Exclusive: Modified Harley-Davidson X440 By Bombay Custom Works

In the busy streets of Mumbai, there stands a unique custom house, called Bombay Custom Works, where you enter and time almost stops for you. You’re mesmerised by all kinds of modified and restored bikes including Royal Enfields, Jawas, Yezdis and more standing in all their glory telling their own story. This custom house was started in 2012, by a dreamer and enthusiast named Shail Sheth. Making his dream of building bikes a reality and his love for bikes has continued for over 12 years now.

Among his collection of modified bikes, one bike that kept our jaw wide open was a modified Harley Davidson X440 that was transformed into a flat tracker-style bike. After a very interesting conversation with Shail himself, we learnt about the ethos behind the Harley Davidson X440’s flat tracker build. 

About the Modified Harley-Davidson X440

The Harley-Davidson X440 was a project allocated to Bombay Custom Works by Harley-Davidson itself to build something different on their new platform that would be displayed at India Bike Week 2023 along with 3 other custom houses. Each building the bike in their own unique way. This wasn’t just some build, it was an opportunity to showcase their imagination through the bike. Grabbing this opportunity, Shail sat on the drawing board and decided that he would transform the X440 into a mean-looking flat tracker. As Shail explains, "The bike had an interesting frame, something unlike what we've seen before. It was a chance to do something creative, something that hadn't been done."

While Shail and his team faced many challenges on the way, they completed the transformation in 20 days! Talking about what has been done to the bike: It has a beautiful quilted seat covered in suede leather, a custom fuel tank and panels that were made for the bike from scratch. Considering that it is a flat tracker, the front brake and headlight have been removed. Instead of the headlight, a race number plate has been mounted and it showcases the X440’s and the custom house’s name. It also has an aftermarket handlebar that sits slightly lower than the stock unit. Moving to the back, the bike gets a redesigned custom exhaust and a custom rear end that looks sleek. The bike gets new rims and flat track-ready tyres too.

He mentioned that the engine and the suspension weren’t touched as this was more of a visual experience of what mods can be done on the X440 platform. While he said that the bike can be taken to a flat track, he hasn’t tested it yet. Overall the bike gets a beautiful paint job with the frame in red colour standing out and other parts painted in shades of white, yellow and black. The result was a sleek and agile bike that stood out not just for its beauty but for its craftsmanship. 

How much does a project like this cost?

The cost of one such bespoke build is around 8 to 10 lakh Rupees. While you think the cost is exuberant, "You can't put a number to creativity," Shail muses, highlighting the value of the craftsmanship and time that goes into each project. 

Other Builds

Shail also revealed that the custom house is working on new projects daily for customers and a few OEMs too. One of the projects is a BMW G 310 GS into a fun lightweight scrambler. He added that most of the stock parts have been taken off, replaced with many custom parts and the chassis has been cut shorter. We also saw that the stock headlight housing was replaced with a rally-style skeletonised headlight that was specially designed for the bike. We hope to get our hands on this as soon as the build is complete. 

In the world of Bombay Custom Works, every bike is a canvas with its imagination and vision acting like a brushstroke. Shail emphasises that all this wouldn’t have been possible without his hardworking team, who form the backbone of the custom house.

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