[RT13]

Bah! To me Harley is pure brand, no substance (and I’m a brand guy by career) - hawking century-old technology at insane prices to people who aspire to some sort of mythical American lifestyle in an Indian context. The only ICE Harley that’s got real substance is merely a Porsche on two wheels (I’m discounting their new push on EVs which seem to hold promise).

And in this context, I look at these bikes and think it isn’t the worst thing to come out of their stable by any stretch. Benellis have always been decent bikes let down by awful ASS in India. If I can get what’s basically a Benelli twin/dual but with decent ASS, that seems like a proposition worthy of consideration to me. And this is certainly not the worst looking bike on the block.

Of course, much depends on the pricing and they’ll probably go over the top but, on the offchance that sense prevails, this may be worth looking at, particularly given the vast gulf between the RE 650s at 4ish and the next level of middleweights which are today pushing 9-10L in some places.

[Tucker48]

Originally Posted by LBWKjesko

What is the estimated price of this?

Rs 3.9 lakh ex showroom in China. Expecting 4.5 lakh+ on road in India.

It will be interesting to see sales numbers of RE 650 in USA against sales of 350 Harleys in India and likewise for UK against sales of 350 Triumph.

[W16rocks]

Originally Posted by RD150

Even though it's a 350, the power figures are good. It seems like a decent rival to the Interceptor 650. Considering the partnership with Hero, I expect the pricing to be aggressive and under 4 lacs onroad. Fingers crossed!!

Man really love your innocence, a Harley Davidson being sold for <4 lacs on road, even the Chinese models of this is sold for 4.5 lacs, plus the 350cc engine is no match for RE’s 650 cc motor.
Please be realistic in your expectations, cause whatever the underpinning of this bike may be, it’s a Harley after all, so won’t be VFM that’s for sure.

[AtheK]

Not sure when will manufacturers understand that this is NEW India, people more then brand are looking for quality products. Look at Hyundai selling cars like Tucson and Ioniq for almost Half a crore rupees and commanding waiting periods, because the product is good. Harley per me is reading the market wrong, I remember how previous harley owners had disowned the owners of street 750, this will just dilute the brand even further, which in itself is already a failure in India. Add to it the fact that they are tying up with Benelli, which in itself is a flop brand.

I don't see this selling much, hardcore fans will write it off as No good, new generation will look at other products, for them Harley is not an aspirational brand in motorcycle brand anymore.

[RD150]

Originally Posted by W16rocks

Man really love your innocence, a Harley Davidson being sold for <4 lacs on road, even the Chinese models of this is sold for 4.5 lacs, plus the 350cc engine is no match for RE’s 650 cc motor.
Please be realistic in your expectations, cause whatever the underpinning of this bike may be, it’s a Harley after all, so won’t be VFM that’s for sure.

"It's a Harley after all" attitude made them exit Indian market last time. If they continue the same strategy, it's going to be DOA. There is a reason they have partnered with Hero. And yes this Harley 350 is no match to interceptor, that is why they need to price it lower or match it with interceptor's price.

[Turbosailor]

I honestly doubt this bike will sell in numbers especially in India. We can see from the market shares how Chinese Bikes Companies marketed by Adishwar Auto Rides Int. are performing ( Benelli, Moto Morini, Qj motors, Keeway etc )

It might be tempting for newbies who don't care what's the DNA of this baby HD might buy one. But one who is aware of all the data might stay away. IMHO why should one buy a Chinese bike pretending to be an offering from Legendary American brand who are trying their best to market their products in developing markets. Instead they can go for RE, KTM which have good reputation and might not throw spanner in middle and call for a quit from Indian market like other American companies. It can sell in few numbers if Hero MotCorp is manufacturing it in Indian not mere CKD ways like other Chinese brands.

[Precision]

This is exactly what happens when the bean counters take decisions in a company where legacy and pride used to be the leading ethos.
MSIL and Toyota marriage makes better sense now.

[marcussantiago]

Harley's new CEO is a guy with a reputation for being able to save failing companies with his cut-throat cost-cutting practices. It was pretty clear from the get-go that he wasn't the least bit interested in Harley's heritage, history, the loyal customer base, the whole ethos of owning a Harley-- just doing whatever it takes to turn the red into black financially. And similarly, Hero is a mass-market scooter maker.

None of this bodes well for H-D's future.

The previous H-D CEO had several initiatives to save the brand, bring in new riders, innovating, and still trying to stay true to the brand image. They weren't all great, critics have their opinions, but at least some of those things were promising. Like the Livewire as a proof-of-concept and working on other electric ideas, since that's the future whether some people like it or not. The Street 750 and 500 had the best possible chance of getting a foothold in the Asian market, botched as the handling of that was.

But the new CEO immediately gutted all of this, including the Streets and Livewire, which was the only few good things Harley was working on, and went for the cheapest possible option to make a mass-market small-cc bike by simply rebadging an existing very mediocre Chinese bike that even Benelli wasn't interested in.

I get the logic, he's going full-triage mode to save the brand, even if it means turning it into a clone of Hero's scooter department. But Harley's different. We're genuinely looking at the death of Harley's soul here. I wouldn't be surprised if he slaps Harley badges on existing Hero scooters and calls it a Harley, he couldn't care less so long as it sells in big numbers. Which it only might do if it's sold at a mass-market cheap price.

I'm not even a Harley fan or anything, so I'm impartial here.

Basically, Harley had a lot of chances to innovate but didn't bother till it was too late, like a chain smoker who decides to quit smoking when his doctor tells him he has stage 4 terminal cancer. Now the Hero-Harley merger with H-D's new CEO means we're entering a phase of Harley's story that looks like the movie Weekend at Bernies. If you haven't watched it, it's a 1990s era comedy where two friends disguise and prop up their recently-deceased friend's corpse like a puppet to fool people into thinking he's still alive for various shenanigans.

Sad, because I really thought Harley had a chance of innovating out of their mess with the Livewire, but too little too late, I guess.

[JG@Nomad]

Looks like a good option for those who are fed up with RE and KTMs. This engine is very refined and capable. Key element will the the ASS and Chinese tag.

[ACM]

Harley-Davidson were bought more for the brand prestige than for the reliability, ease of service, value for money, or even the driving comfort and ease. For those parameters you had and have the Triumph or the Royal Enfield.

I frankly don't see the charm in buying a Made in China 350 or even 500cc Harley-Davidson that will be a bit better value with much lower brand prestige and absolutely no product Halo.

RE 650s are the ones to go for. HOG or NOT.

[LBWKjesko]

Originally Posted by Tucker48

Rs 3.9 lakh ex showroom in China. Expecting 4.5 lakh+ on road in India.

It will be interesting to see sales numbers of RE 650 in USA against sales of 350 Harleys in India and likewise for UK against sales of 350 Triumph.

Won't that be too steep?! I wonder what'll make it a better buy than the RE conti/interceptor, except from the brand name of course.

[bf1983]

Originally Posted by LBWKjesko

Won't that be too steep?! I wonder what'll make it a better buy than the RE conti/interceptor, except from the brand name of course.

For the Indian market it will definitely be steep. However in the international market RE bikes sell for a lot more than what they are priced at in India so Harley has a chance to make a dent in the Interceptor sales abroad but no chance in India.

[navin_v8]

The old American MoCo is very late to join the party of the mid-range class of motorcycles. They should've done this at least about 10-12 years back. There's news doing rounds of Kawasaki Eliminator 400 heading to India in addition to the Honda CBX500. Then there's the Kawasaki Ninja 300/400 as well. I am deliberately leaving out the RE 350's, Bajaj Dominar and KTM Duke 390 as they are single cylinder motorcycles.

As mentioned the category in which the new HD 350 and 500 would compete is somewhat crowded by single cylinder motorcycles from RE to KTM to Honda to BMW. What differentiates Harley is their twin cylinder setup. But then in the 350-500cc twin cylinder class, there are the Japanese twin cylinder motorcycles that have proven engines being offered in India.

The RE twins I believe are in another category as engine wise they are a full 300cc and 150cc above the HD 350 and 500cc engine capacity (BHP notwithstanding). Price might be more or less same for both RE twins and HD 350/500.

HD abandoning hordes of HD Street 750 owners in India (besides poor quality brakes) is still afresh in memory.

[RD150]

Originally Posted by W16rocks

Man really love your innocence, a Harley Davidson being sold for <4 lacs on road, even the Chinese models of this is sold for 4.5 lacs, plus the 350cc engine is no match for RE’s 650 cc motor.
Please be realistic in your expectations, cause whatever the underpinning of this bike may be, it’s a Harley after all, so won’t be VFM that’s for sure.

Late to post, but see Harley rewarded my innocence by pricing a 440cc bike under 3 lacs 🤗. And by the way had you ever imagined we would get a Triumph under 3 lacs? All this is a reality now. I request you too to stop being realistic in expectations and start demanding rather.