Harley Davidson is Here - Website Launched

[straight6]

So finally Harley is here. They have designed a bike specially for India. From what I gathered there, its going to be nothing more than 3.75L. The bike looks like a smaller version of the V-Rod. The bike should be launched anytime this year.

[pinnacle]

Originally Posted by straight6

So finally Harley is here. They have designed a bike specially for India. From what I gathered there, its going to be nothing more than 3.75L. The bike looks like a smaller version of the V-Rod. The bike should be launched anytime this year.

3.75 L sounds like a steal even if its a Baby Harley
Wonderin how long would we have to wait for the launch
Did you catch a sneak preview ?

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by straight6

So finally Harley is here. They have designed a bike specially for India. From what I gathered there, its going to be nothing more than 3.75L. The bike looks like a smaller version of the V-Rod. The bike should be launched anytime this year.

3.75L sounds too good for a Harley
I hope it comes with a decent engine.

[straight6]

Originally Posted by pinnacle

Did you catch a sneak preview ?

Yes, I did.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

3.75L sounds too good for a Harley
I hope it comes with a decent engine.

It looked like a 1000-1200. They said they may change the engine according to what the public demands in the survey. The bike is going to be customized as per Indian public. They haven't even named it yet.

[pinnacle]

Originally Posted by straight6

Yes, I did.



It looked like a 1000-1200.

1000 upwards sounds great
jus curious, how diff does it look from the big brothers ?
and does it look value for money @ the price

[sriramv.iyer]

Originally Posted by straight6

So finally Harley is here. They have designed a bike specially for India. From what I gathered there, its going to be nothing more than 3.75L. The bike looks like a smaller version of the V-Rod. The bike should be launched anytime this year.

Time to sell my R15? :-) - May be time will answer! I hope the thing gets launched.

I waited too long for the Ninja 250 before I picked up R15.

3.75L should be a good price for Harley. I hope they don't launch a 100CC bike for this price! (Like Yamaha did for R15 (150CC))

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by straight6

Yes, I did.



It looked like a 1000-1200. They said they may change the engine according to what the public demands in the survey. The bike is going to be customized as per Indian public. They haven't even named it yet.

A 1000-1200 at 3.75L dont tell me
if its true,then i have no words.

[straight6]

Originally Posted by sriramv.iyer

Time to sell my R15? :-) - May be time will answer! I hope the thing gets launched.

I waited too long for the Ninja 250 before I picked up R15.

3.75L should be a good price for Harley. I hope they don't launch a 100CC bike for this price! (Like Yamaha did for R15 (150CC))

The smallest engine they have is 883 cc. They have a reputation of sorts to maintain. Besides, they can only launch a bike over 800 cc here. I think they might launch the Fatboy and one other model.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

A 1000-1200 at 3.75L dont tell me
if its true,then i have no words.

I still wouldn't buy one. It just isn't me. I was quite disappointed to find out that its Harley. I was hoping it would be Kawasaki planning to launch the big bikes or atleast the 250R.

[manson]

It was a Sunday afternoon well spent yesterday, S6 and I were almost certain that the workshop was organised by Kawasaki or KTM, Bajaj has had plans to launch both brands in India since a while.
The questionnaire was an exhaustive one, and covered most vital details even for an enthusiast. The research team had most obviosuly done their homework, and had everythig organised quite professionally. Even the confirmations, and other form of communication was on the better side of things.
We were first handed over a questionnaire relating to our general information, after which we were taken to a place where the research team had lined up 13 motorcycles, ranging from the Pulsar-Bullets to the Brutale-Hayabusa-some 550 kg Harley.
We were allowed to sit on each bike, crank it, revv it at standstill and answer an extremely exhaustive questionnaire which must have taken over an hour. The sheet had questions asking us what we thought of thebike when we looked at it, comfort levels, riding prefrances, the works.

Post that, we were taken to another room which was the giveaway, there were 5 Harleys parked in that room. One of those was named Bike X, which was the prototype of what is most definitely (we figured later) making its way to India. The other four bikes were the usual typical Harleys, big, bulky, heavy and chrome heavy.
Bike X was not as fancy as you mostly would imagine a Harley Davidson to be, but it yet looked quite fancy, and I hope they do not get the orange colour scheme when they eventually launch it. Good news is that gray is the other colour option Harley is considering.

Similar to what we had just done a while ago, we were givenm once again an exhaustive questionnaire with almost the same questions, but this time in relation with the Harleys parked in the room. I must admit, the bikes in this room looked quite bland and not the typical Harley one would imagine.

This one was easy and we got done much faster as there mostly isn't a lot in technology, build quality, comfort levels between 5 Harleys.
Post this, we were taken iinto another room for a 15 minute off personal interview which related to buying prefrances, opinion regarding localisation of parts, pricing, a typical Harley rider, a typical Harley showroom, the works. Around this, we did take up another questionnaire sheet (yes, another one) which had a lot of questions relating to Harley Davidson. A little while over and we were done.

While S6 and I walked out, we weren't entirely too happy about the new player in the Indian two wheeler market being Harley, hey we wanted Kawasaki.

But, the guys at Tecnova (the reasearch company) had done a great job, they were trying to relate to the Indian motorcycle enthusiast for once, keeping in mind likes, dislikes, income levels, spending patterns, demographic factors, social factors, e.t.c
All of this made me feel good, all of this made it seem like Harley is incredibly serious about its Indian venture, they want to eneter the m,arket, create their niche and give the Indian buyer what he wants at a reasonable price (from what the survey strongly hinted)and not just bully around and offer motorcycles that only a handful can afford.

Good move Harley, the workshop yesterday makes me want to belive that Harley Davidson is really serious about the Indian market and isn't going to be dumpings its stuff around here. I appreciate the fact that the guys at HD have made an effort to understand the Indian market and take a controlled and steady foot towards Indian shores. I wish you all the best.

manson.

[DKG]

Harley bring on the big daddies !! You'll be surprised at India's appetite.

I want the softtail deluxe and would love to start the Hyd Hogs soon

[hillram]

At last Harleys will adorn Indian roads.its a momentous time for Indian motoring history.

[Nitin]

Any pics of the bike they are looking to launch? Is it something like the roadster?
Rs3-4L for a 1000c bike ain't bad at all!

[manson]

Originally Posted by Nitin

Any pics of the bike they are looking to launch? Is it something like the roadster?
Rs3-4L for a 1000c bike ain't bad at all!

I could have sneaked a picture of the prototype, but I just thought against it. Sorry.
About the engine, I have a gut feeling that Harley is going to launch this BikeX in the 3-4L bracket with an 800 odd cc engine, and launch the fully fledged Harleys with a heftier price tag, 8-15 L range.

manson.

[DKG]

Harley's baby sometime back used to be the 883 Hugger, really sweet bike

[rupinder]

Originally Posted by manson

I could have sneaked a picture of the prototype, but I just thought against it. Sorry.
About the engine, I have a gut feeling that Harley is going to launch this BikeX in the 3-4L bracket with an 800 odd cc engine, and launch the fully fledged Harleys with a heftier price tag, 8-15 L range.

manson.

manson bhaaji what is your gut freeling about the launch date of the bike. when do u think it will be available to the indian aam junta. and the shape of bike x resembled which of the harley bike