[Britishbangers]

Hello Folks,

Lets' get this right, I am not a Harley critic - I tend to state facts and will take undue care not to hurt personal feelings, since we are all motorcyclists, irrespective of the 'brand' that is on the tank.

My circle of friends include HD riders with a smattering of 883, 1200 Sportsters, Fat Boys, Electra Glides & Vrods.

As mentioned by the previous poster, yes the Harley will feel no longer feel outdated if you compare it with a Bullet, that my friend is irony and satire cohabiting in a single sentence !

However - compare apples with apples.

Compare the HD with something in a similar price range.

Compare HD with something else with a similar displacement.

Compare HD Vee Twin technology with something similar Vee twin.

The whole plot is lost if you compare it with another antiquated offering from the 50's - err, or maybe it is right to compare it 'only' with the Bullet then.

In keeping with 'tradition' of the Vee Twin engine, the angle of the cylinders and the 'sound', HD have been doling out antiquated stuff - period.

The Vrod engine is a marvelous piece of engineering, put in a bike with a cutting edge frame - however the disdain shown by the HD faithfuls was/is akin to casting pearls before.... as the saying goes.

In case one is interested in 'retro' classics, there are offerings from Moto Guzzi, Kawasaki, Indian, Triumph, Horex, Norton & Honda . However - you cannot compare them to the HD - the others have taken their game to a higher plane.

Lighten up and listen/ read on, take two/ three manufacturers for e.g. BMW, Triumph & Kawasaki.

BMW - is mostly associated with the Boxer engine configuration. However, they have a variety of offerings (in line fours, boxer twins, parallel twins & singles). They did not gloat on their Boxer twins and dig a deeper hole that they were already in. They modernized and the rest is the future.

Triumphs - 'ditto', know for their parallel twins and their triples in the fading glory days, They have twins, triples and fours on offer and their products are modern. Even the twins have 360 and 270 firing orders. Triumph could have continued to dole out parallel twins with 180 deg firing order and stayed in the dark ages - however, they moved on and modernized for the future.

Kawasaki - they copied the BSA A10 650 - however, they removed all the inherent flaws and their offering was miles ahead of the parent bike. Then they developed the W650 and now they have the W800 - a super smooth performer in the retro category. With all their offerings they are poised for the future.

Harley with its leg in the past is unfortunately looking at history - if they do not modernize.

I could state similar examples with Honda, Moto Guzzi and Norton, who have modernized too without divorcing their classic lines and heritage.

The new Horex engine is a peach!

Any motorcycle starting at the press of the button is not a unbelievable fact - it is supposed to, technology provides for it and is called reliability!

As mentioned earlier, facts for facts and to each his own, if it floats your boat - go ahead and may you have millions of trouble free miles on an HD.

For goodness sake wear proper protection/ gear, it is just not worth while wearing/having 'ape bars/colors /patches/ chaps/ brain bucket helmets festooned with HD/ HOG insignia - it does Zilch to the riding experience and Nada to the safety aspect.

Regards,

BB

[dkaile]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay354mG_KMk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgeyL...8JMQ3Qz2LDd4Hy

[Mpower]

Not sure if its a coincidence or intentional, but of the 2 designers of the bike, one is an Indian guy

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Wonder if this will pass Willie's 'sound test'. Or maybe he does not bother with water cooled Harleys!

Regards
Sutripta

I saw the video and the bike did not sound like a typical Harley at all.
Sounded revvy and low on bass

[Sutripta]

^^^
Biggest difference will be because of the firing angle. Unless it has an offset crankpin. Very unlikely. (Though Triumph, I believe, does that for their I2s. But for very different reasons.)

Regards
Sutripta

[dkaile]

India to be the first market for the Street 750

[Sutripta]

Hi,
Was waiting for some more details to emerge, but initial buzz seems to be over.
Does anyone know the spark plug location? And details of the cam drive?

Regards
Sutripta

[dkaile]

Street 750 to feature in Captain America


Preview launch in India at IBW, Goa at coming in Jan'14 @4.5L. So who all are meeting me there?

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Was waiting for some more details to emerge, but initial buzz seems to be over.
Does anyone know the spark plug location? And details of the cam drive?

Regards
Sutripta

From this initial review-> http://rideapart.com/2013/11/2014-ha...-500-review/2/, the Harley Street 500 seems disappointing.

Cheers,

Jay

[parrys]

Harley-Davidson will showcase the made in India Street 750 motorcycle at India Bike Week '14. The bike will be displayed from 17th January onwards at Vagator beach, Goa.

The Street 750 motorcycle is powered by a 749cc, V-Twin, liquid cooled engine mated to a 6 speed gearbox. Harley-Davidson calls this the Revolution X engine. Typical of Harleys, the Street 750 is going to be belt driven. The bike will have a 2 into 1 exhaust, single caliper disc brakes and wheel sizes of 17'' at the front and 15'' at the rear.

The bike will have finance options from Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) along with insurance and extended warranty options in select markets, unfortunately India is not one of these markets. The Street 750 motorcycle is a part of the Project Rushmore by Harley-Davidson & was unveiled during the 2013 EICMA Motor Show in Milan.

Pricing remains to be a key aspect to watch out for when the bike is launched in the coming week. Sources at Harley have confirmed that the price will be less that Rs. 5 lakh on-road. Impressive pricing has the potential to open the doors for those bikers fence-sitting in anticipation of a lower priced Harley-Davidson.

[ebonho]

Are all bigger Harley's air cooled? That radiator looks like a stone magnet man. Somehow weird to see a Harley with one, that too this big and prominent. Lets hope they price this well. Harley for aam admi. Without the broom .....

[parrys]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Are all bigger Harley's air cooled?

The Night Rod is liquid cooled. The Superlow and Iron 883 are air cooled. I guess the line up has a mix of the cooling systems on offer.

[Rehaan]

I thought the V-Rod was the only liquid cooled one so far, but i guess not. The new 2014 bikes seem to depart from the air-cooled tradition though.

Riders, it turns out, don't like crotch-melting heat (go figure), and cooling the cylinder heads (in much the same way that BMW's newest R1200GS does) enables a modicum of thermal management without requiring a giant radiator to be bolted ahead of the engine.

Liquid-cooled heads are currently only available on the Electra Glide Ultra Classic Limited, Tri-Glide, and CVO Limited, and should shoppers choose to stick to strictly oil and air-cooled mills, they have the option of putting their dollars towards the standard Electra Glide Ultra Classic model.

Read more: Why Harley-Davidson's 2014 Lineup Broke a 110 Year Tradition with Liquid Cooled Engines - Popular Mechanics


cya
R

[parrys]

Today, Harley-Davidson organised a one-on-one interaction with their India MD, Mr. Anoop Prakash and a few members of the media.

The discussion was mostly focused on the upcoming Street 750 & Street 500 bikes. Here's some of the interesting information we managed to get from the discussion.

'Street 750' - Launch & Pricing:

• The Street 750 will be priced less than Rupees 5 lakh on-road.
• For cost reference, in the USA the Street 500 will retail at $6700 (Rs. 4.15L) and the Street 750 at $7500 (Rs. 4.64L).
• The Indian launch will be at the Auto Expo in Noida in the first week of February.
• Bookings for the Street 750 open on February 5th. Deliveries start from June 2014.
• The spare parts and accessories for the Street 750 will be launched along with the motorcycle. They will be priced in proportion to the Street 750's price (ie. they would not cost as much as accessories for the Street Glide).
• Harley-Davidson has tied up with ICICI & HDFC for providing financing options to the buyers. Interest rates offered for Harley-Davidson bikes are the same as those offered for premium cars (as claimed). Around 50% bikes sold are financed.
• Harley-Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) will not be available in India anytime soon.
• Harley-Davidson has sold above 4000 bikes in India. Out of which 1000 HD owners are expected to be present at India Bike Week where the Street 750 will be unveiled.
• 3 custom concept versions of the Street 750 will also be showcased in the next few weeks.
• The USA launch of the Street 750 will follow the India launch.

Developing & Producing the 'Street' range of Bikes:

• The initial research for the Street range of bikes started off as early as 2008.
• The Street is the 1st all new platform from Harley in the last 14 years. All new components including chassis, engine etc.
• The Street 500 & 750 bikes have no part sharing with the other bikes in the Harley-Davidson line-up.
• For the Street 500 & 750 motorcycles, a research survey was conducted between 3000 enthusiasts from 10 different countries out of which 500 entries were from India. It was a customer led project.
• Apart from the engine, the Street 750 & Street 500 will be almost identical.
• Production of the Street 500 & 750 will be in India and in the USA both. Production commences post the Auto Expo 2014.
• The Street 500 & 750 will be exported from India to other Asian countries and also some European nations.
• The Street 500 meets some licensing requirements in European nations, hence it will be launched that side of the globe before it is launched in India. The Street 500 will make it to India only in 2015.
• With the introduction of the Street 500 & 750, Harley-Davidson expects to ship out 7000-10000 motorcycles in the coming fiscal year, from the first 5 markets where it would be launched.

Misc Points:

• Harley-Davidson says they want to stay committed to keeping the cost of ownership low. This is one reason why they have not increased the labour costs for servicing their bikes since the last 4 years now.
• India is the only country where Harley-Davidson has set up a manufacturing facility outside of the USA.
• India is the 1st market where Harley-Davidson had set up a subsidiary since day 1.
• For bulk requirements, Harley-Davidson still depends on the US supply chain.
• As of date, in India, the Superlow and Iron 883 are the major volume sellers from the Harley stable at the lower range; the Fat Boy is a popular product in the higher range.
• August is the model year change for Harley-Davidson, so we can expect something more (new variants of existing bikes) around that time.
• Harley-Davidson currently has 13 dealerships and expects the number to go up by 3-4 dealerships in 2014.
• Despite BHPians spotting the XR1200X a few months back, there are no plans of it coming to India officially.
• No 250 cc bike plans at all, the MD says that everything we've heard is a rumour.
• Harley claims to report a growth of 10 % every quarter, in Asia.

[rshanker]

The HD 750 has been unveiled at India Bike Week 2014

http://www.topgear.com/india/bike-ne...week/itemid-50

[apachelongbow]

Any discussion on the power/torque figures on the 500/750? I have been hearing about a shocking 25-26ps for the 500, which is lower than the bullet 500.
The bike looks alright, except the atrocious 1980 headlight lifted from a cd100/dawn or a rx100 and the very silly looking rubber gaiters. In-fact a deletion of these 2 items will reveal a scaled down vrod, which IMO is fantastic styling.

The whole question is now on the power. If the power on the 750 is below 40bhp, then no matter the price, people may not pay 5 lacs for a slow 130kmph bike, if the power is close to 60ps (i doubt it), then this would not be a Harley, but a buzzing/high revving Hysoung instead....