Although the huge Harley motorcycles are beyond the reach of an overwhelming majority of Indians, it still has a huge following among Indian riders – and HD plans to cash in on this. The company has already set up its Indian headquarters in Gurgaon, and is in the process of setting up a dealer network. In the initial phase, there will be dealers in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and one in Punjab – either in Chandigarh or Ludhiana. Anoop Prakash, Harley Davidson India MD, said that the company will bring in their full range of bikes. However, sales will start only after the dealer network is established, which means that motorcycles will go on sale only by the middle of 2010. Plus, there are plans of increasing the dealer network considerably by 2011.
The models will come in as CBUs, and Anoop revealed that despite the 100 percent plus import duty on CBUs, HD is looking to sell the bikes within a price range of Rs. 7 to 20 lakhs. On sale will be the different variants of Dynas, V-Rods, Sportsters, Softails, and Tourings.
To make it easier for a client to own one of these iconic motorcycles, HD plans to have a very aggressive finance scheme. Anoop says HD wouldn’t want to disappoint clients who’ve long aspired to own a Harley, and the finance options will go a long way in fulfilling the dream of many a rider. Along with its full range of models, HD will also bring in its riding gear and a mind boggling range of aftermarket accessories to deck up or customize individual bikes.
Now, the best part of their press meet by far, was a fleet of bikes lined up by HD to be ridden! At Rs. 7 lakh, the only bike that Harley Davidson is likely to offer is the Sportster 883, and I got the chance to give it a try. This model is the longest running production bike in the Harley stable, and has a racing pedigree. And, this also seems like the perfect Harley to ride regularly in the chaotic Delhi traffic, as is the Sportster XR1200, but that’s a much more powerful bike.
The notion that Harleys are meant for those heavy, hairy, potbellied riders has been created by certain movies. Anoop informed us that 18 percent of all Harley sales are accounted for by women, and only a microscopic minority of them is potbellied.
The size of most of the bikes can be rather intimidating, but they’re surprisingly easy to handle in traffic. Unlike those insanely powerful Japanese sports bikes where you have to sit all crouched up and ride at light speed, the Harleys are easy riders. The rider can sit like he does in a normal bike (well, almost), and ride at slow speed in the cities, and open it up on the highway. Even the Dyna can be ridden rather easily in Delhi traffic.
Harley Davidson clearly wants to establish itself in a dynamic and emerging market like India, and it also wants to redefine the concept of long distance motorcycle touring. If the company gets the price and finance part right, we might just see a fairly good number of Harley Davidson motorcycles on Indian roads. In terms of aspirational value, bikes like the R1 and the Hayabusa cannot match a Harley, and the company’s certainly counting on that as well.
Auto journalists are not a highly paid bunch, but if Anoop Prakash keeps his word on aggressive financing, I might just save enough money to get one – on a five year repayment scheme perhaps.
