A Chinese Harley is coming

[Eviltwin]

Saw this pop up in an email from Adventure Rider, originally published on Motorcycle.com : https://www.motorcycle.com/new-model...nd-x350ra.html

image_2023-01-26_184019096.jpg

[Navydad]

Smaller bikes are selling and the majority of them are built in China, India, or Taiwan even the big four Japanese companies. HD may as well get a piece of the pie. Most of these smaller bikes are very good motorcycles. HD and all the other companies have been doing business with China for many years. This is the next step. It remains to be seen if HD will put these on the showroom floor or not. Word is they will use them at their riding academies. The 500 and 750 twins they came out with a few years ago haven't been big sellers and that's a shame because they're very good bikes. Smaller bikes and the foreign market are hot right now. U.S no longer controls the market or sets the trends.

[Raven]

Saw this pop up in an email from Adventure Rider, originally published on Motorcycle.com : https://www.motorcycle.com/new-model...nd-x350ra.html

image_2023-01-26_184019096.jpg

Must be a Hardly Davidson

[troop]

Motorcycle ridership has been declining for several years. The younger generation has no interest. H-D needs to infuse younger riders to carry on, and a smaller-inexpensive bike is a great idea. Made in China? Yup, and so what. Look at the foreign content of H-D/Indian/C-A. The quality has gone up nicely, and no one has a better dealer network than H-D. Wish them the best of luck.

[UtahPete]

Might as well just get a Royal Enfield.

[Navydad]

The sales of Royal Enfield increased by 145% last year. You don't get there by selling inferior motorcycles. They have a good quality product if you want a motorcycle and not a land yacht like a Wing. Globally motorcycle sales are through the roof and it is being fueled by smaller bikes including strong sales here in the U.S. Not everyone on the planet thinks a motorcycle should be a two wheeled Accord and weigh 1000 pounds including me. The sale of HD and bikes like the Goldwing are down here in the U.S. and they never did have high volume sales elsewhere. The market for the high priced heavyweights just isn't here anymore and the U.S. was always the prime market. That market has changed as the HD faithful are aging and the younger folks aren't putting up $30K or more for a motorcycle. They have kids, mortgages, etc. and a new $30K bike isn't going to happen, but a reasonably priced smaller bike is doable. Honda saw this when they moved Goldwing manufacturing back overseas and increased car production in Marysville. They are building what sells here and the Wing wasn't and still isn't a money maker for them anymore. I have owned two Wings and a Valkyrie over the years and frankly I didn't like any of them. They were pigs. In the last nineteen years I have had a BMW, a Triumph, and a Moto Guzzi. These European middleweights have served me well with a combined mileage so far of almost 200,000 miles and growing quickly. All of them have been cheaper and easier to maintain than either of my Wings were. Smaller bikes rule now and like it or not India and China are building some darn good machines. I hope these smaller HDs are a good move for the company and I hope folks in this country get over the stigma that an HD isn't a motorcycle unless it weighs as much as a small car and costs more than a big car.

[ARtraveler]

Honda has a new Rebel that may be worth looking at for some. Is has a higher CC displacement than previous models and seems pretty bare bones concerning accessories and pricing. I am going to stay away from the Honda dealers. I supposedly quit two wheeling around two years ago.

1100 cc's. DCT transmission. 27" seat height. around $12K.

[canamjhb]

[QUOTE=ARtraveler; I am going to stay away from the Honda dealers. I supposedly quit two wheeling around two years ago.

1100 cc's. DCT transmission. 27" seat height. around $12K.[/QUOTE]

HMMmmmm.... I think I detect a possible change of heart.....?????

[ARtraveler]

HMMmmmm.... I think I detect a possible change of heart.....?????

Not this time. My health won't let me. Five years ago, it would have been in my garage already. It don't mean I will quit reading Rider magazine anytime soon. My subscription goes till 2025.