Harley-Davidson’s made for emerging markets motorcycle is no secret now, probably that is the reason why the company has dropped the camouflage altogether on the test bikes. The American automaker has confirmed it is working on a smaller capacity motorcycle for emerging markets like India and that it would be manufactured in our country puts our hopes high as far as affordability goes. Expected to be priced around Rs. 4 lakhs, the Harley-Davidson 500cc cruiser is sure to attract a lot of Indians towards the brand.
The world economy isn’t in good shape and developed countries are seeing a decline in sales as people move towards smaller machines. This has made almost all manufacturers look towards smaller capacity machines for emerging markets like ours. KTM did it with the Duke 200, 390, while Ducati did it with the Monster 795 and BMW is working on something similar with sub-500cc machines. Harley-Davidson too plans to cash-in on the lower capacity hype by bringing in their smallest motorcycle till date.
Although these test bikes did not feature any masking tapes, they lacked logos to hide the identity. However these bikes are clearly a Harley-Davidson and will be underpinned by a new G-Platform. Featuring a 500cc, V-twin engine, the 500cc engine in the smaller Harley-Davidson motorcycle is expected to churn out a good 40 BHP of power and 45 Nm of torque. This will enable good fuel mileage and comfortable cruising abilities on our roads. With heavy local content, expect this Harley-Davidson to be as cheap to run as it is to buy.
Source – Team-BHP
