Showing posts with label HD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HD. Show all posts

Friday, November 15, 2013

Five Great Bikes That Are Made In India


http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/300919/images/photo1.jpg

he 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750 and 500 appear to be made in India and assembled in America. So what?

The Subcontinent knows how to make a fantastic motorcycle. Here’s five great bikes that are made in India.

2014 KTM RC390
2014 KTM RC390
2014 KTM RC390
There is seriously not one other bike coming for 2014 that I am personally more excited about or more likely to buy. With the possible exception of the last bike on this list… The RC390 pairs a very low weight with a high performance motor, a race-bred chassis and purposeful design. And, because it’s made in India, all that is likely going to be available for between $6,000 and $7,000.

KTM 390 Duke
KTM 390 Duke
2014 KTM 390 Duke
Prefer an upright naked? It’ll probably make more sense in the city. Very similar to the RC390, the Duke should be a little lower-spec, but likely a little cheaper too. Again, a uniquely appealing bike, especially considering it’s likely $5,000 to $6000 price.

Royal Enfield Continental GT
Royal Enfield Continental GT
Royal Enfield Continental GT
You’re not going to find a more faithful recreation of the original cafe racer theme than you will in this new Royal Enfield. The 535cc, single-cylinder will go on-sale in the U.S. next year for an expected price close to $6,000.

Royal Enfield C5 Desert Storm
Royal Enfield C5 Desert Storm
Royal Enfield Bullet C5 Desert Storm
Dubbed “Desert Storm” for its matte khaki paint, there’s a ton of visual appeal in this classic bike. And we do mean “classic,” Royal Enfield has been knocking these out in India since the 1950s, updating them with electric start, unit engines and good reliability along the way.

KTM 390 Dual Sport
KTM 390 Dual Sport
KTM’s Future Dual Sport
“…we’re also developing a so-called dual-purpose or dual-sport version of [the Duke],” stated KTM boss Stefan Pierer in April. “I would say it’s a mix between supermoto and enduro. These will appear next, all made at the Bajaj factory in Chakan [India].” Expect similar specs to the 390 Duke and RC390 — 324 lbs (wet), 44 bhp, solid reliability and low maintenance requirements.

First appeared in rideapart.com 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

EICMA Everything about Harley

The most important new Harley-Davidson in living memory isn’t made in Milwaukee, but instead at H-D’s new factory in Guragon, India.* And, instead of targeting aging Baby Boomers in the West, it’s instead going after young riders in developing markets in foreign countries. Can it succeed?
*Harley tells us, “Some of these bikes will be built in India, but not all. For example, all bikes for North America will be built — engine and whole bike — in our Kansas City plant.” Lacking further information on where the parts come from, we remain skeptical. Current staff consensus is that the U.S. market bikes are likely assembled in Missouri from globally-sourced parts, largely originating in India. We’ll get to the bottom of it.
These new bikes are the 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750 and 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 500. The 750 starts at $7,500 here in the U.S., while the 500 costs even less, at $6,500. Those prices are lower than Harley’s current cheapest model, the $8,399 Sportster Iron 883, if not as low as the latest crop of super-affordable Japanese bikes. The Honda CB500F likely out-performs either Street in any objective measure of performance, but starts at just $5,500.

Harley-Davidson Street 750
The 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750 and 500 already have custom parts available. Picture here: custom wheels and air filter.
Unlike that Sportster, which has been around largely unchanged since its introduction in 1957, these new Street models aren’t just foreign-made, but liquid-cooled. The Motor Company is famously resistant to cooling its engines with water. The V-Rod, introduced in 2001, has met much consumer resistance thanks to its Porsche-designed engine, futuristic styling and yes, its radiator. When it launched its 2014 Touring Range this summer, there was no mention of H2O in any official Harley literature, instead using the nebulous “twin-cooled” nomenclature. Icing on the water-free cake was the absence of any suggestion the radiators were there to improve emissions or performance, with Harley instead saying twin-cooling was intended to, “improve rider comfort.”
Initially, the odds appear to be stacked against these new Harleys. Not only are they made somewhere that’s probably not America, but they’re equipped with modern, liquid-cooled motors and priced at a premium to the competition.
“If Harley can build a good bike outside of the U.S. that is well priced, looks good, performs well and brings new riders into the market they could be on to a winner,” says Harley owner, Harley book author and RideApart contributor Tim Watson.

2014 Harley-Davidson Street
2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750
It’s those new riders that are going to be key. Currently Harley dominates the U.S. market, making around 185,000 of the 452,000 motorcycles that were sold in the U.S. in 2012. Far fewer than the 273,000 bikes it sold here in 2006. Compare that total market volume to India, which totals in excess of 10 million motorcycle sales year and you can see why Harley is eager to explore new markets.
Currently, Harley sells around 2,000 motorcycles in India annually. It hopes these new models will expand that to 10,000 in the next two to three years. In addition to India and North America, Harley plans to sell the Streets in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Very few details of the Street’s mechanical specification are being divulged. Specs simply aren’t an area where Harleys traditionally excel. The official spec page lists 749 and 594 cc capacities, six-speed transmissions and 480 lbs (wet) weights for both bikes. While it remains a good deal behind that CB500F’s 420 lbs (wet), the Streets are considerably lighter than the next lightest model in the HD stable; the Iron 883 weighs in at a staggering 562 lbs (wet).

Harley-Davidson Street 750
Black-on-black-on-black-on-black may look good in person, but man does it make the 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750 hard to see in photos
The rest of the Street spec list is a mix of honestly good parts, sprinkled with the odd disappointment. Front wheels are a conventional 17-inches in size, promising a wide selection of affordable tires, but front brakes are gripped only by single-piston calipers. Mid-mount footpegs promise good control and the four-valve per-cylinder heads suggest good power, but no horsepower or torque figures have been released and suspension is only listed as “specially tuned.”
Of course, Harley’s don’t sell on objective measures of performance, they sell on image and there, surprisingly, the Streets excel. They don’t look cheap, they don’t look small, they don’t look plastic. The tank and fenders are made from metal, the engines look impressively masculine despite their middling capacity and, judging by the video, they even sound suitably robust.

2014 Harley-Davidson Street
2014 Harley-Davidson Street 750
“It looks great, sounds great, it’s a Harley, and it’s priced right,” described Harley COO Matt Levatich a few weeks ago. Will that be enough to create a new generation of Harley riders?

Originally posted in  Rideapart.com

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Harley-Davidson Switchback – Long-Term Test Update Switching it up.



Harley-Davidson Switchback static side view
When Harley-Davidson introduced the 2013 Dyna-series Switchback as a “light-duty touring model” we were intrigued. As fans of The Motor Company’s FL-series tourers and also its more nimble Dyna rides, we thought the bike was a smart mix. For $17,579, you get a tour-ready Harley that has light steering and a low seat (27.4 in. unladen), plus beautifully styled (although small) saddlebags and a touring windscreen that can be removed with magical ease.
The only problem? “Light-duty touring” wasn’t on the dance card for Cycle World’s long-term, ABS-equipped Switchback. Especially when Contributing Editor Jamie Elvidge packed it up and headed out for a ridiculously long, grueling ride: 1600 miles in just 38 hours. “That kind of self-inflicted moto-masochism isn’t surprising to those who know me,” she said. “Some go to India for spiritual hermitage, I go to I-5.” What was surprising is that she arrived at her destination in way better condition than expected.
That’s not to say it was a cakewalk, as it might have been on an FL. The Switchback’s windshield is a head jiggler for an average-sized rider, and the Dyna chassis doesn’t do much to contain the mechanical energy of the Twin Cam 103 before it radiates to limbs and digits and extraneous bits of the bike. A thousand miles in, both mirror assemblies (which include the turnsignals) were swinging around on their stalks and various bolts had loosened. We miss the days when all models came with a tool kit. At the 1400-mile mark, the newly added, sweet-sounding Screamin’ Eagle Nightstick 2-into-1 slip-on muffler ($249.95, plus $50 for installation and $154 for remap; harley-davidson.com) had severed a weld.
But still, the bike was comfortable to ride: roomy enough for an average frame, with relaxed ergonomics and a plush seat. The saddlebags hold enough for a weekend escape, but Elvidge was coming home from a long stint on the road, so she clipped on a neat MotoFizz Camping Seat Bag ($157-$197; aerostich.com). Even after the bike’s shakedown tour, she says she’s excited to ride the bike back to Southern California. In the meantime, she’s removed the windshield and is enjoying the Switchback for its guaranteed virtue as big-hearted, envy-stirring, out-for-the-day American cruiser.


SPECIFICATIONS
TOTAL MILES8235
NEXT SERVICE10,000
MAINTENANCE COSTS (INCLUDING TIRES)$282
REPAIR COSTS$0
AVERAGE FUEL MILEAGE43 mpg
PRICE AS TESTED (2012)$17,579