Harley Davidson to Soon Launch 338cc Bike, Will Rival RE’s Classic

The popular motorcycle brand looks set to come out of comfort zone and focus on markets like India with this bike.

Harley-Davidson is finally coming out of its comfort zone to launch bikes with smaller engine.

(Photo: AP)

Harley Davidson has been missing in action for some time and new reports this month suggest the company is finally ready to leave its comfort zone to launch new bikes with a lower-displacement engine.

The American two-wheeler manufacturer is renowned for its macho-style cruiser bikes but it has struggled to find the right mix between selling popular bikes and making money off it. And now, it seems ready to leave its legacy behind, and follow the model that’s worked quite well for manufacturers like Royal Enfield, by offering bikes with a small engine.

This will not only bring down the price of the bike but also help them target a volume-driven user base. This bike, according to an Autocar report, will be manufactured in China, using Benelli’s existing setup and sell them in markets like India.

You might be wondering how does Benelli feature in this talk about Harley Davidson bikes. Harley-Davidson joined hands with China-based Zhejiang Qianjiang Motorcycle, which has rights to the Benelli brand and will also be entrusted with making bikes with small engines for H-D to be sold in the Asian market.

To showcase its road map for the year 2020, Benelli's product lineup for the year includes a slew of Benelli bikes as well as mentions the H-D 338cc bike, which according to the timeline could debut in June this year.

Harley Davidson’s 338cc could debut later this year.(Photo Courtesy: Bennet.co.uk)

Although we don’t have the details as to what the new H-D bike will offer, the 338cc is expected to be sourced from Benelli’s existing 300cc engine. And while it’s hard to say what will be its power and torque figures, this is how reports suggest the bike will look like.

Could this be the first sub500cc bike from Harley-Davidson. (Photo Courtesy: Ride Apart)

This bike could rival the likes of Royal Enfield Classic 350, Jawa 300 and Benelli’s Imperiale 400 among others.

While China debut for the H-D 338cc bike is expected this year, we don’t expect to hear much about the bike for the Indian market until 2021. Either way, we’re excited to see if H-D, with help from its partners, can make a comeback in the bike segment.