Harley-Davidson confirm small capacity motorcycle plans

Harley-Davidson and Qianjiang have joined forces to build Harley-Davidson’s range of small capacity and affordable motorcycle in China.

In a move that comes as no surprise to most, the company has a vast amount of experience of building small capacity on and off-road machines for the police and civilian markets.

The move comes amid a time of pain for the Milwaukee based builder after they drew unsavoury comments from the POTUS after they announced their plan to move manufacturing of their bikes to the far east. The idea is to circumnavigate Trump’s tariffs that will see the company’s import tax increase from 6% to 31%. The bean counters at the factory are looking to increase overseas production in a move that could save them between $1500 and $2000 per unit sold.

Harley-Davidson CEO, Matt Levatich confirmed in a statement: “Harley-Davidson has always been about inspiring riders around the world. Our More Roads plan (to build models that step outside of the custom/cruiser segement) is all about bringing our brand of freedom to more people, in more places, in more ways.

“We're excited about this opportunity to build more Harley riders in China, one of the world's largest motorcycle markets, by creating new pathways to our brand.”

We still have no further information regarding what the new bike will be called, although H-D are keen to press that it will still have all the look, feel and sound of a Harley-Davidson. The full production of the bike, engine and bike will be built and assembled at the Qianjiang plant in China, could help Harley-Davidson to gain a foothold in the far east when production does begin.

The bike is hoped to be hitting the dealers in late 2020 although there is no confirmation of a US or European version at this time.