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It's to write the name of the student riding that bike when they take the Riding Academy so the instructors can keep up with what student is riding which bike.
BTW, I think the gray X350RA looks pretty good and it looks a hell-of-a-lot better than the 2023 Nightster.
Geeley is a pretty good sized motor vehicle conglomerate. They have a portfolio of various brands both inside and outside of Asia. Volvo/Polestar come to mind. So, I wonder if this motorbike partnership with H-D is, so to speak, the camels nose under the tent and they (Geeley) have designs on acquiring H-D in the longer term. Friendly or otherwise. They are a good bit bigger than H-D so maybe that is a possibility. H-D gobbled up by a Chinese corporation. Ouch. Wouldn't that just frost your hiney?
Harley, once touted as the great American freedom machine rebadging communist China's junk and bringing it to the US dealer showrooms.
Harley's management team truly is clueless.
So what are dealers to do after the classes? They have nothing comparable in ease of riding and handling and the price of entry into Harley $14,699 for the Nighster (base + surcharge + freight) or Softail Standard at $16,799 to have one with ABS.
Maybe if they are next door to a Honda dealer they can ask for a kick back.
Indian's price of entry is $12,149 for an ABS Scout 60 - I do not know their freight costs
Sell them an X350. Apparently Harley does intend to bring it to the US, and it's CARB approved and legal to sell here. The X350RA is the one you wouldn't want to buy, that's the Riding Academy version with the orange crashbars and the de-tuned engine. But the X350 is the full 36hp model intended for retail sale.
The current comparable Benelli model (302S) lists for under $5,000. Put on the "Harley tax" and I expect the X350 COULD have a list price here at $6,999 or so. Maybe even $5,999.
Last edited by FatBob2018; Jan 26, 2023 at 10:17 AM.
.................Holy hell how far the company has sunk under their current leadership when their own engineers cannot even design the bike. I have no issue with them producing an entry level bike overseas but I do take notice when they don't even both design the motor and chassis and instead basically buy off the shelf.
HD would have a winner in their stable if they made an adventure bike out of these. A little brother to the Pan American. The adventure market is on fire and small displacement bikes are ideal for this purpose. Look at the Royal Enfield Himalayan and you get the idea.
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