http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle7099109.ece

From The Times April 16, 2010

Two icons of the open road are to go head-to-head in India as Harley-Davidson starts selling its heavyweight motorcycles in the country for the first time.

Standing in the way is the Royal Enfield Bullet, commonly known as “The Thumper”; a bike first built in Britain nearly 80 years ago, and one that is enjoying something of a revival in India.

Harley will begin taking orders next week but the price tag means that ownership will be limited to India’s elite. In the United States the bikes, beloved of Hell’s Angels and crisis-hit middle-aged males, start at $7,000 (£4,500). In India import duties will double the cost. For the same money you can buy at least seven Bullet 350s — a comparison that helps to explain the sniffiness of India’s “real” bikers.

“A Harley is for the rich guy who will take it out on a Sunday for a ride to his club,” said Anand Bhalerao, 31, the technical head of the Inddie Thumpers, India’s largest biker club. “It’s too heavy for the Indian physique and in this climate it’s going to overheat.”

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With an annual jamboree that features beer-drinking competitions, arm-wrestling bouts and bike-stripping tournaments, the Inddie Thumpers are the closest thing that India has to a chapter of Hell’s Angels. The admission rules are stringent and there is a waiting list of 800. The first condition? You must own a Royal Enfield. “If you want a bike that can deal with India, get a Bullet,” Mr Bhalerao said. “The Harley’s all for show.”

The distinctive “pud-pud” of the Bullet’s four-stroke engine — the signature sound that gave rise to “The Thumper” mo****r — has echoed across the sub-continent’s roads for half a century. The first models were imported from England in kit form in 1953. Three years later a factory was built in Madras, and it continues to run today. The English parent company, formed in 1891, folded in the 1970s.

Now, rather than merely enduring, there are signs that Royal Enfield is thriving. The Indian company’s sales surged by 20 per cent last year to about 52,000 bikes. It recently introduced two new models with a view to increasing exports to Britain, the US and Europe.

Siddhartha Lal, the chief executive of the Eicher Group, which owns Royal Enfield, said that he saw no threat from imported bikes — nor from a new generation of cheap cars that cost roughly the same as his company’s newest models.

“If you drive a cheap car you drive a cheap car. If you ride a Royal Enfield you get the chicks,” he said.

By contrast Harley lost $219 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 and says that this year will be “challenging”. The sub-continent offers some of the best road trips in the world but the terrain is unforgiving. There are suspicions that Harleys, built for America’s pristine highways, will prove ill suited to India’s potholed roads.

Nashwin D’Mello, 28, was one of a handful of bikers invited by Harley to test-drive its machines on a grand tour of India. The trip, from the southern jungles of Goa to the northern deserts of Rajasthan, took its toll. “After 500km nuts and bolts started to fall off,” he said.

The Bullet, recognised by its cannon crest and the motto “Made Like a Gun”, has also been known to disintegrate. Almost any serious rider will have had a part fall off his machine, Mr Bhalerao admitted. “But in India you’ll find a mechanic who can fix it any-damn-where.”

 

I'm probably wrong, but I just don't the MOCO doing very well over there.

 

I agree. It sounds like they are trying to sell highway bikes in a nation without highways. Perhaps the Sportster could be reconfiguted to fit India's needs, but to succeed HD will have to produce what people want to buy.

 

Do the math. With that many residents, less that 1% of the very richest would have to buy to make them a success. Don't think HD went there wondering whether or not it would work. They did some thorough studies to validate it prior to the move. I'll be surprised if this doesn't help the MoCo. It's a matter of numbers.

 

Our dealership is trying to sell the bikes here with no success in the past 6 months. From what I am told by the staff not a single bike has sold since taking them on board. It seems like the Moco is hunting for a lower priced niche market for itself here in the states as well.

 

The Royal Enfield's I saw being sold at Stroker's here in Dallas...looked to be of bad quality. Front fender was off, chrome was fair and it did not look finished correctly nor was smooth. Looked cheap.

 

I briefly considered an Enfield once. Very briefly 'til you see'em up close. Looks like they came out of a Cracker Jack box. Sure they have a loyal following, but so do most fetishes. Read their rider forums. There are things that can be expected to fall off at certain mileages, and they won't go above 60-65 MPH. A Suzuki 250 is a more solid bike. Would probably be fun to ride around WalMart on.

 

So much for free trade. How does HD have a chance to succeed if India is doubling the price of an already expensive bike with import duties?

 

I'd still like to have a Ural sidecar rig myself.

 

had a royal enfield /indian 50 years ago
one of those bikes I wish I still had.