This year, Harley-Davidson is celebrating 120 years of selling motorcycles. To celebrate the occasion, it has announced a bunch of limited edition models, as well as new flavors of other models. But it’s what Harley-Davidson didn’t announce is perhaps the most exciting. Filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a California Air Resources Board certification suggest that Harley-Davidson is bringing the X350RA to America. This small motorcycle–built by China’s Qianjiang Motorcycle–might be coming to a showroom or a training course near you.
Harley-Davidson has been going on a blitz of changing its image with riders. Since CEO Matt Levatich left the company in early 2020 and was replaced by Jochen Zeitz, the Motor Company has been flipping the script. There’s been a lot of good to come out of this. Harley-Davidson has embraced work-from-home, which is now allowing it to turn a chunk of its headquarters into a public park.
The company has also released a slew of legitimately interesting gasoline and electric motorcycles. The $16,999 LiveWire S2 Del Mar is both unexpected and seems to be competitive. Perhaps the most surprising is when Zeitz announced this month that at some point, Harley-Davidson will become all-electric. He didn’t give a timeline on this, but it’s yet another sign that the Harley-Davidson that we know is changing.
Inexpensive Harleys Get The Cut
As the Motor Company has changed itself, its most inexpensive motorcycles got left behind. Back in 2021, Harley-Davidson discontinued the Street 500, Street 750, and Street Rod from its lineup. These bikes–which were geared towards beginner riders and price-conscious buyers–were the cheapest in Harley’s lineup. Back then, you paid $6,899 for the Street 500, $7,599 for the Street 750, and $8,699 for the Street Rod.
With those gone, the cheapest Harley is the Nightster, which starts at $13,499. It also means that Harley-Davidson’s own Riding Academy is left without a source of new bikes. Back in 2021, a Harley-Davidson representative told me that the company would continue to support the Street 500s used for the Riding Academy. However, if documents obtained by Motorcycle hold true, America’s going to get a new cheap Harley. The Harley-Davidson X350 and X350RA are small displacement parallel twins built in China and appear to be coming to America.
Something Small Brewing In China
Back in 2019, Harley-Davidson announced that it was partnering up with the Qianjiang Motorcycle Company (QJ), a company majority owned by Geely, to produce a 338cc Harley for the Chinese market. The motorcycle was originally a part of the More Roads to Harley-Davidson initiative that was largely canned after the departure of Matt Levatich. More Roads sought to expand Harley’s ridership globally by, among other things, teaching new generations of riders and adding more attractive motorcycles to its portfolio. For Levatich, it also meant building a motorcycle to build ridership in China, one of the world’s largest motorcycle markets.
Harley-Davidson has since been quiet about development, but motorcycle publications have been finding leaks and regulatory filings. Since 2019, the motorcycle’s displacement grew from 338cc to 353cc and it’s joined with a larger 500cc sibling. As reported by Cycle World, Harley-Davidson and QJ formed Zhejiang Jisheng Motor Vehicle Co., Ltd. in 2021. In November 2022, that company was awarded a license to produce motorcycles by the Chinese government.
A New Small Harley In America?
Documents obtained by Motorcycle seem to suggest that Harley-Davidson is gearing up for an American release. Back in early 2022, QJ submitted VIN decoder information to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Then, ahead of Harley’s 120th anniversary reveal, it submitted VIN information to NHTSA which revealed the existence of an “X350RA” for the 2023 model year. Now, there’s even more evidence of an impending release as Motorcycle obtained an official owner’s manual and the executive order issued by the California Air Resources Board regarding the motorcycle.
I’ve been able to obtain the CARB executive order confirming that the engine has been certified, as well as an overview of Harley-Davidson’s 2023 Riding Academy that was uploaded to the Oregon Department of Transportation website.
The Riding Academy Overview claims a “New Training Model” debuting in Q1 2023. That model? The Harley-Davidson X350RA. This training model has large orange bars to protect the motorcycle from the tip-overs that often occur in rider training programs. Harley’s current Street 500 trainers also have orange bars that serve the same purpose. The Overview states that the X350RA trainer also gets axle sliders and a tip sensor for the engine. Power comes from a 353cc parallel twin and the bike is noted to handle well despite its porky 425-pound weight.
This Riding Academy Overview is backed up by the owner’s manual found by Motorcycle, which apparently was briefly uploaded to Harley-Davidson’s portal to download owner’s manuals. According to that manual, the 353cc twin has eight valves and is liquid-cooled. This engine is apparently a larger version of the engine found in motorcycles like the Benelli 302S, another motorcycle built by Qianjiang. The owner’s manual also suggests that the trainers could be even heavier than what the Riding Academy document says at 440 pounds.
The CARB executive order shows that three variations of this engine have been certified.
There’s the Harley-Davidson X350, which Motorcycle reports has an output of 36 HP. Then there’s the X350RA and X350RA Derating Removed. The X350RA training bike is said to make just 23 HP, while the derating removed model presumably makes the full 36 horses. To my eye, this means that the bikes would be derated for the classroom, then have the restriction removed when the bikes get sold after academy duty.
We Await Details
At this time, Harley-Davidson has made no public announcement about this motorcycle. The NHTSA filings, CARB certification, Riding Academy materials, and the alleged existence of an owner’s manual all point to the likelihood that Americans will soon see a Chinese-built Harley-Davidson. However, there’s no confirmation of such happening just yet. It also remains unclear how we would see this bike. Will the X350RA be limited to just training courses? Or will Harley sell the X350 as a new low-priced model alongside the trainer?
I reached out to Harley-Davidson for comment.
If this motorcycle does reach American shores, I’m sure it would ruffle some of the feathers of Harley-Davidson owners. After all, the company prides itself on selling American bikes. I, on the other hand, am hopeful. A small-displacement motorcycle has the opportunity to get more riders on Harleys and I’m always for more cool motorcycles, no matter where they come from.
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What’s the target audience for these new bikes? Not counting a mini bike, my first cycle was a 1971 Kawaski 100. I grew up during the ‘70’s dirt bike explosion. Enduros were everywhere, as were Honda CB350s and my favorite- RD350. Those were great years, and proof that small bore cycles are potentially very viable
Couple of digressions…
The Harley Aermecchi bikes. Except for the Baja 100, they were forgettable at best. Did nothingbfor the brand.
Sometime during the 80s or so, entry level biking got too big. I had friends asking me if a 750 was too small for a beginner bike. Yikes. Which gave way to the young rice rocket squid rider…. Not good.
I don’t know who buys cycles now a days. Young folk don’t even want a drivers license.
I’ll just sit back and watch. And continue to enjoy my ZRX1200.
/waves from a lightly modded ’99 ZRX1100
What do you know, they are making AMF Harleys again…
Cause nothin’ says ‘Merica! like a Chinese import!
Should be able to find them at Walmart!
Fortnine has a video where they sent oil from motorcycle engines to a laboratory for testing. I highly recommend everyone view it. The Chinese-manufactured bike’s oil was so full of particles the lab couldn’t test the entire sample. It was so dirty it broke the lab equipment. If HD gets into business importing bikes with engines manufactured in China, their already sketchy reputation for reliability will plummet. Sounds like a business plan put together by accountants for sure.
Haven’t they been assembling parts made in China/Taiwan for years?
While some components might be made at overseas locations HD’s sold in the US are assembled here. The cleanliness of those facilities along with the precision of the parts contribute to the “dirtiness” of an engine.
Looks like I’ll still be looking for a used V-Rod. I still find it hard to believe that Harley chopped all their affordable bikes after keeping almost none of them in stock for actual sale… I don’t blame them at all for it, because you have to go where the profits are. But I do think it’s a long term detriment to the brand and motorcycling in general.
This possible Baby Harley is way too foreign to interest me. If it comes here under a brand other than Harley, I might consider it, but it would have to be both extremely cheap and extremely well built.
It’s the same strategy that most auto manufacturers have taken over the past few years to give us an average new-car price that’s higher than the median income. The “long term” is only a concern for the folks who found a company.
This particular project seems like a real disaster, though. Abandoning the “made in USA” cred that is so central to their brand just to get an overweight training bike that no one is asking for? They may as well change their logo to a steaming turd for all the goodwill that’s going to get them.
check out txpowersports 😉
I’m not looking for a 250cc or smaller single cylinder of questionable origin.
Those are for people who have no real experience riding a motorcycle. For people who don’t understand first hand how extra power beyond just the minimum it takes to reach cruising speed allows you to avoid real trouble. Don’t ever put yourself at the mercy of the cars and trucks around you, especially at highway speeds.
Those street bikes are garbage that I wouldn’t let my kids ride on the road outside the neighborhood or a small downtown area.
And I wouldn’t take those dirt bikes out off-road any further than you’re willing to walk to get back home. I see that Tao Tao brand every day on FB marketplace as broken down used bikes. Rarely if ever see them for sale in running condition.
a ten year old Japanese 250 rebel or virago will outlast any New 125 or 250 Tao Tao anything.
What’s the difference between this “Harley” and those cheap bikes from txpowersports and similar sites?
Orange Paint and an extra 0 on the price.
These have enough engine that, theoretically, they’d be a decent bike on the street.
And these have been vetted by a major manufacturer who knows how to make stuff that runs more than a season or two before breaking down.
And if they come as Harley or a Harley related brand, you’ll be able to get parts for them without waiting for the crucial missing pieces to be shipped from mainland China. There’s not much worse than hearing “Your part wasn’t in this shipment. Hopefully it’ll be in the next one. When? Six weeks from now.”
My pops has had a lot of motorcycles—mostly Honda—but he did have one Harley. It was a 1968 Aermacchi made in Italy. I think it had a small two-stroke single cylinder 125cc engine.
So this isn’t the first time Harley has gone looking for a small displacement bike overseas.
will not be the first time it failed miserably either
Dunno. Folk don’t go to Harley dealers looking for small and cheap So ho is going to buy these bikes? Nice concept. They might be better off starting another sub brand. And that way, when they kill it off, no one will notice.
I recall the Harley aermacchi bikes of the 70’s. Most were junk, but the baja 100, while also junk, could really wail. Miss those days….
In summary, Harley has to do something. Im a former Harley owner. I do hope they succeed. .
“Dunno. Folk don’t go to Harley dealers looking for small and cheap So ho is going to buy these bikes?”
That’s the point. No one goes to Harley dealers looking for small cheap bikes because they don’t sell them. You can’t get the customers for a small and cheap motorcycle if you don’t have a small and cheap motorcycle.
As an American living in China, I can safely say that HD is a popular brand here, and there are quite a few riding clubs, many events and things that bring the community together based around bikes. I’ve performed in quite a few charity events with one club in particular.
There are expats and locals in the groups, but lately more and more Chinese are getting into the HD lifestyle. A lot of the guys I talk to lived or worked in the US or have been interested in the culture from an early age. That being said, the people I know and have talked to all want to ride the stereotypical Harley bikes. They like the sounds, style and stance. I don’t know anyone who would want to ride a licensed bike just because it has a Harley logo on it.
A few weeks ago I was chatting with a random stranger about his bike, just admiring it and asking some questions. (It was hard not to notice as he had hydraulics installed that had it laying on the ground when parked) He told me with all honesty that he doesn’t know anything about his Harley, he just likes the way it look and sounds and that it is a real imported Harley.
Maybe it’s a long vision from the company and they are trying to create more brand awareness while lowering the bar for new openers, but they will have to work hard to get past the gate keepers that scare off those new to the scene, and shed their image of what a Harley Davidson motorcycle bike should be.
Does China have tiered licensing? I know that was one area of focus for Harley to open a plant in India where very few people could start off on a big twin.
I like the flat-track look a lot. My butts:bikes ratio stands at 1:6 so I’m not gonna buy one, but they’ll be nice to see on the road eventually.
A small imported Harley? It’s deja vu all over again! Meet the 1961-1968 Harley-Davidson 250 Sprint:
https://ridermagazine.com/2018/05/17/retrospective-1961-1968-harley-davidson-250-sprint/
The new version will meet the same fate in U.S. showrooms as the Buell’s and the
cheapersmaller “not real Harleys” before it. The dealers will stock exactly as many as Harley forces them to, and will park them in the darkest dustiest corner available. Salesmen will show them to their REAL customers only as the butt of jokes – there’s no profit for a salesman in them.However, as is the case for the major car makers, the U.S. is not their most important market now. China is their future, and who knows how they will feel about a Hardly David’s son?
First of all, thank you Mercedes for the motorcycle content. This is like finding one more glazed donut in the bottom of the bag. This looks like a very clever marketing scheme to me. Import a few of these say that they’re not for sale. “Training purposes only.” If enough people want them there’s a ready made supply and built in owner loyalty. Also, it’s a handsome little guy.
I’m happy Harley is reviving their small bike lineup. Or at least they might offer one model.
It’s often forgotten, but they sold lots of small CC machines in the past.
In the ’50s and ’60s a DKW RT125-derived Harley Hummer and their variants.
They also sold rebadged Aermacchis after that, so this is not their first rodeo with smaller bikes.
I hope they’ll price it aggressively low, so it has a fighting chance not to be a sales flop.
Is this going to be any better than a CSC motorcycle?
“I got a Harley-Davidson. Does that turn you on? Harley-Davidson?”
– Kelly Leak, Bad News Bears
Might be??? They definitely are. This has been known for a while.
As a rule of thumb, when there’s no direct confirmation from the subject, we do hedge at least a little. But yes, all of the evidence (including Harley’s SEC filings) show that it’s coming here. There’s basically everything but a press release at this point!
HD also wasn’t willing to go on the record, so there’s that.
I would not really call this excited as much just sad.
Is this a toe in the water for an “American Made” to “American Made Style” company transformation?
“a rich Legacy Forged in America” (to be read in a Sam Elliot voice)
Just copy Walmart tires and go with “Made for America with Patriot Pride”
Most of those Walmart tires actually are US-made. They’re mostly made by Goodyear in NC.
I saw that label in a tire store. All the lettering was about 3 inches tall and the word “for” was about a half inch. I burst out laughing. The tires were made in Vietnam. Please note, I’m only laughing at the marketing.
I have been watching CFMoto as they have been making inroads into the North American market.
I see them as the leading Chinese brand at the present time, they took advantage of the long wait times for other foreign bikes over the past couple of years and established themselves at a few multi-brand dealers with a price advantage and got themselves some media exposure. They seem to be well made copies of Japanese bikes, but seem to slightly miss their original inspiration in all around performance.
Now I look at potentially a similar operating model pursued by H-D and dumped on their existing dealers, which are already under pressure to change with the recent expansion of current offerings with modern water-cooled engines. I’m getting that feeling of déjà vu and that’s always unsettling.
I was not there exactly, but this smacks into the memories of little Italian Harleys during the AMF days/ none were very good. GY6 scooters and quads are al over the place and direct copies of Japanese motors, but I have yet to have one endure more than 2 years of riding by the kiddos. the Briggs New old stock made in the USA 9 hp OHC engine I had has however lasted much longer and starts much easier.
some copies are so close that parts from the original they copied interchange exactly.
For example, the harbor Freight Predator 212 is a copy of Honda GXV200, and Honda parts are an exact fit to the Predator.
Will it have the option for really loud pipes? If not I’m not interested. /s
Chinese manufacturers are capable of building products with as high a quality as their customers are willing to pay for, but, typically, when companies source there, its to cut costs as low as possible, and to say Chinese-made bikes don’t have a stellar reputation in international markets is a bit of an understatement. I’d feel better about this if it seemed like Harley-Davidson had more control over the development and manufacturing process (with their people doing the QC checks in China), but it really feel like Qianjiang are completely in the driver’s seat, even using the exact same engine they use in a bike they build for a different customer. Granted, Harleys have their issues as it is, with oil leaks and whatnot, but they do at least give a good perception of initial quality that makes people comfortable paying crazy high prices for them as they sit in the showroom, little suspicious that this will acquit itself well parked next to their other models.
Not just motorcycles. The OEM I worked for didn’t want to pay experienced surfacing contractors £60 per hour so tried outsourcing it to China. IP issues aside it took twice as long, and all the models had to be rebuilt when they came back.
Tell me about. CAD Systems Admin here. Engineers with MBAs are the worst.
As far as American companies (brands) go, Harley and Jeep are very similar in my opinion. Feverish fans and hardcore, diehard supporters. If this partnership widens, I forsee a LOT of large, angry, bearded, leather-clad men having no brand to turn to once Harley screws this up. The same with Jeep. If Jeep outsourced models to China, you’d see fans leaving in droves.
Gotta remember, though, that these fans don’t necessarily pay enough attention. It’s a Harley, and that’s maybe all they’ll see. And with HD, you already have a lot of them who scoffed at the smaller, cheaper bikes before, so this one won’t even necessarily be on their radar. If they start importing larger bikes, maybe.
And the number of Fiat Jeeps I see around here suggests brand name matters a lot more to some of these people than what’s underneath it. So the perception that something is an American brand may allow them to look past country of origin.
I think most people don’t know or care. It’s like all those Thailand-built Triumphs rolling around with Union Jacks on the tanks.
I believe the Jeep Brand has two groups. the Wrangler people…..who would definitely have issue with Fiat built wranglers, much less Chinese versions, and then the Jeep Posers who want the wrangler image, or at least a more rugged image, but also want fuel economy and great on road driving manners. The Latter probably would not care, that is a correct statement.
The average Jeep owner refers to their vehicle by the trim rather than the model. These people don’t know or care where they’re built.
They could turn to Indian, I guess. Victory Motorcycles went away in 2017, so they’re no longer an option (for new bikes, anyway).
And we should add “possibly misinformed” to the list of descriptors. Back in the days of Usenet (so it’s been a minute) the most vocal Harley people would lose their minds when told that their bikes had suspension from Japan: Showa forks and KYB/Kayaba shocks IIRC. Some of them refused to believe that H-D would use parts from outside the US. Maybe with the current level of freely available and verifiable information this is less of an issue.
“Granted, Harleys have their issues as it is, with oil leaks and whatnot”
This is a very, very old trope from the 1970s, when the company was under the AMF umbrella and H-Ds had porous engine castings (which were nearly impossible to seal).
I ride a sportbike, but my riding buddy is on his third or fourth Street Glide. FWIW to the best of my knowledge his have never had any issues with oil leaks, nor have the Harleys owned by our other friend.
My 03 softtail leaked oil, puked it out the breathers, was a giant pain in the ass pretty much my entire ownership of it. I now know the old ads to be true, “first you want a motorcycle, then you want a BMW.”
07 Softail Deluxe. 35k miles and no oil leaks. BMW is not the save all end all, in fact I would be very worried about any newer BMW based solely on the massive issue with the BMW cars since the turn of the century. leaky Harley’s is in fact an old trope.
That is like saying all BMW’s will have cracked fork tube because of the shocking number of 1200 GS failures recently. Or the engine limp home all the time just because of the ones that did have a haywire cam position sensor.
My cousin says the same thing. But, ever since he refinished his garage floor he parks over a sheet of cardboard. Not sure why.
I’ve owned 5 Harleys over the last 20 years and they’ve been just as reliable as the 5 Hondas I’ve owned, which is to say no major issues and no leaks. Just like with cars, you can find bad examples from every brand.
Harley needs shaking up but I’m not sure if importing a 350cc Chinese bike is where I would have gone.
The only reason to buy that over a small Japanese bike is to troll all the traditional H-D riders.
Yeah, I hope buyers like draining piss out of their fuel tanks.
is to troll all the traditional H-D riders.
That’s one way to shift your demographic. Maybe it’s by design. Me personally, I think there way more psychology going on in the market than we even care to think about, let alone recognize.
I would love a new XR750 or smaller Harley, but I have no desire to buy a Chinese built bike.
I could see a 750 version of the new Sportster with the old V-Rod motor essentially. but I think they are aiming for just under 1000 cc for the base instead. I would even applaud a tallish dirt orientated street tracker.
As a person born in Milwaukee, a Harley should be parked in my garage, but the bikes do not appeal to me, nor do their cosplaying owners. Buells certainly caught my attention but I was in no position to own one when new. But to my point:
Someone at HD should review the company archives and study Harley’s Aermacchi partnership/acquisition/investment from the 1970s. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
A Chinese made Harley that’s probably a Japanese design could be a tough sell. If they still have the rights and tooling reviving the Buell Blast as a flat track style bike would be more on brand, and more fun.
I don’t think should or they would want to repeat that mistake either.
I mean no offense to the few that cherish them, but it was a turd in the market place.
It’s true. The biggest problem was the engine – 1/2 a Sportster motor wasn’t really the best fit for it, and definitely turned off a lot of potential buyers who were cross-shopping bikes like the evergreen Ninja 500.
Erik Buell did the best he could with what he had to work with, but…