Harley's Small Displacement Play
Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer founded in 1912, currently absorbed into Leonardo S.p.A., a large defense contractor. However, after WWII Aermacchi began producing small motorcycles for the civilian market. The unusual design of the early models suggests that Aermacchi was something like SAAB, a company of aircraft engineers designing ground vehicles from first principles, unconstrained by convention. Later designs appear to have become a bit more normal.
1957 Aermacchi Chimera (From Wikipedia)
In 1960 Harley-Davidson bought fifty percent of Aermacchi’s motorcycle division and so began period of Harley selling Aermacchi motorcycles under the Harley name. It was badge engineering, in the modern idiom. An example of the sort of product resulting from this was the 1969 Harley-Davidson ML125 Rapido, a 125cc single-cylinder two-stroke. Harley eventually acquired full control of Aermacchi’s production in 1974 and subsequently sold the whole thing to Cagiva in 1978. I wouldn’t say that Harley-Davidson is ashamed of this era or anything, but it’s definitely not heavily showcased in their various outlets of corporate history.
1969 Harley-Davidson ML125 Rapido (From Barnfinds)
And yet, it has come to pass that on June 19, 2019, Harley-Davidson announced an agreement with Qianjiang Motorcycle Company Limited to sell small motorcycles in China starting in 2020. In particular, the two companies agree to co-develop a premium 338cc motorcycle to be sold as a Harley-Davidson. The motorcycles will be made in China at a Qianjiang factory.
Harley-Davidson 338cc Motorcycle Rendering
Harley posted an artist’s concept sketch of the motorcycle in question, which you can see above. Few technical details were given but the impression is of a modern, small displacement but substantial motorcycle. However, Qianjiang owns another motorcycle brand you may have heard of: Benelli.
Benelli TNT 300
Shown above is the Benelli TNT 300, sold in the US for about $4000. You might notice a certain similarity to the Harley rendering and it’s reasonable to assume that the motorcycles are going to be very closely related. The Benelli engine is a 300cc in-line twin that makes 32.2 hp (24 kW) and 18.4 ft-lb (25 N-m) of torque, delivered through a 6-speed gearbox. The TNT 300 has been reviewed very positively with Motorcycle.com stating that “Normally, we’d end by saying the Benelli’s really impressive for a Chinese bike. But in this case, it’s really impressive, period.”
The question is obvious: Will Harley sell their version of the TNT 300 in the US? The press release is mute on the topic. The smallest, least expensive Harley-Davidson currently sells in the US market is the Street 500, a v-twin cruiser starting at $6899. US and Canada market Streets are made at Harley’s Kansas City factory while Streets for all other markets are made in India. The current political environment suggests that Harley might be understandably wary of trying to sell a foreign-made motorcycle in the US. The move might also trouble their legacy customer base.
On the flip side, this is exactly the sort of motorcycle Harley needs to be selling in the US if they are ever going to attract a younger buyers. The fact that their existing (but aging) US customers probably have next to zero interest in a motorcycle like this is a good sign, it means that all sales would be conquest sales. Harley is going to have to take the leap and start selling modern product at some point and this affordable, quality bike looks like as good an opportunity as any.
