I saw a benelli not to long ago. They are really small and it would be a good bike for a teenager or something

 

Did anyone catch the MoCo calling the bike name project "Charley".



YB

 

Like the average adult in an Asian country?

 

I think they already have taken note; they've been building the Street 500, Street 750, and Street Rod over there for the last five years.

All the major manufacturers are building in Asia. British bike maker Triumph has been mocked for years for selling Thairumphs, Triumphs built in Thailand. Honda's #1 best-selling model in the world is made in Thailand. Kawasaki and Ducati and Yamaha all build in Thailand. KTM, Royal Enfield, and BMW build bikes in India, and so does Harley, Yamaha , Suzuki and Honda. Harley just opened a plant in Thailand. Benellis are all built in China. Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and BMW also build in Brazil.

As far as China specifically, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and KTM all have manufacturing plants in China.

Harley has entered into an agreement to co-design (by, apparently, picking pieces and parts out of an existing catalog) with the company that owns Benelli. The little Benelli TNT135 is a hell of a bike for the price. The 338 will probably be a quite good little motorcycle for the Asian markets.

 

Add Europe and 338cc is actually quite large for some of these places. Go to Greece or Italy and you'll see an infinite number of 50cc - 125cc bikes.

North American mentality cracks me up always needing more power and larger displacement engines. Try two up or even three up riding on a 1988 Honda Super Cub and get back to me. lol

 

would not surprise me after the naming of the Fat Boy. Maybe named after the atomic bombs fat man and little boy and the holes in the rim are 50cal size.

 

This would make a great Rider Academy training bike. Since those are technically 'off road' they would not require certification for the road.

 

The HD Sprints didn't sell. It wasn't for the cost thou Aermacchi's made them reasonable. It was that Honda's 350cc was/is the best. It will be a waste if the Company tries a new market in China or India.

 

Two or even three up? When I was in India and southeast Asia, the norm was typically a family of five on a small scooter. Sandwiched inbetween mom they'd have a baby, with bigger kids clinging to either parent. Sometimes they needed more so they'd carry a pole with kids hanging off each side. And there would be thousands and thousands of these types of bikes on the roads.

Gotta do what you gotta do, I guess.