After months of speculation Harley Davidson and QJ Motor of China have released the X350 motorcycle for the Chinese market and later this year to be released in India also.
The X350 has a 353cc twin cylinder engine, liquid cooled with 36hp and 31nm torque and has a six speed gearbox.
Also it comes with 17inch alloy wheels, upside down forks for the front suspension and monoshock for the rear. It gets dual disc brakes for the front and a single disc brake for the rear with ABS as standard. Fuel tank capacity 13.5 litres, the weight of the motorcycle is 180 kgs.
Loosely based on the iconic X750 flat tracker, the X350 gets similar styling with LED headlight and digital dash too.
QJ Motor who also produce very similar bikes in the SRK350 and also the Benelli will find the competition strong within China itself but also when it launches in other markets, namely India where the Royal Enfield 350cc bikes will be the main challenge.
It is yet to be seen whether the X350 and X500 will be offered to European, North American markets or indeed anywhere else.
Harley Davidson themselves have adopted the X350RA for its riding academies in the US, hence the RA suffix and these have already started to arrive, however there is no mention of whether these will ever be considered for general sale in any other country. However one would assume that any interest in demand would spark an enthusiasm to supply.
Harley Davidson for their part have been curiously muted about the whole project with none of their official media making any mention of the bikes nor about the major launch in Asia. Time will tell whether they want to make this more public…