If it were...
CBU 883XL - 6.95 Ex showroom
CBU XL1200R - 9.95 Ex showroom
CKD V-Rod - 9.5 Ex showroom

What do you choose?

IMO, they'll start CKD with Dyna family that makes perfect sense as the pricings would be closer to Sportster. Anyday, I would prefer the Softail family due to the balanced cam or the V-Rod.

China does even allow motorcycles in many of their cities, and there is a restriction on bigger motorcycles in place. Hence the market for luxury motorbikes in China is virtually zero.

The news release in the print edition of the Indian express today is more specific. It mentions Anoop saying that the prices might come down by 40%, and they will not be doing all Harley's CKD. They will focus on the Sportster family, they said because of its popularity So don't expect FB's and VRSC to be cheaper any time soon.
I had a chance to go to the Harley showroom in Mumbai last week and swing a leg over the XR1200X. What a beautiful bike - will look forward to test ride it in Bangalore sometime soon. If that comes under CKD, then maybe next year...

Hmmm...quite news to me, but then, how come HD has their foot steps over there? I'm kinda confused as I'm under the impression that China IS the largest motorcycle market in the world.

Hmmm...I thought the other way that they would make a tight offering from 7L to 20L for all their motorcycles.

, yeah, I know you're eyeing on that one!!! Well, its V-Rod, Heritage Classic, FB for me in India.

I'm sure you're going to own a third one, XL1200R & I've no doubt on that. Its indeed beautiful. But you might want to buy the oil cooler accessory & attach it for your rides.

The Chinese mobike market is pretty much like India - full of inexpensive entry level buzz rogers instead of fancy two wheels. And brands like Honda/Yamaha/ Suzuki are undercut by cheap chinese manufacturers who not only undercut them in prices by 30-40%, but also engage in piracy! Fakes Yamaha's and all, for example.

I have been to China-land many a times and all I see there are bikes which looks like the diet coke version of the CD100!

Man, I so love the XR1200x's looks - it is so badass!

Assembly in India
Thats great news and most probably its only the Sportster. The sportster being a high selling bike in many markets, that could be assembled here and also exported to Middle-East, Far-East, Japan etc

China
Yes, there are restrictions on big bikes in China. But no, they are not illegal. There are a good number of harleys, goldwings, BMWs etc. Many months back I had seen a pics of a large Harley meet in China, cant find it now. But here is something about Harleys in China:



As for assembling in China, with no regulations to stop fakes, duplicates in China, the next day after plant inauguration, you will find scores of Chinese designed HADLEY-DAVIDONS all over China. They already have a good selling copy bike of the BMW F650! Afterall the Chinese had the audacity to showcase an exact replica of the BMW X5 at the Geneva motor show and it was removed just hours before the show began after BMW lodged complaints, legal proceedings etc.

Yes, Harley outsources a lot of small value apparel accessories to China like pins, patches, etc and the Chinese make replicas of these & sell them around the world under other brand names.

for Harley its survival . bike sales are falling by the day in US and europe the only way to sustain the parent company is by opening new markets and CKD assembly in india etc will ensure that US parent company and jobs are intact. i personally dislike Harley for the dated tech and living on american HYPE. if you see most of the harley owners are US whites( by the pictures video etc ). being a ex RE rider for almost 15 years next step is something of a harley. in another 5 years i may take one if..

Strongly agree; when they can make Gulsar's, why not imitate. I've seen so many fake Bentley to Hummers in several websites & I'm sure this is true.

I trust you pal; you know better.

No doubts here, its one of the beautiful motorcycle, just that it might require an oil cooler for long runs.

i have just watched some video on TV might be on CNBC, it was the marketing manager of harley talking about the assembly plans and saying that the bikes will cheaper by 30%
its just awesome news, looks like i am forward to cancelling my plans of buying a new car

I just had a word with someone within harleys indian management team. so far the company is only planning to assemble the 883s in india and he strongly suggested that the next batch of 883s for which bookings will begin by the end of november might be CKDs. There are no plans as of now to assemble any other models in india and he hinted that they might consider assembling other expensive models in the next 4-5 years.

the price reduction will be in the range of 20-25%. Even though the CKDs should be cheaper than that, the cost of building an assembly plant from ground up and running it will be earned from the assembled bikes.