Harley Davidson Boot Camp: Are you ready for the biking magic?

Harley Davidson Boot Camp was held in New Delhi recently. Now if you thought what it means, in the truest sense it gives individuals an insight into those Harley Davidson bike models ready for a launch in India. Now that's something edutainment.

The first of the boot camp ever by Harley Davidson concluded recently and the timing of the camp by the US bike maker before the Auto Expo is totally a HD-based gyan for bike enthusiasts. While there is no exaggeration to the statement that Harley is more a cult than mere biking, the educational program of walking the group of Harley fans through the fleet of Harley families including CVO, Dyna, Touring, Softail, VRSC, and Sportster bike models is to make them familiar with the machines; give them a hands-on test riding experience.



HD, in India will not be extravagant at least initially, and there will not be many models launched in at the first go. HD pins up hopes to build popularity of the first launched range and then expects to launch in a bigger way. Harleys are not like the pulsars or even Yamahas; they are big bullies and it needs some guts to get on the machine. They kind of invite and scare you too at the same time.

Salient features from Harley Davidson Boot Camp 2009:

HD plans to offer product customization in India too, although it's not clear on the terms as yet.

The Harley Davidson bikes call for premium fuel; the 91 or 92 octane would be considered optimum for the bikes.

Fuel efficiency of the HDs in India would come around 12-15; again you need to remember that it's not a derived figure.

The price of HD products will be in the range of 7 to 15 lakhs.

Harleys come with air-cooled motor and these might fail under Indian climatic conditions; at least in the hot cities.



Harleys are marvelous pieces of engineering there is hardly any doubt to that; however, if they don't come with post-sale customization the market might not open up big enough in India. This is because the average man's height in India is about 170 cm and is considerably shorter than the average American. So if the customization is not offered they may not be able to do good business here.

All said, the Dyna range could well be the HD's bestseller; the FX Super Glide with the wide handlebars and V-twin and an elegant cruiser stance the Super Glide looks amazing. The bike's mill is integrated to a six-speed gearbox. Come on Indian roads are ready to take the HD monster machines. When Americans can freak on our mangoes why not we enjoy Harley biking?

Come on, don your jackets and boots and get on the saddle to get the adrenaline pumping!