Harley Davidson is tweaking its Street 500 and Street 750 lineup in a bid to woo more and more female riders, says a report on Economic Times. The changes are not only aimed at improving the rideability, but also at mellowing down the brash, untamed image the motorcycles were so adept at projecting.
To make the new bikes easier to handle and ride, Harley Davidson plans to introduce lower saddles on them. The handle grips will be smaller, and the foot pegs will be positioned differently too. To cut down on the garishness, Harley Davidson also aims at reducing the use of Chrome on the new Street 500 and Street 750 lineup. The petrol tanks will be made smaller, and we might get to see a few changes in the dimensions of the new bikes.
As of now, there is no information about powertrain or mechanical changes to the bikes.
Harley Davidson hopes that the above moves will help in attracting more female riders to its showrooms. Women already constitute a potent size of its sales, and the tailormade Harley Davidson Street 500 and Street 750 will help in pushing that figure skywards. The bigger picture is that Harley Davidson’s global sales will receive a much needed shot-in-the-arm, enabling it to inch closer to the figures posted by Japanese behemoths Suzuki and Honda.
Image and perception have been the mainstay of the brand Harley Davidson. The glinting chrome, the signature potato-potato growl and the old world charm were the pillars on which the brand was built. As other brands from Japan started making inroads into Harley Davidson’s territory by racking higher sales numbers, the Milwaukee-based behemoth pulled up its socks and introduced Street series last year. They were aimed at younger riders, and featured technology that would be called Ground-Breaking in Harley Davidson terms.
So far, both the bikes have been attracting a good number of buyers.
But don’t you feel that tweaking a brand built on masculinity to favour the fairer sex is like giving too long a rope?? Our fingers are crossed; this move might dilute the brand and drive away the old-time loyalists as well.
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