Home » Harley-Davidson Has A Dirt-Cheap Chinese Motorcycle In America But You Can’t Buy It

Harley-Davidson Has A Dirt-Cheap Chinese Motorcycle In America But You Can’t Buy It

Chinese Harley Ts2f Beam
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Motorcycle riders all around the world have been voting with their wallets. They want cheap motorcycles that are still fun to ride. Numerous manufacturers from CFMoto and Honda to Royal Enfield are offering just that. Technically, the motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson can also cater to this growing market; it has a fantastic and extremely affordable motorcycle in America that you can ride right now, but you can’t buy it.

The American motorcycle industry as a whole has struggled since the Great Recession. In 2006, 1.2 million new motorcycles went home to customers. Sales crashed during the Great Recession like all other vehicles, but unlike RV and pickup truck sales, motorcycle sales then stayed slower. Nowadays, a decent sales year is around 500,000 units, a far cry from what dealers were slinging almost two decades ago.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

Some new trends have appeared in recent years. A lot of riders are now gravitating toward off-road motorcycles, scooters, and low-displacement bikes. The big cruisers Harley-Davidson makes its bread and butter on took a battering. Harley-Davidson saw this happening and that’s part of the reason you can now buy an adventure bike with the Bar and Shield on it.

Mercedes Streeter

What Harley hasn’t done is throw a bone at the many riders who just don’t want to spend a lot of money. Honda has established itself as the king of cheap, with 12 motorcycles and scooters that have starting prices under $5,000, the cheapest of which is just $1,999. Then there’s Royal Enfield, which does nothing but affordable and ridiculously attractive machines. That company sold 944,000 motorcycles globally last year. Just one model, the Hunter 350, has sold a half-million copies in just two years.

It’s hard to ignore the evidence. Too many riders to count are going to cheaper bikes. A lot of folks, especially younger riders, may not even have the dough to blow on a motorcycle that costs more than a decent used car.

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X350 Mc 3

So, how is Harley-Davidson responding to this? Well, it’s complicated.

Inexpensive Harleys

Harley-Davidson has long offered a relatively inexpensive option in its lineup. In the past, the Sportster series was great for riders wanting to save a buck or a rider who didn’t want to wrestle one of the firm’s huge touring cruisers. There was also the Buell Blast, the cheap bike that was supposed to be the ultimate beginner bike. Then came the Street 500 and the Street 750, which featured high-tech engines and a style that almost harkened back to the standard-style motorcycles of the ’80s.

All of these bikes were used in the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy, but they were also available to the public. They were both affordable options and easy to ride. In 2021, the Street 500 was $6,899 while paying $7,599 got you the Street 750. If you wanted an extra dose of style, $8,699 got you the Street Rod. Sure, these motorcycles weren’t super competitive with the likes of what Honda was selling, but at least the cheaper options were there.

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Well, that was the case until CEO Jochen Zeitz, who replaced CEO Matt Levatich in 2020, decided to change Harley’s path. Levatich put Harley on the path of the “More Roads To Harley-Davidson” initiative, a grand idea to attract new kinds of riders, adopt a kinder brand image, and enter into markets that the brand had either ignored or not given much of an effort to perform well in. Unfortunately, More Roads was a long-term plan and investors were looking for short-term gains.

Levatich stepped down, and one of the first moves of Zeitz was to reverse course. Most of the super awesome concepts Harley teased were canned, the company stopped its outreach in some communities, and with some exceptions, it largely went back to just selling huge and expensive motorcycles. Zeitz was a fan of EVs, so the LiveWire project, which has thus far burned millions of dollars, continued. Some falsely accuse Harley of being “radical” today, when the reality is that its radical period was during the late 2010s.

2025 Nightster Shd

Harley under Zeitz killed the Street series in 2021 and, as of this publishing, the cheapest Harley you can buy is the Nightster (above), which costs $10,499. But here’s the twist: This actually is not the cheapest Harley in America.

After Harley killed the Street series it kept some of the 500s on hand to use for the Riding Academy. However, Harley knew that eventually, it was going to need to replace those 500s. None of the other Harleys left in the lineup are optimal training bikes. So, Harley looked to China.

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The Chinese Harley

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During the More Roads initiative, Harley decided to partner up with the Qianjiang Motorcycle Company (QJ) of China, a firm owned by Geely. The idea involved using local expertise to create a baby 338cc Harley for the Chinese market. The article I wrote about this in January 2023 continues:

Harley-Davidson has since been quiet about development, but motorcycle publications have been finding leaks and regulatory filings. Since 2019, the motorcycle’s displacement grew from 338cc to 353cc and it’s joined with a larger 500cc sibling. As reported by Cycle World, Harley-Davidson and QJ formed Zhejiang Jisheng Motor Vehicle Co., Ltd. in 2021. In November 2022, that company was awarded a license to produce motorcycles by the Chinese government.

Harley-Davidson has since gained a bit of a foothold in China. However, as you can guess from the displacements I’ve mentioned, Chinese Harleys aren’t like what your doctor rides. The firm has instead focused on cheaper low displacement steeds developed with Qianjiang. Chinese riders get to swing a leg over the X350 and X500, two flat-track bikes that look nothing like what American Harleys are like. Additionally, India has its own flavor of Harley with the X440. Just take a look:

2025 H D X 350 F40b Motorcycle 1

Amazingly, Zeitz didn’t kill this partnership and instead did something that orange-blooded Harley fans might think was unthinkable. Harley needed new training bikes in America, so it decided to import the Chinese-built tiny Harleys into America.

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Right now, if you sign up for a Harley-Davidson Riding Academy course, you will swing your leg over a Harley-Davidson X350 RA. It’s a variant of the X350, where the RA stands for, you guessed it, “Riding Academy.”

The X350 is a thoroughly modern motorcycle. It sports a trellis frame, 41mm inverted forks, and a monoshock rear suspension. The engine is a 353cc parallel twin — foreign for an American Harley — that makes a respectable 36 HP and 23 lb-ft of torque. It also weighs 431 pounds in running order, which is on the heavy side for this class, but not absurd. These bikes are sold everywhere but the United States. In Australia, the Harley X350 is the equivalent of $5,311 (USD) and that’s after tax and freight.

Obviously, the differences in selling this bike in America would almost certainly mean it would have a different price here, but that’s dirt-cheap compared to Harley’s cheapest bike in America, which I’ll remind you is $10,499 before taxes and fees.

X350 Mc 4

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Our Australian friends seem to love them, too. A writer at BikeReview.com.au says:

I have had the flick-knife style key for our Harley-Davidson X350 motorcycle (it/that) long-termer for over a month now and every time I hop on-board, it never fails not to put me in a happier place. I’m not exactly sure why, is it because it’s so un-intimidating, or is it because it’s so easy to ride and so well balanced, or is it because it feels as though it wants to scrap with traffic of any size, shape or form? It’s definitely a blend of all of those sentiments and I really dig it.

The X350 arrived in America during the first quarter of 2023 and the RA-spec meant it got bright orange bars. These protect Harley’s trainer bikes from damage after the tip-overs that inevitably happen while a new rider is learning. The trainers also have trainer also gets axle sliders and as well as a tip sensor that shuts the engine down after a tip during training. There’s also a detuned version of the RA that makes 23 HP. Aside from those small changes — the bars are just bolted on — the X350 is pretty much similar as how the rest of the world gets it.

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Sunshine Coast Harley-Davidson

Yet, if you’re a cheap motorcycle junkie like me you just can’t buy one. Harley-Davidson is deeply concerned with its strong “made in America” image. Speaking to Canada Motorcycle Guide, Harley said “Harley-Davidsons for Americans would always be built by Americans.” So even though the X350s are in America and are certified for use on American roads, they’re stuck being dropped during training sessions.

It’s a shame because Harley-Davidson has been struggling for a while now. In theory, the company is leaving money on the table by completely ignoring the hot affordable motorcycle market. Yet, Harley has a cheap motorcycle it isn’t willing to sell you.

X350 Mc 1

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At the same time, I also wonder if Harley could even get away with trying to sell the X350 in America. As evidenced by last year’s boycotts, Harley currently attracts a clientele who don’t want the brand to do anything that could be construed as “anti-American.” Selling a Chinese-built bike in America would ruffle many feathers. So, we have this sort of half-measure where Harley has Chinese bikes in America, but it would rather you not think about it. You cannot even find photos of the X350 on Harley’s press image site even in markets where it’s sold. The potential trade war isn’t likely to make it easier.

All of this is to say that the motorcycle business is wild. Harley’s potential cash cow is right there, but it won’t sell it. One thing is for sure, I still want to ride the X350 even if I can’t buy one.

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Zeppelopod
Zeppelopod
4 days ago

This is EXACTLY the kind of bike I would want – smallish, not terribly powerful, nice retro standard styling.

As far as the reliability/build quality goes, how do you think it compares to something like a Royal Enfield Classic or Hunter?

The Stig's Misanthropic Cousin
The Stig's Misanthropic Cousin
5 days ago

I can see Harley not wanting to import these to the US. I highly doubt they would sell well if they did. It seems like this bike would attract buyers interested in bikes similar to the Honda minimoto lineup. One reason the Livewire wasn’t successful was that most potential buyers looked and felt out of place at a Harley dealership. I could see buyers of this bike being even more out of place at an H-D dealership than Livewire buyers.

Harley needs to bring back the Sportster 883. That bike looked and rode like a “real” Harley, was beginner friendly, and sold for around $8k. I don’t think Harley is ever going to attract a radically different demographic than it has, but I think a cheaper “real” Harley like the 883 has a better chance of increasing the pool of potential buyers than a lightweight Chinese motorcycle or any EV.

William Domer
William Domer
5 days ago

Easy Peasy: Create a subsidiary of Live Wire and bring them in. Lose the Harley Davidson Logo to just H/D and voila 350’s. The only Harley I ever owned was and Aeromacchi 350. Which was delightful, light(ish) and cool. Also: dear Halrley Davidson, As a Milwaukee native I strongly suggest that you change your idea of dying on the Murica Murica! cross. As a person of the generation that would actually buy one of those grotesque monstrosities (I never would), know that we are aging out and the ‘youths’ want nothing to do with the chrome laden antiques, save visiting them in your museum.

Scott Ross
Scott Ross
5 days ago

Harley Davidson is a lot like NASCAR. dying fan base with not enough new fans to make up for it. They like to lean on tradition, but tries to stray, when they stray too much people get upset and they go back.

Scott Ross
Scott Ross
5 days ago

I want Harley to sell them but they can’t do it at the dealership. Like the Street 500/750 the build quality is not as good as the mainstream Harleys. Milwaukee will downplay them along with sales people.

the 350 400 market has been hot so I think its a mistake not to go in.

I think the real thing Harley needs to do is get rid of Zeitz. I have no issues with supporting certain communities. Thats not where my issue is.

I have issues with Livewire being a drain on the US economy. HD is not making them to make money they are making them to get government handouts. All for what a company that wants to build bikes in thailand?

I also don’t like Zeitz because of of the pricing. the Pan AM ST cost the same as the Original ST? they took out features on the ST.

Also the cancellation of the Bronx and smaller displacement Pan Am just rubbed me the wrong way.

Last edited 5 days ago by Scott Ross
The Stig's Misanthropic Cousin
The Stig's Misanthropic Cousin
5 days ago
Reply to  Scott Ross

“I want Harley to sell them but they can’t do it at the dealership.”

Maybe have a direct sales option for these bikes (i.e. buy online and have it delivered)? Buying a new bike can be intimidating for a beginner, so the option to avoid the dealership could boost sales. Plus, the inability to test ride would be less of a concern since many new riders have already ridden the bike during a new rider course. It seems like these bikes could be very easy to sell if sold outside of the traditional dealership model. I’m not even sure it matters that they are made in China and are of lower quality than other Harleys; most new riders end up upgrading to a bigger/nicer bike after a few months experience anyway.

I also think they could have a trade in program similar to what they had with the Street 500. I don’t recall the details, but there was a program to trade up to a bigger bike after a certain amount of time and get a trade in value equivalent to the sales price of the 500.

Scott Ross
Scott Ross
5 days ago

f it sell them on amazon. It doesn’t matter what bike you have the dealer experience sucks. I stopped by my local Harley dealership to kick tires. I just wanted to see if they had any of the 2025s in yet. Right away some crappy salesman and I exchange pleasantries. I said I’m just looking. He starts prying are you looking for the future are you looking to trade in your bike. I should have said I’m looking for the exit, but I just made it clear. I’m just looking. Other salespeople were nicer and less aggressive.

Last edited 5 days ago by Scott Ross
Shinynugget
Shinynugget
5 days ago

Replace the word ‘cheap’ with ‘objectively bad’ in this article and you’ll understand why they don’t sell it. I’ve been critical of HD to my riding friends about their lack of lower price options, but a Chinese made bike shouldn’t be it. This is certainly not conclusive, and the manufacturing standards in 3 years may have changed. Fortnine did a video about build quality based on analysis of the first service oil. The results for the Chinese brand was, to say the least not good. In fact the Chinese motor was so dirty it broke the measuring equipment. We’re not talking mere fractions in the difference of dirt and debris but orders of magnitude worse than all other brands. Is that really the kind of bike that HD wants to sell to their customers? Is that really the way to bring in new customers, with a bike thats likely run poorly even new and get worse from there? I know there are plenty of jokes about HD bikes and leaking oil, paint can shakers and the like. I’ve made them all. But at the end of the day HD makes a good motorcycle for its intended purposes. Yes HD should build a bike that competes in the sub-$10k market. But please, build it yourselves Harley and build it here.
There’s inexpensive, and then there’s cheap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GAUo8eUXeU

Last edited 5 days ago by Shinynugget
VanGuy
VanGuy
5 days ago
Reply to  Shinynugget

When companies contract with others to manufacture, they (should) set the exact manufacturing specs, tolerances, etc. The Chinese are capable of manufacturing at whatever quality you require, for the right price. Blame the manufacturer for giving poor specs rather than blanket-blame the Chinese.

Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
5 days ago
Reply to  VanGuy

Given how cheaply good quality Chinese made stuff can be IO wonder just how tight a budget those terrible Chinese bike manufactures were given.

Jason Hinton
Jason Hinton
5 days ago
Reply to  Shinynugget

That tells you that Yan Xiang is a crap manufacturer. It says nothing about outher Chinese manufacturers – many that make engines our complete vehicles for US, European, and Japanese brands.

Baltimore Paul
Baltimore Paul
6 days ago

Same reason Tesla won’t make a cheaper car. As long as (just enough) people buy the expensive one, why bother with the cheaper one?
Not sustainable long term, but that’s where we are now

NosrednaNod
NosrednaNod
6 days ago

Maybe just maybe there IS a market for bikes like that in the US but no market for HARLEYs like that in the US.

Last edited 6 days ago by NosrednaNod
Cal67
Cal67
6 days ago

OK, so Harley only wants to sell American made bikes – so build this in the U.S. (or at least assemble from Chinese manufactured parts). You aren’t going to cannibalize your traditional market – none of those people would even look at this thing.

VanGuy
VanGuy
5 days ago
Reply to  Cal67

Eh, I do kind of see the argument that existing customers might say “oh, you’re now selling a Chinese-made bike? well now I’m not going to buy any of your bikes”

Cal67
Cal67
4 days ago
Reply to  VanGuy

My point was to assemble it in the U.S. For most people that would constitute “made in the U.S.”

Cars? I've owned a few
Cars? I've owned a few
6 days ago

If you want to ride one, you could do so surreptitiously by enrolling in HD RA class, I guess.

PresterJohn
PresterJohn
6 days ago

I wonder what they’ll do with these when they’re no longer useful for training. Crush them I assume?

Stryker_T
Stryker_T
5 days ago
Reply to  PresterJohn

based on how used the ones I’ve seen were. they wouldn’t be useful for much afterward TBH, they will use them until they dissolve.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
6 days ago

I dig the dirt tracker look of it – looks a little like a mini XR1200 (which itself was a take on the XR750 racer). I got into motorcycles back when HD was still the one to beat in flat track, until Indian returned and completely obliterated it.

Eggsalad
Eggsalad
6 days ago

I took my MSF training at a Harley dealership around 2010 and *none* of the trainer bikes were Harleys. I trained on a Honda Rebel.

Stryker_T
Stryker_T
6 days ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

I did around 2013 and they were all Buell Blasts.

it was the middle of winter in miserable conditions, cold and rainy the entire time, only half of the class of like 8(?) of us made it to the end, our instructor said we could handle anything after all of that. I’ve been good so far lol.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
6 days ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

I did mine at a community college, and it was assorted beat up Hondas, Suzukis, and the one Ninja that half the class constantly fought over.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
6 days ago

Mine was a Suzuki equivalent, a GZ250. My fondest BRC memory is after completing one of the curving turn excercises, the instructor critiquing me said “yeah too much lean, you were dragging the pegs a little…but you rode through it fine, so…keep going.”

Steven Coates
Steven Coates
5 days ago
Reply to  Eggsalad

You have to specifically take the Harley Riding Academy course in order to ride these or the other bikes they have used, plus not all dealerships do the academy course and just sponsor MSF courses in the area.

Dogisbadob
Dogisbadob
6 days ago

oh come on, like they never sold any non-American bikes over here *cough* 2-stroke Italian dirtbikes *cough*

Dodsworth
Dodsworth
6 days ago
Reply to  Dogisbadob

I’ll be the Chinese bikes are more reliable, says the former Rapido 250 rider.

Speedway Sammy
Speedway Sammy
6 days ago
Reply to  Dogisbadob

My buddy had one back in the early 70s. He called it his “Hardly a Harley”

Hugh Crawford
Hugh Crawford
6 days ago
Reply to  Dogisbadob

Harley won its only world championships on the Aermacchis. Four World Championships250cc World Championship in 1974’75, and ’76, and the 350cc World Championship in 1976

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
6 days ago

I wish Made in America meant something besides higher prices, but the skill and craftsmanship of American products has regressed to the global mean. Not really any worse, but definitely not better. Paying that premium for domestic manufactured goods gets harder and harder to justify. I understand Harley’s reluctance to cross that bridge, but they’re going to have to settle for a shrinking customer base and market share. Maybe they survive, maybe not. If the economy gets worse (too soon to make that call), big luxury bikes will be relegated to the privileged few. That seems to be happening already.

Arch Duke Maxyenko
Arch Duke Maxyenko
6 days ago

Harley desperately just needs to make a new XR750 with a downsized version of the 975 engine, but it needs to be made in America, imported Harleys have just never sold well the US market dating all the way back to the Aermacchi days

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