[Livin On]

Is anyone worried about Indian Prodcution Quality?

Honda had well publicized quality control issues in India with their CBR250R...

European customers may scream bloody murder...

 

[gregsfc]

India has some quality car brands and sells the number one brand of farm tractor in the world; many of which are breaking ground all of the U.S. and Europe. That same Indian tractor maker, Mahindra, is also an automaker and nearly marketed a diesel pickup truck to the U.S. except that they learned the hard way about all the entry barriers for selling on-road vehicles in the U.S. Tata Motors nearly bought out GM's Hummer a few years ago and would have been the manufacturer of an American car had that deal gone through.

I think it's more of a question of how well the company sets up shop in India, and the supply chain rather than abilities of Indian workers to make a good product.

Hasn't HD already been making bikes there before the Street?

 

[sunny_sahdev]

No Earlier HD Bike parts were imported from US and assembled in India, for the first time they are starting production.

 

[basuroy]

If one is serious about quality , I think we can produce good stuff though I dont expect it to be on par with the best(purely my opinion). But not so bad that it should be an issue either. jaguar and range rover are owned by indian company and as such have major assembly lines in pune but the critical stuffs like motor or tranny are still imported from CHINA. Even the german premium brands have assembly line here and press the panels etc in the country .

One thing I have noticed is almost every international manufacturer tries to import the entire motor(if not most of the parts) from abroad , HD if I'm correct will be the first high profile motorcycles with the motor built in india as well. It helps in the sense that it removes import duty for us and makes it cheaper but will it prove reliable ? only time will tell.

Ducatis triumphs are completely manufactured in indonesia , thailand etc these days . They are not that ahead of india tbh so if they can do it , I think it is more than possible to achieve similar level of quality here. Is the asian ducati as good as italian ? Honestly no idea :/

China india and other asian countries are very flexible , they can roll out quality or quantity or both or neither . It is the brand you need to worry about and whether you feel they might try to cut corners..

 

[fkystreet]

production quality just comes down to training and quality control of the factory. paying your staff well doesn't hurt either

 

[harleyhoonigan]

production quality just comes down to training and quality control of the factory. paying your staff well doesn't hurt either

Happy workers = better product. Many companies don't get this and just treat their employee's like slaves, which is the worst thing to do.

 

[Livin On]

Look, I understand that India has had its own manufacturing base of many products for some time now. The difference though is that Indian produced bikes/cars have typically been solely for the Indian market.

I just wonder how European customers are going to react if certain corners are cut. Like or example, does the European Street 750 get the same Michelin Scorcher II's as US bikes...

 

[Desert Tortoise]

I hope Harley can do better in India than the Indian defense sector does. Even with experienced foreign firms holding their hands all the way, India has a very tough time producing their own designs on time and under budget. Look how long India has been fooling around with the Arjun tank and LCA, Light Combat Aircraft. We have had joint exercises with the Indian Navy with our people cross decking to their ships, and our folks come back shaking their heads at the poor material condition of even Indias best and newest ships. Dirty and run down looking even when only a few years old.

 

[basuroy]

Look, I understand that India has had its own manufacturing base of many products for some time now. The difference though is that Indian produced bikes/cars have typically been solely for the Indian market.

I just wonder how European customers are going to react if certain corners are cut. Like or example, does the European Street 750 get the same Michelin Scorcher II's as US bikes...

Yes from what I read , all export bikes get michellin tyres. If I were you however , I wont worry about tyres but the engine itself. If any fault are to arise , it will be primarily from the motor . No need to worry about the frame etc , those jobs if executed by good technicians will be top notch. BMW , mercedes etc etc all try to fabricate as much as possible here so we can do those jobs. I get your doubts though , indian unlike most of europe is behind when it comes to industry standards and if I were in your place , I will prefer a localised product as well.
But we are moving into the era of outsourcing , china already rules most of the market , I was told that the range rovers and jags sold in britain these days are made in china. Another 3 decades , rolls royce will join the club

@Desert Tortoise , the manpower and infratructure exists here to do a quality job. However if the person handing out the contract is corrupt and willing to cut corners , it is more than possible and reason why armed forces(especially navy , air force is fine , army is good) are in the state they are. What I'm trying to say is if HD is intent on quality , they can deliver that but if they are willing to cut corner/take a shortcut , they will be able to do that with ease as well. Since you know the company better than me , do you think that is a possibility ?

One personal experience I will like to share -
Mercedes has been present here for a long time and now source many engine parts from indian vendors as well . I happened to visit one such facility which manufactures crank for both merc(4 and 6 cyl engines) and tata(and other indian brands) at the same place. Tata vehicles normally cost a fraction of a merc , I'm not sure if this is merc cutting corners or tata having high standard but both have very strong reputation in india(different customer base) so you get the idea.

 

[Desert Tortoise]

I can say this, Mercedes engines manufactured in Venezuela, which routinely turn up in big trucks in the US under the Freightliner name, are prone to expensive big end failures. I don't know about the quality of Mercedes components from India, but I would not buy anything they made in Venezuela. Not impressed.

 

[Yusef]

I have never heard of Harley Davidson having problems with quality. Given that they are just now moving production of many parts to India, I would think that they are putting in extra special care to ensure that their first overseas production facility is up to the standards of the parts that they manufacture in the US. The last thing that Harley wants is for its affordable bike to end up being poor quality and plagued with issues.

 

[fkystreet]

most of the time they will send out the resident US quality control managers out to watch over the production if its a new factory

 

[Desert Tortoise]

I have never heard of Harley Davidson having problems with quality.

Oh boy, that's a good one. Ask any V-Rod owner about the rear brake master cylinder that gets baked by the exhaust collector. Ask any 2007 or later V-Rod owner what their opinion is of the ultrasonic fuel level sender (kludge). The fuel guage is more entertainment than information, especially when the fuel level appears to increase as you ride. Lurk on a V-Rod discussion board and see the complaints about "the clunk", where the steering head bearings work loose due to a lousy top nut and adjuster design, a problem worsened by an almost complete lack of grease applied to the bearings at the factory that allows the whole stem, bearing cages and races to rust out. Read some other instances where people could not remove swingarms because the shaft was rusted into the engine case.

I have a V-Rod and could go on. I have remedied all of it's problems (I didn't mention the True-Track linkage to take the side loads off the engine mounts and hopefully extend the life of the next set because having to remove the whole engine at around 30K miles because the engine mounts are squashed is not fun at all).

Harley doesn't always get it right.

 

[HarleyVest]

For the rear master cylinder its bad placement can't if be relocated?

 

[Desert Tortoise]

For the rear master cylinder its bad placement can't if be relocated?

Nope. But owners have found some car parts that do the job and don't melt.

 

[Santosh kumar]

Sub Standard!!!

I thought everyone will comment on production quality after seeing my pics in the booking orders thread but no one did...
My observations and assessment on the quality ,considering its a entry level budget bike from HD i was disappointed with quality of the bike...
well it was top notch when u compare it to Indian manufactured bikes ,but its indeed below par wen compared to HD standards...
The overall finish of the display bike was poor ,poor fittings and dangling wires ,exposed wires which are ugly looking in the background of black custom paint ,oh wait did i mention blacked out finish he'll no its totally different finish compared to the pictures which are available over internet ...
I happened to compare street 750 finish with iron 883 which was displayed separately ,the moment i noticed iron after street i noticed tons of difference wen it came to overall finish i was bit disappointed...
Then i thot its just a display bike & the ones meant for delivery could be better finished (fingers crossed) ,well all the observations made are my opinion & its not to hurt anybodies feelings lol
All said & done will i buy this bike ? he'll yes lol no other bike manufacturers offer a premium bike with such engine displacement at mouth watering price ...

 

[harleyhoonigan]

I thought everyone will comment on production quality after seeing my pics in the booking orders thread but no one did...
My observations and assessment on the quality ,considering its a entry level budget bike from HD i was disappointed with quality of the bike...
well it was top notch when u compare it to Indian manufactured bikes ,but its indeed below par wen compared to HD standards...
The overall finish of the display bike was poor ,poor fittings and dangling wires ,exposed wires which are ugly looking in the background of black custom paint ,oh wait did i mention blacked out finish he'll no its totally different finish compared to the pictures which are available over internet ...
I happened to compare street 750 finish with iron 883 which was displayed separately ,the moment i noticed iron after street i noticed tons of difference wen it came to overall finish i was bit disappointed...
Then i thot its just a display bike & the ones meant for delivery could be better finished (fingers crossed) ,well all the observations made are my opinion & its not to hurt anybodies feelings lol
All said & done will i buy this bike ? he'll yes lol no other bike manufacturers offer a premium bike with such engine displacement at mouth watering price ...

thanks a lot for this post.
at we know even in India the HD's their are still built like tanks!

 

[basuroy]

Entry level or not , 4.5-5lakhs onroad is a huge amount to pay for a motorbike in india and it is expected the product will excel in both performance and quality aspect . If the company uses "budget" as an excuse for a noticeable drop in standard/finish when compared to the next model , it is not a healthy indicator of what to expect in terms of engine reliablity or build quality. Even an enfield has better wire management than that !!! And display bike is what you get , if a company displays an inferior product , the marketing dept. should be fired ASAP. And harley thrives on marketing so there is no chance the final product will be an aesthetic improvement on what is displayed.

 

[fkystreet]

hmmm would like to see if anyone else has an opinion on the street quality when comparing to the 883 iron. i would be dissapointed of the street was cheaper. they are around the same price.

 

[basuroy]

hmmm would like to see if anyone else has an opinion on the street quality when comparing to the 883 iron. i would be dissapointed of the street was cheaper. they are around the same price.

In india the price difference is 80% because iron is imported so higher tax, also american street costs 1000$ more though it is expected to be a carbon copy of indian street(except for michellin tyres ) . Maybe higher labor rates.

Comparision-
The dealer told me street is only HD model with plastic and it was apparent - radiator , indicator , lower portion of rear fender and side panels below seat are plastic. Quality of plastic is good except for electricals at handle which looked cheap.
The iron barely has any wire cluttered around the triple tree and the wires are neatly clamped to the chassis , the street one can observe the pictures . Wires also become an eyesore below seat.


For us indians , the price difference is huge so it is acceptable . For the US customers , the only selling point can be performance which should be higher, otherwise the iron beats it in both quality of finish and exhaust note. In my opinion , HD has built this bike for developing economies like india portugal brasil etc. America is not a primary target nation , not unless they market it is as performance oriented machine over there.