Royal Enfield Motorcycles - Like a Harley Davidson

Will they or wont they or when will Harley-Davidson open up shop in India? When they arrive will we all want to buy one? Will we be able to afford one because high import duty rates might push the retail price   out of reach of most bikers?  One effect could be to create a whole new kind of rider, one who takes his bike out on the weekend and meets up with a group of like minded riders and then keeps his ride in the garage during the week to be cosseted and polished ready for the next club meet. Many Harley or custom bike owners in Europe and the USA follow this trend and because of the vagaries of the weather they are labelled sunny Sunday bikers. In India we have nearly ideal weather for bike riding for nearly all the year even if we don’t always have ideal road conditions.  I am surprised that a bottle of tranquillisers is not handed out to every new bike owner who has to navigate the congested streets of Mumbai, Pune or New Delhi on a daily basis.  The lucky owners of the Enfield have a bike that is old fashioned, yet has many useful qualities, one of which is that it easily lends itself to being modified to take on different personalities. Although an anathema to many RE owners one personality some bikers would like to change their bike to is to make it as much like a Harley-Davidson or Custom motorcycle as possible. Whatever you do in terms of modification won’t make your bike exactly like a custom or HD motorcycle but some of the things listed below will go some way along this road.  Whatever changes are made for styling purposes, it is important not to do anything that will cause unsafe riding characteristics.