Harley-Davidson is targeting diminutive Japanese customers who struggle to acquire licences to ride heavyweight bikes with the roll-out of its Tri Glide three-wheeler.
This machine, which retails for about £23,500 in Japan, is classified as a car under Japanese road traffic regulations. Riders don’t need to wear helmets or possess a motorcycle licence. As Harley-Davidson Japan managing director Stuart Farrell (right) has noted, that opens up a marketing proposition to 80 million car licence holders, against only five million qualified Japanese bikers.
Response to the Tri Glide in Japan has been encouraging in the month since its launch, according to Tokyo-based Harley dealer Yuji Kurihara, who has received more than 50 enquiries about the trike.
“It’s grabbing lots of attention from people who have never been on a motorbike before and don’t own a licence to ride motorbikes,” said Kurihara. “They’re people who have known of and yearned for the Harley experience for a long time.”
Japan is already one of Harley’s biggest export markets. Its sales there rose by one per cent to 10,642 units in 2013.