Dale's Motorcycle Blog

Back in November, I wrote that US dirt-bike maker ATK and Korean conglomerate S&T inked a deal for ATK to assemble ATK-branded street bikes at some select Harley-Davidson dealerships.  It’s a dealer-level deal, and has nothing to do with the Motor Company itself, just some dealers put together by ATK’s CEO Frank White.

This week, we get an update, with ATK and S&T formalizing a deal for 33,000 motorcycles over the next four years.  The models below are the ATK-assembled and badged bikes whose parts will be brought in from Korea:

There will be two 250cc models, a sportbike and cruiser, and two similar 650cc models.

According to Frank White’s statement in the ATK Press release:

White is quick to explain that The Harley- Davidson Motor Company does not endorse or support this joint venture in any way. White states; “Nevertheless, our new products fit the current Harley-Davidson dealer need and move to offer both the dealer, and more importantly, the retail customer, a complete staircase of V-twin based products, which only acts to complement the current Harley-Davidson product line-up.”

“The approach is simple; get new and younger riders to go into the Harley-Davidson dealerships,” explains White. “We want to capture those customers who are initially looking for a smaller displacement motorcycle, at an affordable price, and then over time these new riders will develop the aspiration for a traditional Harley-Davidson.”

HD may not have any part of this deal, but I’ll bet they’re watching it closely.