So, after its launch in China a few days ago, will we see those 353 cc Harleys plying Philippine roads soon?

It looks like it. Sort of…let me explain.

The Harley-Davidson X350 is a small displacement flat tracker cum roadster launched by the iconic American motorcycle brand to cater to novice and budget-conscious riders. It was developed and produced by Chinese manufacturing giant QianJiang (QJ) Motor.

In this type of collaboration, the parties involved usually share in developing a particular platform and then come out with their product versions, just like what happened with the KTM 390 Duke and the Bajaj Dominar 400. You get the drift.

However, due to the somewhat underwhelming market reception of the Street 500, Harley-Davidson Manila might think twice about bringing in another lower displacement model like the X350.

We did find comfort in the fact that QJ Motor is the mother company of Keeway and Benelli,  both of which have a local market presence through their official distributor Mitsukoshi.

Ergo, there’s a possibility that the said distributor might eventually include the X350 in Mitsukoshi's line-up.

Except that...

However, QJ Motor Philippines started its social media presence a couple of weeks ago, inviting would-be customers to check out their models at the Bristol Showroom in Caloocan. Eh?

So I contacted Bristol VP of Marketing David Winkle for some clarifications.

He kindly confirmed that the Bristol Group had added the QJ Motor brand to its repertoire but has not officially announced it.

He also shared that it already has QJ bikes on display, one of which is the QJ Motor version of the Harley-Davidson X350!

I don’t know about your weekend plans, but I’m heading to the Bristol Showroom (10th Ave. cor. 4th St.) in Caloocan.