The road monsters are coming. The father of all motorbikes – Harley-Davidson would be here next year to burn the roads as well as your pockets, as you will have to shell out double of what they cost in the US.

You could own one of these stunners at a starting price of Rs 700,000 apiece, starting mid-2010. The hot bikes will cost two times as much because the import duty is a little over 100 per cent.

“We are bringing the best 10-12 Harley-Davidson bikes to India next year, which would be imported as completely built units (CBUs), starting with a base price of $14,000 – double of their US market price,” said Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley-Davidson India.

Harley-Davidson’s VRSC Night Rod Special and Fat Boy would be one of the first ones to be available here.

The US-headquartered company has a total of 43 heavyweight Harley-Davidson bikes in its portfolio.

Top metro cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad among others will be places where the company will initially set up dealerships, Prakash said.

The rich ones, who want to customise their Harley-Davidsons need not go too far from the dealerships because the company plans to provide options for modifications. “Customisation of bikes will also be done here soon because no two Harley-Davidson bikes look the same,” Prakash said.

If you want more, the company plans to bring in Harley-Davidson merchandise, apparel and riding gear as well in the future years. “We would love to export riding gear, casual wear and jewellery here in the future,” he added.

Industry estimates suggest that the annual sales potential of these bikes is around 200-250 in India.

“I am very eager to come here in a few years and see how our bikes are doing in India, although I hear that there are already 60-150 Harley-Davidson bikes riding on the streets here,” said Matthew Levatich, president and chief executive officer, Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

The US accounts for 70 per cent of Harley Davidson’s total retail sales, he added.

Those of you who are hoping to get a cheaper bargain on these road monsters in the future, may not strike a deal at least in the near future because the government has not paid heed to the company’s demand to reduce duty on their bikes.

“We certainly hope a duty reduction happens in the future, although the government said that the import duty would be kept as the same for all bikes that are imported here,” Prakash said.