Good News for Bikers : Call it whatever you want—the threat of Trump tariffs or the Government of India trying to score brownie points before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming trip to the United States. However you slice it, luxury motorcycles are about to get a lot more affordable. These include world-renowned brands such as Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, BMW, etc. The good news is Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has listed cuts to the basic customs duty (BCD) on import of completely built-up units (CBUs, semi-knocked down (SKD), and completely knocked down (CKD units of motorcycles. Let’s find out what this means for people buying a home.
Does the duty waiver mean lower price luxury motorcycles? The proposal to reduce customs duty on high-end motorcycles is part of the efforts to build India as the manufacturing hub of the world, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday So, ahead of anyone concluding that this marks a bid to placate US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariff action, it might not be so cut and dry.
The context to this is that during the first term of Trump, he gave a big pat on the back to Prime Minister Modi for slashing import duty on motorcycles by the half, from 100 per cent to 50 per cent. But he also described the 50 per cent tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles as “unacceptable.”
As per the Budget 2025 speech, the customs duty on high-end motorcycles, which have engine capacities of less than 1,600cc and are brought into the country as CBUs, have been slashed from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. This means your dream Harley-Davidson is now available with an extra 10 per cent off, further cushioned with the launch of its new range now, available at price
that is unprecendented in India. At present, Harley-Davidson sells a total of 10 models in India via completely built units (CBUs) and specializes in Pan America, Sportster S, and a few others with Hero MotoCorp, for which all CBUs are imported directly from Australia. This is a good time for lovers of sportbikes to rejoice as trademark nameplates will include the likes of this Ducati Panigale and the Kawasaki H2 SX Supercharged to gain relief from import tariffs.For anyone in the bark of field considering a
motorcycle with an engine capacity over 1,600cc, here’s the real treat. The customs duties are now reduced from 50 per cent to 30 per cent. This helpin’ popular model category such as Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, Street Glide, Honda Goldwing bringin’ premium bikes at the reach of Indian buyersSo, either you’re a Harley lover, or you dig the high-end brands, these duty cuts will put your dream motorcycle that much closer to being a real life thing.
SKD and CKD bike offeringsThe Finance Minister is not letting off the throttle yet. There’s a big treat for SKD (Semi-Knocked Down) units, BCD has been slashed by 5 per cent to 20 per cent. That’s a bit of a boost for brands that are trying to have bikes made in the U.They receive a portion of the pie for the CKD units. The import duty on these has been reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. With that, you’ll be assembling your riding dreams, not an import tax.
The upshot of all this is that assembling motorcycles in India suddenly just got a lot more desirable. Well, it seems that the government is not only making our premium two-wheelers fast but also easy on the pocket.