I read a review of the two bikes on rideapart.com last night. Ref:
http://rideapart.com/2013/11/2014-harley-davidson-street-750-and-500-2/It mentions that the ones they plan to sell in the U.S. will be built in the U.S., not India, although it mentions that HD didn't say where the parts for the U.S. builds will come from.
I've never been a cruiser kind of guy, so they new ones don't appeal to me any more than any other bike of this type.
I always wondered why HD even tries to sell anything under the HD name that doesn't fit the traditional HD mold. We all know how well the VRod went down with "The Faithful".
Harley should just start a new, wholly-owned, but independent brand to expand their business. Then they wouldn't be stuck with any kind of expectations. Although I don't agree with how they treated Eric Buell, they couldn't go in this direction with his bikes as he was only interested in high performance bikes and made a miserable effort on that awful Blast model.
I think they'd expand their demographic greatly if they'd build a few "standards" that weren't yet another interpretation of the cruiser.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Cheers,
Dan K.