ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE: a little made to go a long way

Is ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE a cult movie or just an independent film that got lucky?
The term cult movie is one that has been much used and abused, primarily because it's so elastic. The basic requirements for its' bestowal appear to be that the film has developed a small but passionate, sometimes obsessive following, despite being a commercial failure on its original release. Often it's a film that is in some way outside of the mainstream, whether through story, production values or casting, although the term has also been applied to standard Hollywood fare 
By this criteria ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE would seem to fit the bill but does it deserve the status of a cult? To me it's one of those rather quirky, slightly left field no-big-stars American films from the early 1970s (1973) that has become tagged with the descriptor "cult" for no other reason than because it is slightly quirky and vaguely counter-culture, with no big star names.

The quirky quotient is provided by Robert Blake as John Wintergreen, a vertically challenged motorcycle cop patrolling the dusty desert roads of northern Arizona who dreams of becoming a homicide detective. 
Wintergreen's a 100% by the book cop,eternally optimistic and unfailingly polite even when issuing a speeding ticket to an irate LA detective who thought he'd been let off because he's a fellow cop. His best friend, fellow motorcycle officer Zipper (Billy 'Green' Bush) is the total opposite, and it's this study in contrasts which supposedly gives the story depth. 
Why would a straight arrow cop like Wintergreen tolerate, let alone pal around with, someone so blatantly corrupt and contemptuous of the values he's paid to uphold? Maybe it's because he's quirky!
The story moves at a leisurely pace with numerous scenes that don't appear to have much point to them, and the camerawork switches from claustrophobic close-ups in the first half (where it's impossible to get a clear picture of what's going on) to long shots in the second half, suggesting perhaps an alienation from the central character.
But it's also too easy to read the languid pacing and unusual camerawork as indicators of a deeper meaning that's just waiting to be discovered if only the viewer thinks hard enough. I did think about it and I'm not convinced that there are any deeper meanings to be divined. There is however plenty of gratuitous overacting (I'm talking about you Elisha Cook jr, Jeannine Riley and Mitchell Ryan) to make the suspension of disbelief a painfully back-wrenching piece of heavy lifting.
Other than some beautiful desert landscapes I found ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE to be an empty, unsatisfying viewing experience memorable only (and not necessarily in a good way) for it's very unusual final shot.