I wonder if the Streetfighter will be banned from college campuses because the snowflakes might not feel safe because of that name.

 

Did the engine plant factory tour on the 30th August and spotted a Pan American engine coming off the production line. The guide was a bit surprised when I stopped the group and pointed out the new engine to a few folk. He made some comment about not knowing what the engine was for. Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of the engine, but it was there.
As an aside I didn't notice any "Street" engines being built in the plant.

 

This is interesting. Was there a crowd of engineer types checking it out while it was progressing or was it just hanging from the chain all by its lonesome? A 'yes' would indicate it may be a pre-production prototype. A 'no' may mean nothing in particular.

As for the Street engines they may be batch built and you could have been between batches.

 

The engine was just hanging in a cage at the end of the line. I think most of the production guys were on one of their breaks.

 

The newest honda African twin and the pan America have some similarities, mainly that big aluminum skid plate, crash bars and exhaust

 

Yup, I think the Pan America's main competition will be the new 2020 Honda Africa Twin and not the BMW adv bikes. 501 pounds fully-fueled. That's 75 pounds lighter than an 883 Sportster. Base MSRP $14,399. The TOTL model with the electronic bells and whistles is $17,199 not including panniers and top box. Figure two grand for those and you're at $19K. I don't think any of us are expecting a loaded Pan America to be less than that weight or that cost. Gonna be a tough market to break into.

 

The Africa Twin also gains a much lower seat height option too. The 2018's lowest seat height was 35.5 inches(!) The new one has a seat option that's a full three inches lower, at 32.5 inches. That's huge, it makes the bike much more approachable for normal-sized folks.

Harley riders are used to really low seats; generally 29 inches or lower, down to the 26 inch range for the Ultra Limited Low and Softail Slim. 32.5 is still stratospheric compared to what Harley riders are used to, but it's eminently more approachable for most folks than the 36 inch seat height of the BMW 1250 GSA.

I know I harp on seat height a lot, but it's really an area where Harley can establish a unique selling point, and it seems to me it fits in with their core riding group a lot better.

Here's to hoping the Pan America offers a shaft drive; that's another place they can be fairly unique. Other than the 1250GS, the only shaft drive ADV bike out there is the Moto Guzzi V85 TT.

 

I see you have not watched the video, it's obviously CHAIN drive.

 

Theres no point..... tried telling them months ago shaft drive ain’t happening. Let em hope and wish for 200HP and they jt weighs 330lbs while they are at it

 

I seem to remember there was talk early on of multiple models, and that one would be chain and one shaft. But we will see, there's still a year to go before it's released.