Pan America
#51
10-10-2018, 03:23 PM
Outstanding HDF Member
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North of You (06-18-2021)
#52
10-14-2018, 12:01 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Sandy Eggo's North County
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metalb00 (02-23-2019)
#55
10-14-2018, 04:24 PM
Grand HDF Member
#57
10-15-2018, 12:35 AM
Grand HDF Member
The way I look at it: there are some among us that seem to think "if it's not a bagger, it's not a Harley." And what they totally miss is that Harley MUST make bikes that DON'T appeal to those guys! Harley already has something like 90% of the bagger market. There's no path to growth for them, making the same bike they've been making for 50 years ...
So if the "Harley Faithful" hate it, that's a sign that Harley may be on the right track. They have to attract non-bagger riders.
The way I look at it, the Pan America doesn't have to out-do a BMW 1200GS or a KTM Super Adventure. It just has to be a competent, good bike at a reasonable price. I would much rather buy an American-made Harley and get the incredibly huge dealer support network, all other things being equal. I could buy the BMW if I wanted, but an overly technologically complicated bike with outrageous service costs and a tiny dealer network are not appealing. Same with the KTM, except an even smaller dealer network. Frankly I don't care about squeezing the last five HP out of the engine or whether one has a 1/4" more suspension travel than the other. So long as it is good and competent, there are other factors that are much more important in the buying decision.
I love the looks of the Pan America. I like the idea of a properly liquid--cooled high-HP engine. I really like the depth of the dealer network, and I prefer to buy American whenever possible. I just hope the Pan America is a competent good bike, I hope that it's not a heavy pig, and I hope it has a reasonable seat height. I'd like to wait a year or two to see them get some of the early bugs worked out, but I said the same thing about the '18 Softail and I ended up buying that the first time I actually saw it...
So if the "Harley Faithful" hate it, that's a sign that Harley may be on the right track. They have to attract non-bagger riders.
The way I look at it, the Pan America doesn't have to out-do a BMW 1200GS or a KTM Super Adventure. It just has to be a competent, good bike at a reasonable price. I would much rather buy an American-made Harley and get the incredibly huge dealer support network, all other things being equal. I could buy the BMW if I wanted, but an overly technologically complicated bike with outrageous service costs and a tiny dealer network are not appealing. Same with the KTM, except an even smaller dealer network. Frankly I don't care about squeezing the last five HP out of the engine or whether one has a 1/4" more suspension travel than the other. So long as it is good and competent, there are other factors that are much more important in the buying decision.
I love the looks of the Pan America. I like the idea of a properly liquid--cooled high-HP engine. I really like the depth of the dealer network, and I prefer to buy American whenever possible. I just hope the Pan America is a competent good bike, I hope that it's not a heavy pig, and I hope it has a reasonable seat height. I'd like to wait a year or two to see them get some of the early bugs worked out, but I said the same thing about the '18 Softail and I ended up buying that the first time I actually saw it...
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#58
10-15-2018, 03:22 AM
Stellar HDF Member
The way I look at it: there are some among us that seem to think "if it's not a bagger, it's not a Harley." And what they totally miss is that Harley MUST make bikes that DON'T appeal to those guys! Harley already has something like 90% of the bagger market. There's no path to growth for them, making the same bike they've been making for 50 years ...
So if the "Harley Faithful" hate it, that's a sign that Harley may be on the right track. They have to attract non-bagger riders.
The way I look at it, the Pan America doesn't have to out-do a BMW 1200GS or a KTM Super Adventure. It just has to be a competent, good bike at a reasonable price. I would much rather buy an American-made Harley and get the incredibly huge dealer support network, all other things being equal. I could buy the BMW if I wanted, but an overly technologically complicated bike with outrageous service costs and a tiny dealer network are not appealing. Same with the KTM, except an even smaller dealer network. Frankly I don't care about squeezing the last five HP out of the engine or whether one has a 1/4" more suspension travel than the other. So long as it is good and competent, there are other factors that are much more important in the buying decision.
I love the looks of the Pan America. I like the idea of a properly liquid--cooled high-HP engine. I really like the depth of the dealer network, and I prefer to buy American whenever possible. I just hope the Pan America is a competent good bike, I hope that it's not a heavy pig, and I hope it has a reasonable seat height. I'd like to wait a year or two to see them get some of the early bugs worked out, but I said the same thing about the '18 Softail and I ended up buying that the first time I actually saw it...
So if the "Harley Faithful" hate it, that's a sign that Harley may be on the right track. They have to attract non-bagger riders.
The way I look at it, the Pan America doesn't have to out-do a BMW 1200GS or a KTM Super Adventure. It just has to be a competent, good bike at a reasonable price. I would much rather buy an American-made Harley and get the incredibly huge dealer support network, all other things being equal. I could buy the BMW if I wanted, but an overly technologically complicated bike with outrageous service costs and a tiny dealer network are not appealing. Same with the KTM, except an even smaller dealer network. Frankly I don't care about squeezing the last five HP out of the engine or whether one has a 1/4" more suspension travel than the other. So long as it is good and competent, there are other factors that are much more important in the buying decision.
I love the looks of the Pan America. I like the idea of a properly liquid--cooled high-HP engine. I really like the depth of the dealer network, and I prefer to buy American whenever possible. I just hope the Pan America is a competent good bike, I hope that it's not a heavy pig, and I hope it has a reasonable seat height. I'd like to wait a year or two to see them get some of the early bugs worked out, but I said the same thing about the '18 Softail and I ended up buying that the first time I actually saw it...
I think there are a lot of folks starting to pay attention to the Adventure type bike for all kinds of reasons. It's a growing market it looks like to me. And I hope you are right about it not being a heavy pig. I'm considering one of them for the lighter weight alone.
Your point about it not having to be on par with the BMW and Duke are spot on, as far as I'm concerned. If it's, as you say, just a competent bike, I too think that's all it needs to be. I live at the coast, and it would be nice to have a bike that could handle many of the unpaved, sand/sea shell/crushed stone type parking lots we tend to have in this area. And please Harley, leave off the loud sounding pipes. WE have those on our baggers. We don't need that kind of thing on the ADV bike. And have a shaft or belt drive.....please. No chains.
The following 2 users liked this post by GOV5:
Pugslycat01 (07-07-2020),
wbir (09-26-2019)
#59
10-15-2018, 12:32 PM
It is chain driven, at least the pics I've seen of it. Personally I don't have a problem with modern O-ring chains just wipe it off and spray chain lube on them every 500 miles, change the countershaft sprocket at 20,000 miles, then both sprockets and the chain itself at 40,000 miles. May not achieve this mileage with an OEM chain but you can with a good after market one.
I just pray it comes with tubeless type wheels, my biggest gripe with my Africa Twin is it has tubes so any puncture requires removing the wheel from the bike and the tire from the wheel which is a real PIA out in the middle of nowhere.
I just pray it comes with tubeless type wheels, my biggest gripe with my Africa Twin is it has tubes so any puncture requires removing the wheel from the bike and the tire from the wheel which is a real PIA out in the middle of nowhere.
#60
10-15-2018, 01:38 PM
Road Warrior
It is chain driven, at least the pics I've seen of it. Personally I don't have a problem with modern O-ring chains just wipe it off and spray chain lube on them every 500 miles, change the countershaft sprocket at 20,000 miles, then both sprockets and the chain itself at 40,000 miles. May not achieve this mileage with an OEM chain but you can with a good after market one.
I just pray it comes with tubeless type wheels, my biggest gripe with my Africa Twin is it has tubes so any puncture requires removing the wheel from the bike and the tire from the wheel which is a real PIA out in the middle of nowhere.
I just pray it comes with tubeless type wheels, my biggest gripe with my Africa Twin is it has tubes so any puncture requires removing the wheel from the bike and the tire from the wheel which is a real PIA out in the middle of nowhere.