Every decade there is one iconic motorcycle launch. One that shakes the collective imagination of worldwide riders and shocks the foundations of Motorcycle Culture, setting new rules. In the 90’s it was the Monster. The Hayabusa in the 00’s or the Nine-T in the 10’s. This is not a closed list but one that certainly we all agree with. The new Pan America from Harley Davidson could be the game changer of the 20’s and that would be an amazing feat from the old MoCO in Milwaukee. Do you think they’ll pull it off?
Dear wolf Jesse Ziegler was there and had a go at it and here you can read all about it:
“The 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 comes fighting straight to the premium end of the adventure-touring motorcycle spectrum. It’s throwing punches and aiming to land more than a few. It’s not pretending, posturing or hoping. It’s performing. Surprised? Yeah, me too.”
“Make no mistake, H-D is lining up against adventure giants here, putting the modern ADV segment innovators and brand leaders to task with an American-made, hell-bent, high-tech adventure-touring all-terrain weapon. Is that even possible?”
“The El Solitario kit
was the envy of all 🔥”
“My eyes really opened to the potential of this bike being a contender when actual specs were released on the new machine. Things like Adaptive Ride Height and an engine-spec sheet reading like an engineering dossier on modern power will do that. But I still had doubts.”
“Finally, after two days of testing this bike in the California desert—a place I’ve ridden a lot of off-road and adventure motorcycles over the past 15 years—I can admit nearly all of my preconceived notions of what Harley-Davidson’s Pan America 1250 would be were simply wrong.”
“Harley-Davidson made a real adventure bike here. And I’m ready to party.”
3 Responses
With the Pan America, Harley Davidson innovates by breaking the usual visual code of adventure bikes.
It’s a creative and courageous move that should be considered.
The HD designers are arriving where they were not expected, and this is a real performance.
It’s that kind of challenge that gets things done.
Philippe Barnoud, designer in Paris, France
Can’t agree more!
Keep on speeding Philippe
Hmmm … the PanAmerica … Though I’m glad H-D is trying to stretch out ** despite all history that says do otherwise ( the H-D faithful aint exactly a foreword thinking bunch * ) from my Yank and ADV loving perspective its got three problems other than the afore mentioned xenophobic H-D faithful ;
1) KTM and BMW . Seriously … what would I buy an unproven bike to ADV with when there’s two with worldwide proven experiences ..as well as worldwide parts and repair .. which H-D does not .
2) Price – Pricing the PA the same as its two biggest and proven competitors … is a death nell
3) The very things that Mssr Barnoud mentions are the very things that make the PA a potential ADV nightmare .. with more parts just waiting to break .. than a Sportbike ( or a Ducait Mulitstrada ) trying to be an ADV .
And then IMO there’s the whole issue of Credit where Credit is Due . And ALL the credit for the PA belongs firmly in the lap of the Lupines . One look at the Desert Wolves says it all
* ( for the record I’ve had H-D’s in the family since grand father bought his first in 1926 … though since the 2000’s the entire family walked away when H-D became too big to give a rats ass about its customers .. and then committed the cardinal sin of Corporate Cronyism with the 350 lb orangutan that was in the Oval Office for which H-D paid dearly … and still have not recovered from to this very day )
** Read Faith Popcorn’s ” The PopCorn Report ” and you’ll understand why both the PA and the EV H-D are on the road to perdition bringing the Company even further to its knees