Harley-Davidson turn the adventure bike market on its head with the new Pan America

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Harley-Davidson have revealed the full details of their Pan America adventure bike – and it has the potential to knock the crown off the GS’s head. The Pan America isn’t just one of the most advanced...

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That's the bike Charlie and Ewan should have ridden up from South America. Would have been a good test to demonstrate their reliability.
 
Harley is a company oviously facing serious challenges. But when you desperately need success, why do you seek it in an area where the competition is overwhelming? Why build a bike that will be measured against bikes like the BMW GS and the KTM Super Adventure that represent the pinnacle of the adventure bike segment? Yamaha have failed miserably competing against the GS with their XT2100, despite all their experience in this segment. What does HD think they can do so much better than Yamaha? I wish HD success, but I doubt they will find it in the adventure bike segment.
 
I wish there was a “dislike” button. Why,? HD CAN compete in this market! I’ve worked non stop for the last year working exclusively on this bike! Whether you believe me or not, take one for a ride before you pass judgement.
 
Reactions: idk
Jvheli said:
I wish there was a “dislike” button. Why,? HD CAN compete in this market! I’ve worked non stop for the last year working exclusively on this bike! Whether you believe me or not, take one for a ride before you pass judgement.
Click to expand...

There is a dislike button, hold your mouse over the like button and you'll see the icon options.
 
Jvheli said:
I wish there was a “dislike” button. Why,? HD CAN compete in this market! I’ve worked non stop for the last year working exclusively on this bike! Whether you believe me or not, take one for a ride before you pass judgement.
Click to expand...
I was wondering if you were involved in this project. I'm glad that HD is looking to new things and I hope that it is successful with this project. It looks like a bike that will make it further than the local watering hole and so hopefully it will draw a new market. They need an "Easy Rider" type movie to give it iconic status, maybe "Hard Rider", or is that another movie of a different type?
 
I agree with this take- Harley should have scrapped the Adventure Pan America and should have gone with the cheaper naked street fighter- the Bronx! The competition is too tough from BMW, honda, KTM, Yamaha, and Kawasaki- who will make a bike with more horsepower and torque, lighter and Cheaper!! not sure why HD is doing they need to stick to fixing current Transmission into the primary, Cam Plate and oil pump fix these factory issues so their customers are not spending 6-9k in aftermarket to fix what should have been right from the factory. Not piling on Harley....well maybe just a little
 
The advantage of HD in this case: they do not have to be better - it's enough to "be" HD, because in this way they get those customers, who already have a HD as first bike and a GS for travelling. Those will happily change.

The others are in any case out of reach...
 
Jvheli said:
I wish there was a “dislike” button. Why,? HD CAN compete in this market! I’ve worked non stop for the last year working exclusively on this bike! Whether you believe me or not, take one for a ride before you pass judgement.
Click to expand...
I am sorry if my post offended you. I was not questioning the quality of the bike, but the quality of the business decision of HD to enter the adventure bike segment. I assume the bike itself will be very good. But "very good" might just not be enough to succeed in this market segment.
Every business decision is a bet on the future. None of us - although some might deny it - do know the future. Some business decisions are more critical than others. And if much is at stake, you need to balance your risks very carefully. What I am saying, and what I might have needed to be clearer on, is this: I consider the Pan Am as a high-risk decision in a time where HD might not want to add more risks. No disrespect for the quality of the engineering of the bike itself intended.
 
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