AN AMERICAN ADVENTURE
If it comes to you as a surprise that the Harley – Davidsotn Pan America is not just a good motorcycle, but is genuinely competitive with other Adventure tourers on the market, it shouldn’t. The Motor Company is a huge manufacturer with lots of resources.
Just because Harley hasn’t built an Adventure bike before doesn’t mean it can’t now. The news there was an American Adventure bike coming was official as long ago as 2018. It was a part of the “More Roads to Harley-Davidson”, a plan to diversify its line-up, reduce the average age of a Harley buyer and lessen its reliance on the big tourer and cruiser markets.
The new bikes were supposed to launch in 2020, but a pandemic got in the way and the incoming CEO decided to shelve some of the plans in the face of falling sales, the failure of the electric Live Wire to perform and lacklustre interest in the 975cc Bronx Streetfighter.
But the Adventure tourer really did have potential and is being launched into one of the hottest categories in motorcycling today. Here in Australia we only get the up-spec Special, because like BMW, the difference in the price isn’t enough to justify all the complexity in ordering, shipping and stocking both models – and Australians don’t seem to buy base-model high-end bikes.
“…THE PAN AMERICA WAS FINE WITH EVERYTHING. BETTER THAN FINE”
THE LAUNCH RIDE
Harley-Davidson Australia ran the launch out of Kiama on the NSW South Coast. We got to ride the bike in a big loop of country winding roads, up the famous Macquarie Pass, through the cold Southern Highlands, over some tame sections of dirt before arriving at some private property and a grass track before heading back to the starting point via a freeway.
