Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250cc adventure bike

[Grant Johnson]

So is THIS your next adventure bike? If it is you're gonna have to wait till about 2020 for it, but they say it's coming! And yes they're aiming it directly for the BMW R1200GS...

[backofbeyond]

Looks like the R.E. Himalayan has been eating too many pies -
https://goo.gl/images/cTR4kG

Is this Harley jumping on a band-vagen that (to mix my metaphors) has already left the station. Presumably the 2020 launch is to allow Screamin' Eagle time to copy the Touratech catalogue

Just needs a half known film actor and his butt of the joke sidekick to take a couple of them RTW. Any suggestions for names? Sadly the Chuckle Brothers are no longer available.

Can't see myself clanking along in the slow lane on one of them.

[Mezo]

Originally Posted by backofbeyond

Just needs a half known film actor and his butt of the joke sidekick to take a couple of them RTW.

Well to my amazement it actually worked for BMW, but i fear there will be no HD factory if Trumplethinskin carries on with his "easy to win" trade wars.

Mezo.

[Threewheelbonnie]

Why is the DVD player mounted above the front wheel?

Andy

[brclarke]

Talk about late to the parade.

[Snakeboy]

You can mount wings on an elephant but it wont be able to fly.
And you mount knobbies on a Harley but it wont....

[*Touring Ted*]

It's very much an artists impression.. And not even prototype as far as I'm aware.

But Harley need to adapt or die. Cruiser sales are tumbling globally.

This is a good move along with their electric bikes.

This bike has been slated online but I kind of like it. It reminds me of an Aircraft carrier.

[tremens]

I like the look, quite original. In US it would be a hit for sure,
obviously R1200GS got too big market share to be ignored by Harley

[backofbeyond]

Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie

Why is the DVD player mounted above the front wheel?

Andy

To my eye that Harley looks like its been styled by someone who's seen a 1200GS but whose styling skill set doesn't go much beyond drawing boxes. But then again to my Eurocentric eyes virtually all of the Harley range together with an awful lot of other Made in USA goods are either lacking in the styling department or styled so oddly that I can't see any harmony or sophistication in the design at all. That's not a complaint, just a personal observation.

I would imagine that American industrial designers are at least as skilled as those anywhere else - you've only got to look at e.g. Apple products to see that, so I can only think that Harley have produced exactly what their marketing people say will sell in the US. To me though it looks crude and about 40yrs behind what passes for cutting edge design in Europe and (to some extent) in Japan. There's definitely a 'down on the farm' element to it.

So how does it look to an American eye, to people brought up in the US and steeped in US cultural norms? Does it look ok? And if it does how does Euro styled stuff come across - overstyled, Baroque and effeminate / flowing and harmonious? Brands may be aspirational but that's different to how the eye picks up on styling cues.

Any US based people care to chip in? Is there something that goes to the core of American culture in the way the bike looks or is it just a dogs dinner?

[*Touring Ted*]

Harley would be slated far more harshly if they created a GS clone than making something ugly and individual...

[Snakeboy]

This looks a tad better imo....

https://www.facebook.com/sandiegocus...4500314268549/