HD GS?

[Bud]

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/motorcycles/future-vehicles/pan-america.html?source_cd=social

[TEWKS]

Was hoping that the headlight was just done as shock factor (look at me I'm different) but apparently, it's staying. 

[Corazon de Pollo]

Does somebody miss the Buell Ulysses that much?

[Dennis Andress]

Katy Perry's "Harleys in Hawaii" has done more for Harley than that bike ever will.

[TEWKS]

Still say Harley should of pushed this bike on Charley & Ewan for their new " Long way up" adventure. The LiveWire is a street bike AFAIK. Who's gonna watch...um, adventure riders?

 

[Pappy35]

3 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Still say Harley should of pushed this bike on Charley & Ewan for their new " Long way up" adventure. The LiveWire is a street bike AFAIK. Who's gonna watch...um, adventure riders?

 

 

Harley just makes one mistake after another. First is $30k for a bike that can't reliably do more than 100 miles on a charge. Next is announcing an ADV bike two YEARS before it's ready for market (God only knows what they're going to charge for it), and now, rather than offer the ADV bike for the ADV tour by the two guys that put ADV in everyone's mind, they offer them machines that aren't the least bit suited for that application. It just boggles the mind. I'm not a HD fan but I don't want to see them fail so this disappoints me. There are a lot of American jobs at stake here and I wish they were better managed than they are.

[Yeeha Stephen]

Is that an oil cooler down low behind the front tire?

[EvilTwin]

I'm not so sure I would be so down on this new offering from HD or how well they will compete with it vs the other ADV bikes on the market.  

 

None of the ADV bikes are all that good looking unless you really like asymmetric headlights, beaks, square side and top cases to name a few.  Functional yes, pretty no.  The Pan America doesnt look too bad to my eye, even with the square headlight up front.  The rest looks very similar to all the others,  its functional.  The motor is a big departure from anything else they offer,  a modern design for a change.  

 

As for HD itself, all I can say is that in my area there are three HD dealerships compared to one BMW.  The BMW shop may have 20 bikes all told for sale on the floor and two mechanics working.  The local HD shop is huge by comparison, probably over 100 bikes on the floor,  20+ used outside and maybe 10-15 times the floor space.  And there are two other HD shops within 30 miles.  The nearest BMW dealer is up past Richmond, a 100 miles away.

 

I go into the HD dealer to get my bikes inspected since its local and they can usually do it while I wait.  Of course I wander into the showroom and sit on the bikes.  I'm not a fan of big cruiser bikes with pushrod engines, but I can say that the fit and finish of their bikes is very good.   So I would think that this new model might be very well received if they can price it right.  And to poo poo the bike because it may take 2 more model years to get into the dealerships,  how long do you think it will be before the new R18 model hits the showroom floor?

[Pappy35]

3 hours ago, EvilTwin said:

<snip>...to poo poo the bike because it may take 2 more model years to get into the dealerships,  how long do you think it will be before the new R18 model hits the showroom floor?

 

Yeah. Point well taken. The R18 sounds like a 2020 model? That only a year or two so after rumors started right? I don't know if anyone else noticed but Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson's character in the Marvel movies) was riding a Livewire in "Age of Ultron." The motor housing looks different but that was 4 years ago!

[TEWKS]

Ok, guess I'm a sucker for black paint and flying rocks  because it don't look half-bad in this video. 

 

[fourteenfour]

the fit and finish on the motor is damn good but that is one of Harley's selling points, the other being is they leave a lot of room for customization and engine enhancements

[Pappy35]

Cool video. I do like the sound. It also got me wondering what the heat from the engine will be like. Time will tell. Sounds like I'm being down on them but I do wish them success.

[Corazon de Pollo]

I knew I had seen this thing before.

 

 

Homer Simpson was just thirty years too early.

 

 

[TEWKS]

1 hour ago, Corazon de Pollo said:

I knew I had seen this thing before.

 

Yeah, me too! 

[Bill_Walker]

Hey, it's not the first time somebody's ridden a Harley like that!
 

 

[WBinDE]

On 11/8/2019 at 9:26 PM, Pappy35 said:

 

Yeah. Point well taken. The R18 sounds like a 2020 model? That only a year or two so after rumors started right? I don't know if anyone else noticed but Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson's character in the Marvel movies) was riding a Livewire in "Age of Ultron." The motor housing looks different but that was 4 years ago!

At the EICMA press conference BMW said something about "second half of next year" which says MY 2021 to me.

 

They have a lot to do if they're going to meet Euro 5 emissions with a big air-cooled engine. I imagine they'll solve the "can't meet emissions limits with carburetors" problem by making carb-styled throttle bodies, like Triumph did. They still have the issues created by the larger piston/cylinder tolerances needed for an air-cooled engine though.

[roadscholar]

Hey just add a little more suspension travel, a bigger tank and lights to this and call it good : )

 

[TEWKS]

Yep, now that has adventure written all over it!  You may have been deep in the world of Porsche by this time but, my first adventure bike below.

 

[Rougarou]

16 minutes ago, TEWKS said:

Yep, now that has adventure written all over it!  You may have been deep in the world of Porsche by this time but, my first adventure bike below.

 

 

 

Hey,.......I had one of those!!!!  And this guy would fight him:

 

[TEWKS]

I had the whole setup!  Wish I kept it but the coolness faded, or was it just too big to hide from my teenage buddies?  

[TEWKS]

Action Jackson!!   

Edit...

This guy was pretty badass too! I tried to shave his beard one time, was an epic fail!

[wbw6cos]

Stretch Armstrong.  

[Rougarou]

7 minutes ago, wbw6cos said:

Stretch Armstrong.  

 

I cut him open!!

[roadscholar]

1 hour ago, TEWKS said:

Yep, now that has adventure written all over it!  You may have been deep in the world of Porsche by this time but, my first adventure bike below.

 

 

Heck I'd had a Vespa, Honda 160, 250 Scrambler, 450, Yamaha 360, MX250, Jeep and a few Porsches by then.    

[johnlt]

Wonder what it weighs?

[BrianM]

Fine print:

 

Prototype model shown. Production model features will vary. Not yet available for sale. All future models shown may not be available in all markets.

 

It may not come with that headlight.

[TEWKS]

1 hour ago, BrianM said:

 

Prototype model shown. Production model features will vary. Not yet available for sale. All future models shown may not be available in all markets.

 

It may not come with that headlight.

 

I think that would be a smart move.  It's a little too bizarre as is, IMO. And I happen to like bizarre! 

[Marty Hill]

On 11/17/2019 at 8:57 AM, johnlt said:

Wonder what it weighs?

Probably 700 lbs.  Fun to lift when "it" happens. 

[TEWKS]

3 hours ago, Marty Hill said:

Probably 700 lbs.  Fun to lift when "it" happens. 

 

Marty, do you mean like this?  

[Marty Hill]

Pat, you nailed it on the first try!

[ltljohn]

I seem to remember everyone saying how ugly the "big beak thing" on the GS was when they first came out.  Just sayin'

[Hosstage]

24 minutes ago, ltljohn said:

I seem to remember everyone saying how ugly the "big beak thing" on the GS was when they first came out.  Just sayin'

 

It still is.

[TEWKS]

It was mentioned here not that long ago, the color green makes sense for the GS line. I think we have a spy!