Image: Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 and 1250 Special
In February, Harley-Davidson announced the Pan America, an “adventure touring” motorcycle which is projected to be released in May, 2021. There’s been mixed reactions amongst the adventure motorcycle community, as Harley-Davidson has traditionally been known for big and loud bikes.
H-D is an American company and has been around since 1903. They managed to get through the Great Depression and come out on top as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motorcycles. There’s no denying that Harley-Davidson is an iconic brand with a loyal following. But, with an aging H-D customer base is this perhaps a way for the company to bring in some younger blood and a more diverse retinue?
The big questions we have are what’s behind the thought process of the Harley-Davidson breaking in to the adventure motorcycle market with the new Pan America? What can we expect from this new adventure touring bike? Will the adventure motorcycling community embrace the Pan America and are we even willing to give it a chance?
To get the answers to these questions we went directly to Harley-Davidson and spoke with Mike Case and Paul James.
Image: Tim Calhoun
Mike Case is a lifelong motorcyclist and has spent his entire career in the automotive and powersports industry, and the last 19 years at Harley-Davidson. He is currently the Group Chief Engineer for Vehicle Platforms and oversaw the team that brought the all-new Pan America and Revolution Max engine to life.
Paul James has worked in the powersports industry his entire career, working as a journalist in the snowmobile industry, in marketing at Arctic Cat, Inc. (snowmobile, ATV and PWC) and for the past 23 years at Harley-Davidson. Paul has held a variety of roles at H-D, including Marketing/PR, Events, Product Planning, and Go-to-Market. He is currently Sr. Manager Public Relations and is an avid motorcycle rider and racer.
And we also turned to Tim Calhoun, a powersports industry expert for over 30 years, for his take on how the Pan America motorcycle will be accepted and what we can expect.
Tim Calhoun is the Vice President of Sales at Quin Design and is a board member of the Motorcycle Industry Council, he’s also the Chairperson of the Aftermarket Committee of the MIC.
Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz - Image: Daniel N Johnson
Image: Jason Momoa and the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special
Images: Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 and 1250 Special