The Heritage Softail is now a 700lb bike and 86 HP at the crank. Imagine a lightened V Twin Sportster that pumps out 140 to 160 HP and handles well. They need to think outside the box.
Why is everyone so obsessed with HP on a touring bike?
Even with only 80 some HP my Street Glide has plenty of get up an go to get me where I'm going even when fully loaded with luggage.
I would prefer Harley invest that money in things that make the trip more comfortable. That is the whole point of a touring bike.
Imagine a lightened V Twin Sportster that pumps out 140 to 160 HP and handles well. They need to think outside the box.
They already did, it'll be released next week. Pan America and 1250 Custom, both ~160 hp engines, lightweight frames, and a variety of at least three models. One's a Sportster replacement (Custom), and there's supposed to be two Pan America models, one's a street touring model that has some offroad capability, and one's a more-offroad-oriented touring bike.
Lightweight, liquid cooled, high tech, probably variable valve timing and other such niceties, high performance... about as far outside the "traditional HD" box as it's possible to get.
They already did, it'll be released next week. Pan America and 1250 Custom, both ~160 hp engines, lightweight frames, and a variety of at least three models. One's a Sportster replacement (Custom), and there's supposed to be two Pan America models, one's a street touring model that has some offroad capability, and one's a more-offroad-oriented touring bike.
Lightweight, liquid cooled, high tech, probably variable valve timing and other such niceties, high performance... about as far outside the "traditional HD" box as it's possible to get.
And I hope they're both very successful! I like the custom but Im not an ADV bike buyer.
They did… And it weighed less than 500 pounds… I had one… Good on the highway and good in the dirt… It’s not the first time that Harley pitched an excellent idea Because they firmly believed that their future was in the baby boomers...
One of the better handling motorcycles I have owned.
They did… And it weighed less than 500 pounds… I had one… Good on the highway and good in the dirt… It’s not the first time that Harley pitched an excellent idea Because they firmly believed that their future was in the baby boomers...
One of the better handling motorcycles I have owned.
Good point. One of my bikes is a Ulysses. I once rode it from Illinois to Sturgis. My friends on baggers couldn't keep up with me on canyon roads. When I rode the 7 mile gravel road between Rochford and Deerfield, they passed (I believe the road has since been paved). At 547 lbs, the new Pan America might be a good touring bike. Lots of people tour on the BMW GS.
I took an R18 for a demo ride. Buddy of mine was there with his Softail Slim, so I took that for a quick ride afterwards. Harley has nothing to fear from the R18. I just hope Harley does a better job trying to take away the Adventure bike market with the Pan America.
Originally Posted by Senecagreen
The R18 is not selling. The Denver dealer told me they have not sold one. Too heavy and underpowered for BMW core customer
I owned BMW's first cruiser attempt, a R1200C in Ivory with brown leather seat and bags. Was a fun machine and really handled well. The new R18 is just pure pretentiousness. Paying homage to the bike of the thirties was a great idea, having a bike over three times the displacement of one is not. They really should have just used the 1200 size engines like in the R9T as they have sufficient power and grunt. My dealer is trapped with six first editions still and two base models. Throw in the just got the Heritage like version with too small of bags and a plastic windscreen.
I figure Harley will do better in the ADV market than BMW will do with this R18. Many are already figuring it will sell far less numbers than even the R1200C
It is a shame they did not keep it in the line up... I have often wondered if they had taken the V-Rod engine and made the necessary changes to the Ully, that it might have attracted lot of folks who wanted a Harley, but not either a chopper, big Bagger, or a drag bike.
I use to take the Ully on paved highway runs that had serious mountain dirt roads over high passes... the only short coming was that I had to drive around some potholes that my buddy on his GS could ride through.
02-15-2021, 11:53 AM
