Once again, Harley Davidson has found its way into our blog. For a company that just posted a 90 million dollar quarterly loss, I will give them this: They know how to stay in the news. After years of speculation and re-designs, Harley finally has given us a glimpse into the final product, which has left our eyes bleeding and sore.

Now for some reason, there is a lot of love towards this bike. I will admit that it's a step in the right direction for Harley. The specs are finally up to date with the year, and this proves that when they want to, they can still keep up in the game. However, time will tell whether all the love translates into sales numbers, or just gawky window shopping.

Harley is over five years late to this game. We've seen some fantastic designs from BMW's GS series, Yamaha's Super Tenere, and hell, I'll even throw in Kawasaki's KLR650. Harley has some serious competition against brands that have already been established and have made drastic improvements. Harley has to stand out, by either offering extreme value (yeah right) or by doing something eye-popping that will change the market. 

Well here we are. Let's be completely honest, the only people buying this bike are the Harley Davidson enthusiast and elites. No newcomer is going to pick this over the beautiful GS or colorful Africa Twin. Budget riders might venture toward the Suzuki V-Strom. However, there is nothing really on the Pan America that would lure someone in. Sure its assembled in the USA, but with parts from overseas. 

Now listen, I don't wanna bash Harley the entire time. So I would like to offer some silver linings. This bike is their first attempt at this model. So I don't expect everything to go smoothly. However the timing is just horrendous. This bike will also give some competition to those big name models, and competition is always a good thing. The stats line up pretty darn close to the GS1250, which means Harley can keep up with competitors. The question is, can they outperform their competitors. Taking a few years to get this bike right might be more time than they can afford.

The Harley's Pan America does surprise us with the weight. It weighs as much as the Africa Twin, and less than the GS. Based on looks, we would have guessed 700 lbs, but Harley engineers found a way to make the bike lighter and just as powerful. It also claims to have more horsepower and torque than a lot of the competition, and some riders have claimed it feels extremely powerful. However, until we see reviews, we won't know how truthful those statements are.

Don't get us wrong, we are excited to see some reviews and ride footage soon. We wouldn't mind seeing Harley make a roaring comeback, we just aren't sure this is the way they can do it.