A brand new period dawns for Harley-Davidson

Written by Mark Gardiner
Recent years haven’t been variety to Harley-Davidson. Its gross sales have sagged, its core clients have aged and its push towards the electrical future, whereas newly severe, has underwhelmed thus far.
In 2019, the final full yr unaffected by the coronavirus, Harley shipped 218,000 bikes, incomes $424 million in web earnings on $5.36 billion in income, wholesome sufficient however properly off its glory days. Results from the primary quarter of 2021 recommend the Milwaukee-based firm could also be turning a monetary nook, however the actuality is that not sufficient new consumers are coming into the market to offset the riders ageing out of it. Harley not too long ago made its progressive LiveWire electrical mannequin the flagship of a free-standing model, however electrical gross sales won’t contribute to the underside line till there’s a extra inexpensive mannequin that sells in greater quantity.
The firm overtly acknowledged these headwinds way back to 2018, when then-CEO Matt Levatich laid out his “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” technique. A key a part of this blueprint could be to poach clients from different manufacturers, which meant branching out from Harley’s conventional (some would possibly say stereotypical) beefy cruisers.

Perhaps probably the most daring proposal was a high-tech, high-performance “adventure touring” motorbike named the Pan America, to be powered by a brand new Revolution Max engine, already in growth. The response was skepticism — that any Harley could be too heavy and too costly.
The Pan America was delayed a yr, throughout which Levatich resigned underneath strain from the corporate’s board and after 5 years of falling gross sales. He was changed by one other board member, Jochen Zeitz, beforehand CEO of Puma.
Zeitz grabbed the handlebar, changing the “More Roads” technique with a hard-nosed strategy he referred to as “Hardwire.” He minimize overhead and employees, closed some overseas subsidiaries, decreased the variety of U.S. sellers and minimize inventories. Additionally, he decreased the tempo of new-model introductions and spun off an electric-bicycle division.
The plan appeared like retrenchment, and a few trade observers questioned if the Pan America would even be launched. But the brand new chief was simply as decided to enter this market. The outcome, hitting dealerships now, is a motorbike that’s undoubtedly not your dad’s Harley-Davidson cruiser. The audacious 1,250-cubic-centimeter Pan America Special is a shot throughout the bow to the European producers which have lengthy dominated this area of interest market.
“Before you launch into a new category, you always get the doubters and the cynics, but I don’t really care about them,” Zeitz mentioned in an interview. “Adventure and touring are in Harley-Davidson’s DNA. We have not been active in the adventure/touring market because we didn’t have a bike, but we sure have the history. We would not have been able to build this bike if it wasn’t in the DNA of the company.”
The adventure-touring class traces its roots to 1980 when BMW started promoting the R 80 G/S — a mannequin impressed by bikes raced within the Paris-Dakar rally. Fast-forward 40 years — and BMW’s R 1250 GS remains to be a bestseller. You’ve seen them parked in entrance of your native cafe: tall, brawny bikes with knobby tires, typically accessorized with rugged aluminum aspect circumstances. They’re bikes that appear to say, “Today I’m just having a latte, but tomorrow I’m heading for Tierra del Fuego.”
Fans simply name them “ADV” bikes. They’re all flagship fashions that may maintain their very own on the autobahn, with long-travel suspensions able to dealing with fireplace roads or worse; all of them have superior anti-lock brakes and traction management.
Another European producer, KTM, sells a Super Adventure mannequin that’s even taller. Ducati, identified for sport bikes, presents its tackle the class with the Multistrada. When Ducati not too long ago launched adaptive cruise management to bikes, it did so on the Multistrada V4 S Sport.
In February, Zeitz hosted a much-ballyhooed digital launch of the Pan America on the corporate’s YouTube channel. To the shock of skeptics, the burden (the bottom mannequin is 534 kilos) and the value (from $17,319) appeared aggressive. (Those figures have been 200 kilos and $2,000 lighter than Harley-Davidson’s hottest heavy cruisers and touring bikes.)
Of course, journey bikes aren’t ridden nearly. The asphalt, gravel, mud and sand they have to soak up stride are all too actual. So as soon as the coronavirus menace had abated, the corporate supplied check drives at a distant camp within the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. First impressions have been revamped a whole lot of miles of paved and unpaved roads, jeep trails and an notorious stretch of treacherous deep sand.
The mannequin offered was the Pan America Special, which is anticipated to outsell the bottom mannequin about 2-to-1. The Special has a extra expansive electronics package deal and semiactive suspension. As examined, the bikes weighed about 574 kilos and carried a price ticket of about $21,500.
The response this time was removed from underwhelming.
“I didn’t really have doubts that the engineers could do a good job,” mentioned Thunder Press editor-in-chief Kevin Duke, who has been writing about bikes for 25 years. “But I was skeptical that they could enter a new market segment and be that good right out of the box.”
Duke was so impressed by his check trip that it modified his perspective in regards to the firm. “The news about Harley for the past couple of years has been quite pessimistic,” he mentioned. “With the older demographic aging out, there was no real hint at what the company could do to gain market share, but this really changes it. The new motor is that good.”
Harley-Davidson calls itself the Motor Company. True to that slogan, engineers acknowledge that they created the motor first after which requested themselves what they might do with it.
The solely factor the Revolution Max has in frequent with different Harley engines is that it’s a V-twin. It produces 150 horsepower and revs to 9,500 rpm — roughly double the crimson line of its cruiser cousins. Forget the laconic “potato-potato” exhaust notice of these slow-revving conventional cruisers; this one roars.
The new motor encompasses a steadiness shaft so efficient that engineers admitted to placing a bit of vibration again in so it might really feel “like a Harley.” It options computer-controlled variable valve timing that’s extra refined than the rest out there. The result’s a motor that’s ferocious when used aggressively however docile when it needs to be, at gradual speeds on tough terrain.
Like the opposite bikes on this class, the Pan America presents a spread of trip modes that alter throttle response, anti-lock brake settings and traction management for rain, “street” or “sport” highway settings, in addition to two off-road settings. Owners may create their very own trip modes.
Harley raised the stakes with a primary for any motorbike: The Special’s semiactive suspension constantly adjusts to swimsuit the burden of rider, passenger and baggage; terrain encountered; and using type.
Adventure touring bikes want further floor clearance and long-travel suspension. As a outcome, seat heights attain 37 inches — they’re intimidating, even for tall riders. A $1,000 Adaptive Ride Height choice on the Pan America Special lowers the suspension because the motorbike involves a cease. It is a recreation changer for shorter or less-experienced riders.
Off-road efficiency drives bragging rights within the ADV class. But one other factor that these bikes have in frequent with Land Rovers and Mercedes-Benz G-wagons — moreover being rangy, rugged and costly — is that they’re pushed on paved roads 99% of the time.
ADV bikes are simply as enjoyable to trip on a winding highway as any sport bike. Many motorcyclists graduate to ADVs when their knees, wrists and shoulders can not deal with a crouched using place. And not like typical highway bikes, ADVs give riders the choice of hanging off on paths much less taken. That’s why ADVs are widespread in Europe (the place Harley-Davidson would love to extend its market share to 4% from 3%) and are gaining popularity right here.
Before embarking on the Pan America venture, Harley-Davidson surveyed its clients. Many of them already owned or have been contemplating an journey motorbike. The Pan America provides these clients a made-in-America choice. (The Revolution Max engines are manufactured in Milwaukee; the bikes are assembled in York, Pennsylvania.) Another upside to a Harley that the European makers can’t match: its intensive vendor community.
Every Harley vendor, roughly 600 of them, will carry the Pan America — a call made simpler as a result of clients raced to place down deposits earlier than the machines hit gross sales flooring.

Under Zeitz, Harley-Davidson has been cautious to construct vendor enthusiasm. Dealers who hit sure targets have already cycled by means of Harley’s coaching camp within the Mojave, so that they’ll be capable to discuss the discuss when a brand new sort of buyer walks by means of the door.
When these clients trip away, whether or not it’s to Starbucks or South America, the Pan America can be proper at residence.