[Dadawada]

Thanks for the add. I'm a long time rider...everything from dirt bikes (CRF 450R) to sport bikes (Suzuki SV-1000) and cruisers (Indian Dark Horse, BMW GS Adventure, Honda Goldwing Bagger). I'm in between bikes at the moment and considering the PA.

I ride quite a bit when not working. I do long distance trips. I once rode from Raleigh, NC down to Naples, FL on a trip to the Keys only stopping for gas and bio. It was right at 1,000 miles (should have made it an Iron Butt Ride) on the BMW. I rode the Indian down to Bike Week in Daytona. I flew out and rode the Honda Goldwing back. Point being...I like to hop on and go and sometimes end up a long way away. All the latest bikes have been chainless and that has really spoiled me. Nothing like jumping on the bike and not having to deal with the chain. That is the only thing holding me back from the PA.

-Dealers and dealer support are very important to me. The Indian, BMW, and Honda all had poor dealer support.

-Like I said the chain is an issue at the moment. The BMW and Honda shaft were really nice. Why the HD didn't go shaft...it seems to compete more directly with the BMW than the chain bikes KTM. I would think they were trying to pull people away from the BMW.

Curious how ownership has been with the dealers and chain maintenance. Keep seeing where the gunk is getting trapped under the front sprocket cover. I just don't have a lot of extra room on trips for chain maintenance stuff.

Thanks for your feedback...

 

[71Romeo]

Welcome to the forum. I too lurked and queried and learned before pulling the trigger on my 22 PAS. I have a 21 Road Glide and love it but the PAS has blown my mind and haven't had so much fun since jumping on my Yamaha 80 when I was about 10 years old. Lots of bike and life since then but I love this bike. I'm definitely a noob though and the idea that I would have to pull any chain related maintenance is way above my pay grade. However, thanks to this forum and a tone of youtuber's I'm comfortable enough to learn about the tools, buy the kits, make room in the bags and GO. As for dealerships, there is lots of info on this forum about that too. I'm a brand loyalist and my favorite thing about HD over BMW or Ducati (those were the bikes I compared and rode and eventually decided over) was DEFINITELY the dealer network. Having my multistrada 4.x or a GS go out just isn't something I wanted to deal with knowing the answer to how far is the next dealership always be (at least hundreds upon hundreds of miles away). SO HD has my business. BUT it's important to SHOP THE DEALERSHIPS TOO. GO to a couple of the closest HD dealerships to you. Go not only to sales but to the service desk. See if you can talk to a guy or two or the service MGR or team leader and let them tell you about servicing the Pan Americas. Each dealer has at least 1 certified trained Pan America guy. See if you can hear more about that. Then go to the next HD dealership and try to have the same conversation. For me, THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS. The dealership needs to be hungry not only to sell you the bike but to service it (and yes, that is a whole separate money conversation) but it's really valuable to you. YOu can ask them specificaly about the chain and any issues with it they know about BEFORE You ever pull the trigger. NOW HAVING SAID ALL THAT, I do indeed hope you pull this trigger cuz just NOTHING matches how I feel plowing thorugh puddles, sliding a little bits in the mud and even learning how to ride in sand. LOVE IT and I'm glad mine is a Harley Davidson.

 

[KnuckleHead]

Hey @Dadawada welcome to the forum! Have you had a chance to ride a Pan America or check one out in person?

 

[Zedbra]

Welcome from the West Coast of Canada

 

[Dadawada]

Hey @Dadawada welcome to the forum! Have you had a chance to ride a Pan America or check one out in person?

The funny thing is the same dealer used to sell Triumph motorcycles and I led the demo rides when they had Triumph Demo Days about once a month. Oddly I never owned a Triumph but was just friends with the manager.

I don't think I have ridden the PA. I did ride a number of HDs before buying my Indian. At the time I had just bought the BMW and the same dealer sold Indian and I ended up buying both bikes from them thinking I'd get better service since I just purchased 2 $30k bikes...LOL...boy was I wrong...LOL.

I guess I need to go ride it. The one thing that stood out to me when demoing the HDs was just how you could tell the bikes were designed and made by a company that had been doing it for a while. The ergonomics were perfect.

 

[Dadawada]

The other thing that is making my decision more difficult is BMW has a 2.9% financing special. While I have the cash to buy any bike when you get down to those rates the money is essentially free for me. But I hate the local BMW dealer and have vowed never to go there again...and like someone said the next closest dealer is 1.5 hours away. I have two HD dealers within 30 minutes.

 

[71Romeo]

The other thing that is making my decision more difficult is BMW has a 2.9% financing special. While I have the cash to buy any bike when you get down to those rates the money is essentially free for me. But I hate the local BMW dealer and have vowed never to go there again...and like someone said the next closest dealer is 1.5 hours away. I have two HD dealers within 30 minutes.

This is just between you and me. I'd gladly give my dealership team a 25% premium to be able to rely on them. I do rely on them and have bought both my recent Harleys through them. Adding up everything from motorclothes to financing charges, I'm still way under budget and pricing. SO though my attitude is willingness to pay premium, I haven't had to do so yet.

 

[Rocket]

Welcome from SE New Mexico

 

[scottc]

Welcome from Raleigh! I bought my 2022 PAS at Tobacco Road! In the past I've had no luck dealing with TR HD when in the market for a new bike. Bought a 2019 Street Glide special at a great price from Raging Bull in Durham, but that was before covid. Another dealer to check out is Bulldog HD in Smithfield. I had my first service done there. PM me if you want to talk or check out my PAS. I'm in N. Raleigh. Scott C

 

[Jerryfrady]

I'm also in the Raleigh area near Zebulon. Bought my 22 PAS from Raging Bull based on price and stock at the time. TR seems to have many more groups and events though. Going in for my first service at RB next week. When I scheduled I saw two PA's in shop so hope that means experience versus, well, problems

 

[goosegreen]

The chain is no problem better for offroad riding get a scotoiler .

 

[Sq51lacfd]

I too am a distance rider. Rolled HD baggers and Ducati Multistrada on 2-3.5 K trips. All things considered, (Dealer network, comfort, options, etc. ) I'd still choose the PA. I've never owned a GS.
Chain Maintenance: Here's a topic as controversial on forums as choices in engine oil. (I'll save that bees nest for another day)
Here is what I do. I carry a can of good quality chain lube. Each morning, I find an inconspicuous part of the parking lot and give it a good spray. If we are riding in rain for most of the day, or heavy dust, I'll give it another douse at lunch break. When I get home, I do a really good cleaning and inspection. Results: 25K miles and never had a chain or sprocket issue on any of my bikes.
Financial: If you can buy the bike, ride it for a year. If you do not like it, you will have no issue selling it. In fact, you should be able to get just shy of what you paid for it in a year. What you may not get back on it, consider if you could rent a bike for the same amount of time for that amount. You can't. Consider it the best rental deal and move on.

 

[BhamRA311]

The other thing that is making my decision more difficult is BMW has a 2.9% financing special. While I have the cash to buy any bike when you get down to those rates the money is essentially free for me. But I hate the local BMW dealer and have vowed never to go there again...and like someone said the next closest dealer is 1.5 hours away. I have two HD dealers within 30 minutes.

I was just chatting with a salesperson at my local HD dealership last weekend. She said that financing through HD directly had been an issues lately and she had lost several sales over percentage rates. One guy she mentioned had a credit score well over 800 and the percentage rate came back about 12%, which is ridiculous.

Speaking to your issues with the chain drive you shouldn't worry. Modern chains are way better than chains from decades ago. You check them every now and then and occasionally spray some lube on 'em. They all have O-rings and are internally lubed and stretch less. If I had to guess Harley didn't do a shaft drive because it's harder than it looks. BMW and Honda both spent many, many years getting their shaft drives as good as they are. They inherently have some curious engineering challenges that you don't have with a belt/chain drive. The last thing Harley would want is to release this brand new model with hopes of it being a savior only to have issues with the drive train. Software bugs are one thing, a shaft drive shitting the bed is another.

 

[Dadawada]

Welcome from Raleigh! I bought my 2022 PAS at Tobacco Road! In the past I've had no luck dealing with TR HD when in the market for a new bike. Bought a 2019 Street Glide special at a great price from Raging Bull in Durham, but that was before covid. Another dealer to check out is Bulldog HD in Smithfield. I had my first service done there. PM me if you want to talk or check out my PAS. I'm in N. Raleigh. Scott C

Thanks Scott,

I know a few folks at TR HD. That is the dealer I used to lead the Triumph demo rides at. I've just had horrible service from the local dealers so far (non-HD). I bought a new Indian Dark Horse and a BMW GS Adventure from Garcia and they were terrible on the warranty work and other work. I bought a new Honda Goldwing and flew out and rode it back and Triangle Powersports didn't have a Goldwing tech to work on it.

Dealer support is important to me...as important as the bike itself. I travel for work so my riding time is very important to me and getting the bike serviced means a lot.

 

[Dadawada]

I'm also in the Raleigh area near Zebulon. Bought my 22 PAS from Raging Bull based on price and stock at the time. TR seems to have many more groups and events though. Going in for my first service at RB next week. When I scheduled I saw two PA's in shop so hope that means experience versus, well, problems

I live downtown Raleigh so TR would be very convenient for me if their service was good.

 

[Dadawada]

I too am a distance rider. Rolled HD baggers and Ducati Multistrada on 2-3.5 K trips. All things considered, (Dealer network, comfort, options, etc. ) I'd still choose the PA. I've never owned a GS.
Chain Maintenance: Here's a topic as controversial on forums as choices in engine oil. (I'll save that bees nest for another day)
Here is what I do. I carry a can of good quality chain lube. Each morning, I find an inconspicuous part of the parking lot and give it a good spray. If we are riding in rain for most of the day, or heavy dust, I'll give it another douse at lunch break. When I get home, I do a really good cleaning and inspection. Results: 25K miles and never had a chain or sprocket issue on any of my bikes.
Financial: If you can buy the bike, ride it for a year. If you do not like it, you will have no issue selling it. In fact, you should be able to get just shy of what you paid for it in a year. What you may not get back on it, consider if you could rent a bike for the same amount of time for that amount. You can't. Consider it the best rental deal and move on.

I don't keep bikes longer than a couple of years. I have kept some longer but most I sell after 2 years or less, usually after the warranty has run out.

I have memories of chain maintenance taking some time and being messy. The centerstand will certainly make it much easier.

 

[Dadawada]

I was just chatting with a salesperson at my local HD dealership last weekend. She said that financing through HD directly had been an issues lately and she had lost several sales over percentage rates. One guy she mentioned had a credit score well over 800 and the percentage rate came back about 12%, which is ridiculous.

Speaking to your issues with the chain drive you shouldn't worry. Modern chains are way better than chains from decades ago. You check them every now and then and occasionally spray some lube on 'em. They all have O-rings and are internally lubed and stretch less. If I had to guess Harley didn't do a shaft drive because it's harder than it looks. BMW and Honda both spent many, many years getting their shaft drives as good as they are. They inherently have some curious engineering challenges that you don't have with a belt/chain drive. The last thing Harley would want is to release this brand new model with hopes of it being a savior only to have issues with the drive train. Software bugs are one thing, a shaft drive shitting the bed is another.

My last chain bike was probably 12 years ago. After that everything was belt or drive shaft...got spoiled that way...

 

[REKLOO5E]

welcome DADAWADA and yeah, I was considering BMW, TRIUMPH and mostly the AFRICA TWIN. but fell in love in 2019 when i saw the PA prototype in NYC bike show. I had just a issue with screen and that was due to an update but other than that, im happy with my purchase and am glad it has a center stand for the chain cleaning and once you get a small bag you'll find it easy to do with that center stand. good luck with your purchase. also i plan on getting a different loan to pay off bike and get lower interest rate, but despite all this its an amazing machine and ive had 10 bikes in last 23 years, and this bike is definitely DIFFERENT and worth me purchasing it. GOOD LUCK!!!!!

From NJ

 

[GearHead]

Bret Tkacs produced a good video on chain maintenance when you're road trippin'. Just need a gas station, a toothbrush, empty can, and a rag.

 

[Gcross762]

I was just chatting with a salesperson at my local HD dealership last weekend. She said that financing through HD directly had been an issues lately and she had lost several sales over percentage rates. One guy she mentioned had a credit score well over 800 and the percentage rate came back about 12%, which is ridiculous.

Speaking to your issues with the chain drive you shouldn't worry. Modern chains are way better than chains from decades ago. You check them every now and then and occasionally spray some lube on 'em. They all have O-rings and are internally lubed and stretch less. If I had to guess Harley didn't do a shaft drive because it's harder than it looks. BMW and Honda both spent many, many years getting their shaft drives as good as they are. They inherently have some curious engineering challenges that you don't have with a belt/chain drive. The last thing Harley would want is to release this brand new model with hopes of it being a savior only to have issues with the drive train. Software bugs are one thing, a shaft drive shitting the bed is another.

This is not why Harley did the chain route. You can repair a chain out in the field. You cant repair a shaft system out in the field. A belt will break if you get rocks in between the belt and sprocket. This was mentioned in one of the Harley videos that i watched a while back. This reason is also why dirt bikes have chains. If you add the shaft drive system to the bike it gets heavier.