KIWI RIDER JUNE 2021 VOL1 | Page 48

thinking building this weird Bender-looking sumbitch with ridiculous wog-brakes ? The howling from Harley ’ s non-core market was even more outraged . As if the Milwaukee bros even had a clue about building a “ real ” bike , they said . Cue the usual disdainful sniffing about where was one going to put one ’ s tassels , one ’ s beer belly , and one ’ s ageing and couch-sized Harley Honey . I And it ’ s ugly , they cried , seemingly blind to the fact that Adventure bikes all look like busted crabs .
IT ’ D BETTER BE GOOD Unsurprisingly , Harley was quite aware of the noise . And it knew , deep in its ancient bones , that when the Pan America finally debuted and was put in the hands of reviewers – most of whom were cynically sceptical , while the remainder were hardcore Harley riders for whom such a bike was as alien as healthy diet and a gym membership – it had better be the goods . I was sceptical and cynical too . But then I ’ m pretty much made of scepticism and cynicism . But – yes , there are a lot of “ buts ” here – I was more curious than anything else . Surely Milwaukee would not make an attempt at this niche without understanding what the competition offered , and then making sure the Pan America offered all of that , and even more ? I had read all the overseas reviews when I arrived in Kiama [ Australia ] to ride the Pan America . This is not something I usually
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