blitz11
Well-Known Member
My wife has a H-D street 500. The entire design was farmed out by H-D. Fit is fine, finish is questionable, but it has 25K miles on it, and she loves it. She put every one of the 25 K miles on it. It's been completely reliable, and very easy to service (coolant, valves, oil changes, air filters, tires). The brakes sucked, but i fixed that with new pads and I made stainless steel brake lines for it. It isn't super-refined, but she could care less. She rides it WAY more than the bikes she had in the past (CX500, 250 rebel), so it does what it is supposed to do.
The CCT on the street 500 has lasted longer than the CCT on the Super-10, and it also hasn't been recalled for a high-idle condition. The S-10 is good, but not perfect. Valve access on the H-D is much better than the S-10, and like the S-10, it was in spec at the first service (25K miles).
If we're being honest, in the big scheme of things, it's not THAT difficult to design a motorcycle in this day and age. I think that the Pan America is ugly (especially that fairing), but that might be just a prototype (i am hoping). I'd WAY rather have a chain than a BMW final drive. (S-10 FD is a winner.) I'd like to see a removable sub-frame on the H-D before i'd look at it, but that's not too difficult a change between prototype and production. If i were guessing, I am betting that the engine design was farmed out to the same outfit that did the street 500. If so, then the claims made by H-D in terms of power/torque are probably valid, and the engine will be reliable.
We'lll have to see how this goes. As has been said, i'd like to see H-D compete with the Japanese and Europeans. Competition makes it better for us all.
The CCT on the street 500 has lasted longer than the CCT on the Super-10, and it also hasn't been recalled for a high-idle condition. The S-10 is good, but not perfect. Valve access on the H-D is much better than the S-10, and like the S-10, it was in spec at the first service (25K miles).
If we're being honest, in the big scheme of things, it's not THAT difficult to design a motorcycle in this day and age. I think that the Pan America is ugly (especially that fairing), but that might be just a prototype (i am hoping). I'd WAY rather have a chain than a BMW final drive. (S-10 FD is a winner.) I'd like to see a removable sub-frame on the H-D before i'd look at it, but that's not too difficult a change between prototype and production. If i were guessing, I am betting that the engine design was farmed out to the same outfit that did the street 500. If so, then the claims made by H-D in terms of power/torque are probably valid, and the engine will be reliable.
We'lll have to see how this goes. As has been said, i'd like to see H-D compete with the Japanese and Europeans. Competition makes it better for us all.