Test ride on a Harley Pan America

Uncle Phil said:
And some of the riders at the BRG ran into a rider on one blasting along the 'rough stuff' from all places - Bavaria.
He told them he had very few problems with his.
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Michael from Bavaria.
He had issues with front wheel and suspension earlier on tour.
With upgraded HD parts, he was able to power through that rutted service road with a big grin.
 
Obviously, I do not have a statistically significant knowledge of how many dealerships will or will not work on older bikes. @dduelin's comments notwithstanding, I find it interesting that the independent guys - one guy in a shop with a helper or two - those guys who forge a relationship with their customers - will take on older bikes usually with the warning that oem parts may not be available and even a fix might not be possible. Again, I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge how many independents will work on old bikes - just two.

My friend w/ the 7 year old beemers wanted some difficult jobs done (replace the driveshaft boot on his GS) when he was rejected by our local dealership. He told me he had spent thousands of $ on these two bikes at this dealership and was dumfounded when they turned him away. This guy is NOT an onerous type and does not argue price. Obvious answer - they were very busy and wanted to service folks who had purchased bikes from them. He drove 60 miles to another dealership w/ a better reputation.

@Igofar, you gave 3 very good reasons why shops will not work on old bikes. If the folks here can keep finding parts for 1100's surely a dealership can as well. There is always the caveat that it might take weeks or months to get the part.
 
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SMSW said:
.My friend w/ the 7 year old beemers wanted some difficult jobs done (replace the driveshaft boot on his GS) when he was rejected by our local dealership.
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This is NOT a "difficult" job.
As many here know, I've a new GSA awaiting me on the Left Coast, so I've been busy learning about the maintenance on this beast. Seen many posts and videos on ADVrider and YouTube.
Similar in many respects to servicing our ST final drives.
BMW stands for Bring More Wallet, but I expect their service departments won't see much of me or the GSA, except for warranty repairs, or recalls.
 
I've got a good independent shop here in my town. He takes care of my tires and I do the rest of repairs on my old st1100. He also rescued my buddy's 2001 Suzuki 1500 Intruder. It was in bad shape and had been sitting outside for 2 years. Took him about a year but he got the part's and the time and got life back into that thing. Even cleaned and polished it up. Guy probably could have said the hell with it but he said if you don't bug me I'll get it running and he did. This guy is so good that even the Harley crowd bring there bikes there.
 
TPadden said:
Sadly, the VFR800F, VFR800X Crossrunner and VFR1200X Crosstourer were all dropped from Honda's range with the introduction of Euro5 in 2021.
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True, but the ST1300 is gone too and we're still buying used examples, or discovering NOS. I'm sure there are unsold 12Xs to be found, and used ones (although obviously not as many as the ST).
Let's keep Honda's V4s alive! :hat1:
 
One thing that dealers have to contend with is even the aftermarket parts they might have to install on older bikes is that they have to warranty the repair including all the things they do to install repairs to the same standards as a newer bike.
I worked at a independent auto repair shop, after changing motor was told we did something wrong-it was making noise and it must have been us, They drove it till the rotor separated from the hub and still thought we did something wrong even though it was almost a year later. Of course, was threatened with law suit .
Story has nothing to do with motorcycle problems, but thought it was good story.
Just try to find mechanic at dealer auto shop that even knows how a carb works or what that round thing on top of engine with a wing nut holding it on. What is that round thing with the 6 or 8 wires coming out of it, and that thing inside it that opens and closes. WHAT? THAT NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED...WITH FEELER GUAGES, AND WHAT IS A TIMING LIGHT.
 
Sadlsor said:
This is NOT a "difficult" job.
As many here know, I've a new GSA awaiting me on the Left Coast, so I've been busy learning about the maintenance on this beast. Seen many posts and videos on ADVrider and YouTube.
Similar in many respects to servicing our ST final drives.
BMW stands for Bring More Wallet, but I expect their service departments won't see much of me or the GSA, except for warranty repairs, or recalls.
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Best Motorcycle in the World.
 
I know this is a downgrade from BMW but going to Mexico I would consider a KLR. Doesn't do it all well but can be fixed usually with duct tape and and epoxy, plus they are hard to kill. You can get a long way on a tank of gas. Just not as fast on the freeway.
 
ReSTored said:
That's because the same rockers were still being used in late '90's Chevy trucks............
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Maybe, maybe not.
Either way, my point that not being able to get parts for a ten year old high sales volume vehicle I find sad. Even sadder that it is an American made vehicle.
 
If Harley brought back the Knuckle Head there would be line ups from Milwaukee to York Pa. To buy them. The devout are not buying into anything new.They could be right.
 
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